In case you were wondering
Juan Castro at AAA with Rockies

****

It's Hairston at SS tonight
C. Trent
Read the classic Fogg and Jr story today as well

****

Honors for a Bearcat
CINCINNATI – Senior all-BIG EAST cornerback Mike Mickens (Huber Heights, OH/Wayne) was selected as a member of the prestigious 52nd Annual Playboy Magazine All-America preseason team this past weekend at its All-American Weekend at the Hilton Pointe Resort at Tapatio Cliffs in Phoenix, Ariz.
“Being selected as an all-American means a great deal to me,” said Mickens. “It shows that all of the hard work and dedication me and my teammates have put in the last three years has paid off. Without the other guys around me I could not had achieved this honor.”
“Mike is a player that we look to as a leader on our football team,” said head coach Brian Kelly. “When the players look around the field, Mike sets an example of what it takes to be a champion. That was something that was contagious around our locker room last year and helped us realize our full potential and a No. 17 national ranking.”
Mickens is the third UC football player to earn Playboy Preseason accolades. Linebacker Clarence Sanders was selected in 1975 and kicker Jonathan Ruffin earned the honor in 2001.

****

Reading between Carson's lines
Ludwig at Large
Was that smoke & steam I saw emanating from Palmer’s ears?
You betcha.

****

Bruce struggles continue
3 for 3 with a double, triple, homer, 3 RBI's, 2 runs, 2 walks today....now batting .366

Last 10 games:
22 for 36 .611, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 3 hr's, 11 runs, 12 rbi's, 6 walks, 7 k's

****

Bengals news
The Bengals today signed rookie LS Tim Bugg of Indiana to a two-year contract. A college free agent, Bugg (6-0, 257) participated in Cincinnati’s May 2-4 rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

****

Expect Dunn's big bat to leave Cincinnati
Newsday
3. It wouldn't make sense for the Reds to re-sign Dunn, who is eligible for free agency this coming winter, because of those young outfielders. So if they're not going to make a playoff run, they might as well unload him and get some inventory in return.

****

Show preview
Topics
Reds: What do you do at SS now?
Making the turn: Reds hit turn one, 40 games into the season...and?
Bengals: I just realized, not a single call about Bengals Tuesday?OTA's started...and I had two guests talking Bengals.
Seinfeld Sports Moments: Today is the 10-year anniversary of the final episode. We look at the sports moments on the show.
Franchise builder: My goal is to get a total of three callers, one each hour, to weigh in on the question asked below...which current NBA player would you choose to start a franchise with today?

***

Options at SS
Games played at SS
Paul Janish
Minors: 390 games
Jerry Hairston Jr
Majors: 10 games
Minors: 135, including four at AAA this year
Ryan Freel
Majors: 0 games
Minors: 71 games (Last time '01 AAA)
Brandon Phillips
Majors: 5 games
Minors: 572 games
At 2B
Freel: 380 games in minors, 99 in majors
Hairston: 231 games in minors, 525 in majors

***

Say hello to Reds SS Paul Janish

Reds win, lose Keppinger
C. Trent Rosecrans

Bio/Stats

Janish gets the call "He kind of looked at me startled," Sweet said. "I said, 'Hey, you're going to the big leagues; I don't have time to play you here.' "

*****

On pace
40 games into the season...1/4 done....here are the projected stats for Reds players:
Phillips: .282, 29 hr's, 76 rbi, 25 sb's
Dunn: .203, 26 hr's, 82 rbi's, 142 k's, 120 walks
Encarnacion: .261, 33 hr's, 74 rbi's, 32 errors
Griffey: .250, 17 hr's, 76 rbi's
Bako: .303, 20 hr's, 69 rbi's
Freel: .307, 24 sb's
Team stats
Record: Projected 69-93 (72-90 '07)
Batting average: .259 (.267 '07)
Runs per game: 4.375 (4.83 '07)
ERA: 4.69 (4.94 '07)

