Redsfest will culminate this weekend with the fourth-annual Reds Community Fund Celebrity Poker Tournament presented by Prestige AV & Creative Services.   Last year more than 500 participants helped make it the largest event of its kind and there’s still time to register for this year’s festivities.

The Texas Hold’em-style event takes place Saturday, December 5 at the Duke Energy Convention Center grand ballroom.  Registration and side games begin at 3:00 p.m. and the actual tournament commences at 5:00 p.m. There’s a guaranteed $10,000 grand prize for the winner, and each table of 10 will feature a current or former Reds player, coach, broadcaster or local celebrity. If you knock one of those celebrities out of the tournament, you win the autographed jersey off his or her back!

For more information, contact Charley Frank at 513-765-7231 or cfrank@reds.com.

Better Off Red readers can register to play for only $150 (it’s regularly $200).  Register today at www.reds.com/poker, click on the “Register Now” button and enter the following coupon code at the bottom of the page: RCFPOKER

Jamie

With Fox Sports Ohio Redsfest Presented by Kahns coming up, I sat down with Reds Promotional Events Manager Zach Bonkowski for a hard-hitting interview regarding the grandiose event.  I pulled no punches and asked the questions that I know you all want the answers to.  The interview is divided into 2 parts with the first part here and the second part here.  Enjoy!

Have a happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  I’m not sure I’ll be posting over the holiday, but you can bet a dime to a donut that I’ll be back next week for some Redsfest prep…

See ya!

Jamie

 

 

TReynolds.WMA -> audio file

Reds Senior Director of Player Development Terry Reynolds today joined me for a phone interview to discuss the recent additions to the 40-man roster.  (The audio file is attached above, apologies for the sound quality). 

 Here’s the transcript:

BETTER OFF RED: Hi folks, thanks for logging on.  I’m Jamie Ramsey and today’s guest on Better Off Red is Reds Director of Player Development Terry Reynolds.  Terry, welcome to the blog.

TERRY REYNOLDS: Hi Jamie, happy to be here.

BOR: Terry, on Friday the Reds made some moves to the 40-man roster to accommodate the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.  Before we talk about the players added to the roster, can you talk in layman’s terms what the Rule 5 draft is and why the Reds added these names to the roster?

TR: Well, the Rule 5 Draft gives all teams an opportunity to search the rosters of all 29 other clubs and determine if there is anyone on there who has been playing baseball in their organization for basically more than 6 years.  (Someone) who at this time has been left on a roster below the Major League roster, which (another) club would have an interest in acquiring.  So it gets a little complicated but you’re trying to find a gem basically in somebody else’s system.

BOR: Ok, so the Reds on Friday added to the 40-man roster RHP Enerio Del Rosario, OF Chris Heisey, RHP Logan Ondrusek, RHP Jordan Smith, IF Chris Valaika, LHP Philippe Valiquette and LHP Travis Wood.  Obviously the more recognizable names from that list are Heisey, Wood and Valaika.  Heisey is one of those guys who’s getting a lot of publicity lately.  And depending on whom you ask, folks either really like his game or are just kind of mildly impressed.  What can you tell us about him?

TR: Chris is a guy that Jeff Brookens in our scouting department deserves a lot of credit for.  He was a 17th-round draft pick out of a small school in Pennsylvania and this guy has really good tools.  He can run, he can throw, he can hit, he can play all 3 outfield positions.  (He has) enough speed to play center, enough arm to play right.  He’s a smart player.  He’s hit and put up good numbers at every level he’s played which includes Double-A, Triple-A and now the Arizona Fall League.  He’s a good-looking young player that I’m happy we have in our system.

BOR: And I have to admit, we were in a meeting at the beginning of the year in Walt’s office and he asked you point-blank, “Give me a name that we should keep an eye on,” and you said Heisey and it’s paid off, he had a great year.

TR: He’s one of those guys you root for, too because without any fanfare he does his job, does what he’s told, works hard at his game and tries to improve everyday.

