Wily Mo Peña watches a pitch go by. Unfortunately, he did a lot of that last night.

Though I've lived within two hours of Victory Field for over fifteen years, last night was the first Indianapolis Indians' game I've ever attended. In my defense, they're now a Pittsburgh affiliate. How am I supposed to get behind that?

In any event, it was a good time. Of course we saw Wily Mo who, by the way, is approximately twice the size of any other individual person on the team, but we also got to see some other familiar faces: William Bergolla, Edwin Encarnación, Dane Sardinha, Pedro Swann, and Kenny Kelly.

We also got to see Allan Simpson pitch. It's true: he does throw very fast, indeed. It's also true: he's a little bit wild. But it's not like he threw anything 10 rows into the stands. It was interesting: every time we looked up he seemed to be throwing around 95, which was a new experience for me as a spectator.

The woman two rows in front of us was wearing a Dernell Stenson pendant, and when a guy in her row asked her about it, she said that he was the father of her little boy. That was sort of poignant, but also sort of cool.

All-in-all, a good time. Winter's already asking to go back.

As much fun as the proper game wrap was, I'm going to have to revert to my bullet points today to squeeze this in before I leave for the Indians/Bats game tonight:

• Aaron Harang is awesome. Ten strikeouts. Just awesome. I don't approve of giving him the hook after the seventh inning, though I can't complain about David Weathers' or Todd Coffey's relief performances.
• Felipe Lopez got a hit today to bring his hitting streak to, what, 12 games right?
• Joe Randa had a 2-run homerun to provide the Reds score for the longest time, plus another couple timely hits. Man, I've missed him. Jon calls Randa trade-bait, but I'm an eternal optimist and am hoping for Randa to be instrumental to the Reds' post-season bid.
• Adam Dunn, with the protection of Randa and Austin Kearns behind him, got a hit to knock in Sean Casey for the third run of the game. It probably won't shut up people who complain about him not hitting with runners in scoring position, but it still rocks.
• After that, the scoring started to blur together, except Ryan Freel got his second homerun of the season in the ninth inning to bring in three runs. It probably won't shut up people who complain about him not having enough RBI, but it still rocks.

On an unrelated note, apparently due to me using the phrase, “boom goes the dynamite” in a post earlier this week, I received an email with this link about t-shirts sporting that fantabulous phrase. I've asked for a link to where you can buy them, but in the mean time I guess you can search eBay if you're interested.

Awesome game today, and now I'm off to primp for the Bats game. Gotta look good in case Wily Mo spots us.

Special thanks to the following Web sites for providing knowledge above-and-beyond the normal stats. Go visit them for more information:

• Ryan Freel’s Player Profile on Cincinnati Reds: The Official Site
• No position too difficult for these guys on espn.com
• Reds’ Ryan Freel Arrested On DUI Charge on WCPO.com
• Freel Pleads Guilty To Drunken Driving on ChannelCincinnati.com
• Freel Reds’ man of skills But he lacks spot to call his own on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Utility man’s energy gives him shot at Opening Day roster on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Daugherty: Freel knows no limits on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• White eager to take mound: HERE YE, HERE YE on The Cincinnati Enquirer

Special thanks to the following Web sites for providing knowledge above-and-beyond the normal stats. Go visit them for more information:

• Ryan Freel's Player Profile on Cincinnati Reds: The Official Site
• No position too difficult for these guys on espn.com
• Reds' Ryan Freel Arrested On DUI Charge on WCPO.com
• Freel Pleads Guilty To Drunken Driving on ChannelCincinnati.com
• Freel Reds' man of skills But he lacks spot to call his own on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Utility man's energy gives him shot at Opening Day roster on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• Daugherty: Freel knows no limits on The Cincinnati Enquirer
• White eager to take mound: HERE YE, HERE YE on The Cincinnati Enquirer

When you select a player’s jersey to wear, you’re honoring that player, but you’re also sending a message to the world about yourself. When you elect to don #6, you’re telling the world that you appreciate passion, energy, and a can-do attitude. You’re saying that you aren’t afraid of embarassement, pain, or hefty emergency room bills. You’re saying that you don’t wait around for things to happen; you make your own destiny.

Or, at least, that you wish you could do those things.