****

He's come a long way
Jan '07: Reds trade pitcher Russ Haltiwanger to Kansas City for Jeff Keppinger.....fans yawn and wonder who Jeff Keppinger is?
March '07: Keppinger placed on DL with broken finger after being hit by a pitch in spring training.
July '07: Keppinger is promoted to Reds after leading International League in hitting (.366)
August '07: Keppinger hits .393 for month, receives votes for NL Player of Month
October '07: Keppinger ends season with appearances in 67 games for Reds while hitting .332
December '07: Casey McAlister asks for and receives Keppinger jersey for Christmas
April '08: Keppinger is Reds opening day SS
May '08: Keppinger leads Reds in hitting and is among tops in NL in batting with runners in scoring position.
May '08: Keppinger fractures knee cap. Fans wonder how the team will replace Keppinger?

****

Janish becomes 24th Dragon promoted to Reds
Dayton, Ohio-Former Dayton Dragons shortstop Paul Janish (YAHN-ish) was promoted to the Cincinnati Reds today, becoming the 24th player to play for the Dragons and later appear in the major leagues.
Janish spent parts of the 2005 and '06 seasons with the Dragons, playing in 81 games. He hit .398 in 26 games with Dayton in 2006 before being promoted to Sarasota and eventually to Double-A Chattanooga. Janish split last season between Chattanooga and Louisville.
This season, Janish played in 35 games at Louisville, batting .293 with four home runs and 20 runs batted in.
Other former Dragons currently on the Reds roster include outfielder Adam Dunn, third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, first baseman Joey Votto, and starting pitcher Johnny Cueto.

****

Lucky 7
Reds SS Paul Janish will wear uniform number 7. The last Red to wear 7 was coach Bucky Dent in 2007. The last player was Mark Bellhorn in 2007.
The list of Reds players to wear that number also include the likes of:
Don Werner, Paul Householder, Kevin Mitchell, Rick Wrona and Jason Romano.
Ernie Lombardi was the first Red to wear the number. Among those wearing it the longest include: Pat Corrales from 1968-72 and Smokey Burgess 1955, '56-58.

****

Manufacturing runs
Did you notice this last night?
The Reds scored two runs in the 2nd on an infield single and a bases-loaded walk
They scored a run in the 3rd on a ground-ball out
They scored another run in the fifth on a perfectly placed bunt.

****

My guy Tarek, at What If, to deliver keynote speech
Cincinnati Regional Chamber

***

What a cool story

Did you catch Bengals free agent FB Tyler Whaley with The Cut Man? He's from Ironton, Ohio. He grew up dreaming of playing for OSU and the Bengals. He walked-on at OSU as a center and was moved to fullback. He didn't see the field until his third season. He worked at the stadium to earn money. He proposed to his wife inside The Horseshoe. He's 5'11 255....and benches 465 pounds. He talked about what his success means to the city of Ironton....a city of 12,000 or so, going through rough times. The Bengals called him 1-minute after the draft ended to offer him a free agent deal. Ken Gordon, of the Columbus Dispatch, is writing a book about his life. I'll replay part of the interview this afternoon.

******

Prince swats Pistons to Eastern conference finals
Detroit Free Press

"I hadn't made a shot all game at an opportune time when I needed to," said Prince, who scored 10 points with eight rebounds. "... What better way can I help the team out?

*****

Did you see David West?
Times Picayune
West, the Hornets' power forward, had 38 points and 14 rebounds, and the Hornets proved they still had an edge against an older squad in the third quarter. New Orleans went on a 14-0 run and outscored San Antonio 28-11 in that period, as the Hornets controlled the pace of the game and parted ways with early shooting problems.

Cool West story
Yahoo Sports
He had a New Orleans Hornets official walk him over to make the introduction because it simply wasn't West's way to presume that David Robinson had ever heard of him.

This time, West becomes Duncan
San Antonio Express

****

10 worst moves of NFL off-season
The Sporting News
If Johnson had merely put a sock in the place where he hangs that golden grill on game days, he wouldn't be in a position to look so silly when he shows up for training camp and acts like he didn't act like a complete fool.