BOR: Travis Wood had a breakout year down on the farm last season, did you see this coming and what happened to enable Travis to enjoy this renewed success? 

TR: Well I think the pat on the back goes to the pitching coaches in player development whether it’s Tom Brown or Rigo Beltran or Mack Jenkins or any of the pitching coaches that have dealt with Travis over the last couple of years.  I think it’s really just a case of him maturing both as a player and as a person.  He was very young high school player when he was drafted, and each year it’s kind of taken him a second year at each level to get his feet underneath him and be successful.  This year, he jumped into Double-A and really tore it up from the beginning of the season, (and he) pitched well when he got to Triple-A.  He’s always had the stuff to do it, I think it’s a matter of increased confidence and increasing his ability to throw pitches where he wants to throw them.  Did I see it coming?  No, to answer your question, but it sure was a pleasant surprise and hopefully he can keep that going.

BOR: And you mentioned his stuff, is it true – I think I read in Baseball America – that he learned a new pitch?

TR:  He throws a cutter, which has helped.  It just gives the hitter something else to look at and it gives him a little bit more confidence to throw the ball in on the hitter’s hands.  And it has been a big help to him.

BOR: Chris Valaika had a really rough start in 2009 and then when he returned from injury showed signs of his old self.  Where do you see his progress at this point?

TR:  I’m going to call last year just a blip on the radar screen for Chris.  He didn’t have a good year performance-wise, (and then) he had a broken hand and missed a bunch of time.  Just when it looked like he was coming back to be his old self, it just kind of leveled out at the end of the summer.  My expectation with him is that he’s going to come out and have a real good year next year in Louisville.  In talking to him just recently, I know he’s very focused on doing that.  For the people who don’t know Chris, he’s one of those guys that if he tells you he’s doing something, he’s gonna do it in the offseason and come in ready to go.  I know it was a frustrating year for all of us, but most importantly it was a frustrating year for him and I wouldn’t (plan to) see a duplication of that coming next year.

BOR: And for Chris, do you see him more as a shortstop or a second-baseman or a utility-infielder?  What’s your take on that, what’s his best position?

TR: Well he’s played predominately shortstop for us in the course of the minor leagues.  If he can do that, I don’t have any reason to doubt that he couldn’t come up and play shortstop at the Major League level.  The great thing about Chris is that he can give you some versatility.  If you need him to play second he can do that, he can even play third, he can do that.  I would still consider him primarily a shortstop but he’s got the ability to – if needed – can play any one of those 3 spots.   

BOR: Now let’s talk a little about the lesser-known players who were added to the roster.  We’ll start with Enerio Del Rosario.  What kind of pitcher is he, and what makes him roster-worthy?

TR: He was one of those guys that started out in A-ball this year for us and basically dominated that level.  He made a stop in Double-A and pitched extremely well there.  And then you kind of hold your breath because we had a bunch of guys move 2 levels this year, which is something you try not to do if you can avoid it.  But it was one of those unavoidable circumstances with a lot of guys and Ernie got to Triple-A and I don’t know if he gave up a run there in a bunch of outings.  Most nights he was almost unhittable.  He’s just one of those guys who really knows how to pitch.  He keeps the ball way down in the strike zone, he changes speeds, he’s very aggressive.  I wouldn’t say there isn’t anything overpowering about the guy, but I would say if you had to have somebody come out there in the 7th, 8th or 9th inning during this summer, he would’ve been 1 of the 2 or 3 guys in our system you wanted out there on the mound.

BOR: Logan Ondrusek is a lanky hard-thrower.  He’s had some recent struggles, but obviously the organization likes what they see out of him.  What’s your take on Logan?

TR: Everything I just basically said about Del Rosario is true for Ondrusek, too.  He also started in A-ball, ended up in Triple-A, ended up in the (Arizona) Fall League.  (He) pitched at a tremendous level this summer in all 3 levels he pitched.  He ended up struggling a bit in the fall league and I’d say some of that was due to throwing a lot during the course of the summer, maybe more than he’s thrown for us in the past.  And also, the break between the end of the season and the fall league; I think he’s one of those guys who the more he pitches consistently without a break, the better he gets.  I think the thing that was different with Logan this year was his attitude.  He believed he could get hitters out, he’s always had the stuff to do it and this year he went out there and pitched that way.  

BOR: An interesting name to me is Jordan Smith. He is coming off an injury and didn’t pitch much in ’09.  And again, obviously the club thinks enough of his ability to protect him by adding him to the 40-man roster.  What can you tell us about Jordan?

TR:  He’s a big, strong, right-handed pitcher who’s been used predominately by us as a starter in the past.  I think there’s talk that we may try him in the pen, come the spring.  But he’s got probably the best stuff of the guys we’ve been talking about on this call.  He’s young, he’s big and he’s strong.  He did have a set-back with an elbow issue during the course of the season but he did not have surgery.  He joined us in Instructional League and it looks like everything is good and he should be 100% ready to go in the spring.  He’s one of those guys who can move real fast if he’s healthy. 

BOR: Valiquette is a hard-throwing lefty, what impresses you about his game?

TR: Well the most impressive thing is he’s a lefthander throwing at anywhere near 93 to 97 mph.  He’s French-Canadian without much of a baseball background when we drafted him, so it’s been a fairly steep learning curve for Philippe during the course of his career.  It’s just every year (his progress has) been incrementally done and last year was by far the best he’s pitched as a Red.  (He has) one of those arms, that when the draft comes around in December, he’d be an easy guy for another club to take because you could just put him in the bullpen and throw him out there a couple of times a week, and “Oh, this guy’s got a great arm” and hang on to him for a full season.  He’s one of those guys, that when it all clicks and that he finally becomes a complete pitcher, he’s got as good of stuff as anyone we have.    

BOR: Terry, I’m sure you saw the recent list from Baseball America naming the Reds Top 10 Prospects.  Did you agree with how their take on the players on the list went? 

TR: You know, Jamie I don’t really get into who our top 10 guys are or who anyone else thinks they are.  For me it’s, what are you doing?  How did they perform this past summer?  What do we think of them as an organization and where can they help us and WHEN can they help us.  All that stuff becomes so subjective.  They get opinions from a lot of people who, they’re qualified to give their opinions – I’m not sure.  I’m not going to get into agreeing or disagreeing with Baseball America, but there’s always interesting names on the list and there are good players on the list.

BOR: And obviously Todd Frazier was listed as their #1 Reds prospect.  What are your thoughts on Todd?  He’s been bounced around at different positions.  Do you think that helps him or hurts his long-term performance as a big league player?

TR: I’ve said to some people that if I’m the general manager of a club, I’d love to have a guy like this because he gives me so much flexibility.  I mean if you need a left fielder, a third baseman, a shortstop or a second baseman or a first baseman.  If any of those guys break down, this guy can go out and do a good job in any of those spots.  So long-term for him, I think it’s been a great thing that he’s proven his versatility that he can play at all of those spots.  Now what’s his best spot?  I don’t know.  He’s done a nice job at all of those (positions).  My anticipation is that he’d probably start in left field next year in Triple-A.  But things change on a dime, so I’m not sure that will happen, but that’d be my guess.   

BOR:  Now an important question regarding Mike Leake.  Don’t you think he looks a lot like Kirk Cameron from Growing Pains? 

TR: Yeah!  Exactly!  And you know the positive thing about Mike, is he will talk as much as Kirk Cameron.  He is a dandy.  (He’s had) as much fun as anyone I’ve ever been around as a first year guy coming into camp.  (He’s been) just fitting in and enjoying things.  (He’s) really a pleasure being around and on top of that he can really pitch.

BOR:  He had a great Arizona Fall League session and he seems like he’s got a lot of pitches and he knows what he’s doing out there on the mound.

TR: Exactly right.  The main thing about him, is he can throw the pitches where he wants to.  The times he gets into trouble are when he tries to do a little too much.  But when he just pitches, he is really good.

BOR: Terry, can you give the audience a few names to watch out for in 2010?

TR: There’s some younger guys that they probably haven’t heard of that aren’t going to be in the big leagues next year but they’re going to be fun names to watch in the minor leagues.  Actually all 3 are shortstops: Billy Hamilton, who was a 3rd round draft choice for us last year, played in the Gulf Coast League and is very athletic, very crude but a very talented young shortstop.  He’s a high school guy.  Second one would be Miguel Rojas who played shortstop for Dayton last year.  If he doesn’t have the best hands of any player I’ve ever seen, he’s in the top 3 or 4.  He has tremendous hands.  He’s playing in Venezuela right now in winter ball.  The last one would be, Mariekson Gregorius who’s a shortstop for us out of Curacao.  (He’s) really now starting to get confidence, starting to learn what being a pro ballplayer is all about.  We’ve gone from, really kind of looking to have some younger players in the middle of the diamond, to having 3 really good ones.  So it’s an exciting time for those 3.

BOR: Where do you see Gregorius playing in 2010?

TR: I would guess Rojas would be in (High-A) Lynchburg, Gregorius would be in (A) Dayton and Hamilton being in (Rookie) Billings but that’s strictly an educated guess.

BOR: And that would be 1 step up for each of them from last year, correct?

TR: Yes.

BOR: Finally, Terry, I saw you down in the weight room today and no offense but you were pedaling kind of slow on the bike. 

TR: Well you only got to see the warm-up part of the exercise, Jamie.  An hour and a half later, I was doing a hundred RPMs a second on that thing and I actually just got off the bike 5 minutes ago.  You missed most of the act. 

BOR:  That’s quite a workout, Terry.

TR: Well, I saw you doing those 6 pound curls, getting ready for the Thanksgiving weekend…

BOR: As Rob Butcher likes to say – we play for the tie around here as far as exercise goes. 

TR:  If I can stay even, it’s been a good day Jamie.  

BOR: Terry, thanks for taking the time out to answer some questions.  I appreciate it.

TR: Alrighty, see ya.

Saguarosstats.pdf

 Hi folks! 

Recently the staff here at Better Off Red agreed that in order to take the Reds Cap Club to the next level was to appoint a club president.  The staff poured over a long list of candidates and spent hours upon hours paring that list down to a final few. 

Eventually Bill “Seg” Dennison, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the baby from the E-Trade commercials and 5-time Grammy Award-winner Donna Summer emerged from a list of 45,000 potential presidential candidates.  Of those 4, just 1 fit the criteria* to become the “George Washington” of the Reds Cap Club. (* = own a Reds cap).

Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, please allow me to introduce to you the first-ever President of the Reds Cap Club….Bill “Seg-Man” Dennison!!!

I spoke to Seg earlier today via email and here’s what he had to say:

“It’s truly an honor to serve as your President.  I will lead Reds Cap Nation to the best of my abilities and keep it the GREATEST in the World!”  

Congrats, Seg.  Your term starts now.

==========

And now that we have a new Reds Cap Club president, it’s only fitting that we welcome some of the club’s newest members. 

Here’s Anthony and Lauren Balsly from Mason, OH wearing their Bronson Arroyo caps:

You might notice that bandage on Lauren’s knee.  No worries, she’s ok.  She recently got scraped up a little bit in Tokyo while successfully defending her Mixed Martial Arts “Under 4 years or 25 pounds” world title.

Our other newest member to the club is recording artist, Lil Wayne of New Orleans, LA.  Welcome to the club, Lil! 

 

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Mike Leake yesterday wrapped up a very successful Arizona Fall League season.

Cincinnati’s 2009 first-round pick finished the AFL season with a 1-2 record in 6 games (5 starts).  He allowed just 3 earned runs (9r) in 19.2 innings with 3 walks and 15 strikeouts.

Attached at the top of this entry is the final stats for the Peoria Saguaros, the AFL team that also included Reds prospects 1B Yonder Alonso, SS Zack Cozart, OF Chris Heisey, RHP Brad Boxberger, RHP Logan Ondrusek and RHP Sean Watson.

==========

In case you didn’t see, Baseball America yesterday released the Reds Top 10 Prospects:

1. Todd Frazier
2. Yonder Alonso
3. Mike Leake
4. Chris Heisey
5. Juan Francisco
6. Yorman Rodriguez
7. Travis Wood
8. Matt Maloney
9. Brad Boxberger
10. Zack Cozart

==========

That’s all for now.  Have a great weekend!  Thank you for logging on, I really appreciate it!

Jamie

 

In memory of Johnnie B. Baker Sr.

 

Expanded Roster.pdf

Today the Reds added to the 40-man roster RHP Enerio Del Rosario, OF Chris Heisey, RHP Logan Ondrusek, RHP Jordan Smith, IF Chris Valaika, LHP Philippe Valiquette and LHP Travis Wood…the Reds also outrighted off the roster RHP Daryl Thompson, while OF Laynce Nix refused an outright assignment and elected free agency…C Craig Tatum was claimed off waivers by Baltimore…the Reds current 40-man roster includes 40 players (roster is attached above). 
 

Reds Hall of Famer Bob Howsam is 1 of 20 Veterans Committee Candidates eligible for consideration for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s class of 2010.  Howsam was the general manager and the architect of the Big Red Machine.  If anyone deserves to be enshrined in Cooperstown, it’s the guy who put together the best team that ever played the game.  The Baseball Hall of Fame has a nice feature on Howsam here.

Up until Howsam’s death last year, we’d get interview requests for Bob trickling into our media relations offices from time to time.  I’d call Bob at his home in Arizona asking if he’d be willing to field these requests.  He usually would, but not before taking a few minutes to talk to me about the Reds and baseball and other random topics.  It’s something I’ll never forget, chatting idly with the great Bob Howsam.  I got to meet Bob when he was in town for a Reds Hall of Fame function a few years ago, and when I introduced myself, I was flattered that he recognized my name and remembered our chats on the phone.  He was a very special man and hopefully he gets his much-deserved spot in Cooperstown.

 

==========

The Reds announced today that former Reds manager and current Cubs skipper Lou Piniella will attend Redsfest on Friday, December 4.  For a full list of those scheduled to appear at Redsfest, click here.

FOX Sports Ohio Redsfest, presented by Kahn’s, benefiting the Reds Community Fund will be held at Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati on Friday, December 4 from 4:00 to 11:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m…1-day tickets are $15 for adults and $7 for fans 12 and under…2-day tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids…tickets are on sale now via the internet at reds.com, by phone at (513) 381-REDS, at all area Meijer stores and at Great American Ball Park administration offices.

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39 years ago today, Johnny Bench was named National League MVP for 1970.  Tony Perez came in 3rd.

========== 

What an outstanding story by Patrick Hruby exposing a Cambodian refugee’s motives in promoting baseball in his home country.  Simply fantastic reading.

========== 

Where’s your Reds Cap Club photos? 

 

 

ALL ABOARD!

First Some News: SS Zack Cozart and RHP Logan Ondrusek finished up their Arizona Fall League seasons a little early.  Cozart is suffering from a thumb injury and Ondrusek has reached his innings-pitched limit.

==========

Sour Grapes Alert:  Since the amount of coverage the RedHawks get in Cincinnati suggests Miami University might as well be located in Miami, Florida, you might have missed the fact that my boys from Oxford (Ohio, 35 miles from downtown Cincinnati) nearly upset the Kentucky Wildcats (Lexington, 89 miles from downtown Cincinnati) last night in Rupp Arena.  Miami lost thanks to poor officiating and a last second shot by the newest basketball messiah John Wall.  I’m not bitter though….well, maybe just a little (ok, a lot). 

==========

Even Bigger News: Don’t you love when you get a package in the mail?  Today I received my brand new digital voice recorder and I’m super excited about breaking this thing in. 
In concurrence of getting my new toy, I’ve lined up some interviews with Daniel Ray Herrera, Paul Janish, Adam Rosales, minor leaguers Danny Dorn, Matt Fairel, Devin Mesoraco, and a few other surprise guests. 

I also might test this recorder out by secretly recording my colleague Larry Herms while he’s in his office belting out his favorite Dionne Warwick songs.  Stay tuned.

(If there’s anyone else you’d like me to contact for a blog chat, let me know…)

==========

On This Date In Reds History 1992: The Reds traded Norm Charlton to Seattle for Kevin Mitchell.  In 3 seasons with the Reds (’93, ’94 & ’96) Mitchell batted .332 (248-for-747) with 55 HR, 167 RBI, 131 R, .414 OBP and a .631 SLG% in 225 games…Also on the very same day, the Florida Marlins selected minor leaguer Trevor Hoffman from Cincinnati in the expansion draft.

 

==========

So if I had a dollar for every time someone’s asked me what I do in the offseason, I’d probably be rich enough that Kate Hudson would want to date me (or at the very least, Kevin Federline). 

Anyway, now that the season is over, I’m still required to work regular office hours.  I’m currently working on my biggest offseason project – the 2010 Reds Media Guide, specifically the Player Development section of the guide.

The project for me goes like this…

Once the World Series ends, I pay a trip to the Reds office building to see Director of Minor League Administration Lois Hudson.  She gives me a full organizational roster and a stack of

about 200 individual “Cincinnati Reds Player Biographical Information Sheets,” detailing the vitals for each player in the Reds system (full name, height/weight, date of birth, birth city, current place of residence, age, bats/throws, school, etc). 

I use the information from these sheets, along with the individual player’s statistics to begin the base of the player’s “bio.”  If the player went to college, I use my resources to find his college bio and pluck information from that as well.  I also scour Baseball America, Stats Inc., MILB.com and other sites for any helpful info that I can use.

 

The idea is to find stuff that’s useful to the media when/if they mention our players.  It’s also handy for teams that acquire one of our players, as they can take the information from the bio I wrote and include it in their press release announcing the player acquisition.

Once I finish all of the minor league player bios, I’ll write the bios for our minor league teams’ coaching staffs and then make any changes to the section that are necessary.  Just before the media guide goes to press, there are usually a few personnel changes made by the team that require altering the Player Development section (sometimes I’ll have to write a few last-second bios). 

Upon completion of the Player Development section, I’m available to help out Larry and Rob (and this year, Jim) with their sections of the guide.  Since I’m usually the last one to finish his section, they’re usually the ones offering to help me.

Finally, prior to completing the media guide, we have to proofread it.  This is easily my most disliked part of the process, but it’s probably the most important.  The 2009 Reds Media Guide encompassed 512 pages of information, so obviously there has to be several sets of eyes editing and proofing to make sure we didn’t mess up (too badly).  Just like any publication that size and containing that amount of information, there are going to be some mistakes.  But having people proofreading it greatly reduces the amount of errors in the final product.  

It’s quite a project that takes a while to complete, but it keeps me pretty busy in the offseason.

==========

Well, that’s all for now…assuming you’re still awake after all of that, I’d like to personally thank you for reading the blog.  I appreciate it very much! 

Keep those Reds Cap Club pictures rolling in…we have some new members this week as well as a big announcement! 

See ya

Jamie

 

Today the Reds announced that Class AAA Louisville’s coaching staff will include manager Rick Sweet, hitting coach Adrian Garrett, pitching coach Ted Power and athletic trainer Tomas Vera; Class A Lynchburg’s coaching staff will include manager Pat Kelly, hitting coach Tony Jaramillo, pitching coach Rigo Beltran and athletic trainer Dale Nitzel; rookie league Billings’ coaching staff will include manager Delino DeShields, hitting coach Alex Pelaez, pitching coach Bob Forsch and athletic trainer Charles Leddon; rookie Arizona League Goodyear’s coaching staff will include manager Julio Garcia, pitching coach Tom Browning, hitting coach Jorge Orta, head athletic trainer Clete Sigwart, assistant athletic trainer Charlie Rodriguez and strength and conditioning coach Zach Gjestvang.

The only big changes here include former Reds bench coach Pat Kelly taking over the manager duties at Lynchburg.  He had been the GCL Reds skipper for past few seasons.  Delino DeShields, who was Billings’ hitting coach last season will serve as manager of the Mustangs in 2010.  Julio Garcia moves from Billings’ manager to AZL-Reds skipper.  Joining Garcia in Goodyear will be Reds hall of famer Tom Browning, who’ll work as pitching coach. 

Ramon Hernandez will return to the Reds next season…Here’s the press release:

REDS, RAMON HERNANDEZ AGREE TO DEAL
Catcher Signs 1-Year Contract With An Option For 2011

CINCINNATI – President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty today announced that the Cincinnati Reds and C Ramon Hernandez have agreed to terms on a 1-year contract through the 2010 season with an option for 2011. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We’re very happy to have Ramon back for next season,” Jocketty said. “He provides us with stability behind the plate, both offensively and defensively. Last season he showed his versatility by playing first base for an extended period of time. Re-signing him was a priority for us this off-season.”

In 81 games last season Hernandez hit .258 with 13 doubles, 5 HR and 37 RBI. With Joey Votto on the disabled list in June, Hernandez started at first base in 18 of the Reds’ 21 games. From July 20-September 18 he missed 57 games while on the disabled list with a left knee injury that required surgery.

On December 9 of last year Hernandez was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles, along with cash, in exchange for IF/OF Ryan Freel and minor leaguers IF Justin Turner and IF Brandon Waring. While with the Orioles he had signed a contract through the 2009 season with a club option for 2010.

Over the weekend I continued my quest to find local businesses that pledge allegiance to the Cincinnati Reds.  I ended up in one of my favorite spots - Stones Lanes in Norwood (3746 Montgomery Road).  Stones is located right in the heart of Xavier Musketeer country, and like many of the buildings in Norwood, it’s big and old and full of personality.

Similar to the city in which it’s located, Stones has recently undergone a renaissance of sorts.  The bowling center has replaced its old wooden lanes with modern synthetic ones, popular with the more serious bowlers.  New carpeting and improvements to the ball returns have also been a nice addition.

An eclectic mix of clientele can frequently be found at Stones; young, old, advanced, beginner, college groups and groups of families have all been known to enjoy themselves there. 

Stones openly supports several of the local sports teams – especially the Cincinnati Reds.  Reds posters, pennants, pictures and signs are prevalent throughout the lounge/restaurant area.  A red wall lines the inside of the lounge with the old 70s/80s Reds logo painted in the center.  Above the logo hangs a  display case containing an autographed picture of Eric Davis, photos of the Big Red Machine and a bowling
pin signed by Brandon Phillips. 

However, my favorite item displayed at Stones has nothing to do with the Reds, rather it’s a Cardinals poster advertising the implosion of old Busch Stadium.  The poster is color-coded to show where Cardinals fans can view the implosion (safely out of the way) and where Cubs fans can view the implosion (in the seating bowl).

If you get the chance, stop by Stones to roll a game or two, then check out the cool Reds stuff!    

(My good friend Jack Tripansky poses in front of a Reds mirror at Stones)

 

If you know of any businesses that support the Reds, please email me at jramsey@reds.com, and I’ll check ‘em out. 

Jamie