The complete team did anyway. Reds-minus-Freel-Kearns-and-Valentín didn't fare as well, I hear.

Wasn't that a great game today? Really, what more could you want? It had leads and deficits. Big, bad villains and tiny little heroes. A HoF-caliber pitcher and Milton.

You could just feel the intensity coming through MLB's GameDay like heat off a flame. Not the least of which coming from this fella right here:

Wouldn't you just love to have that image on a t-shirt, coffee mug, and mouse pad? I wonder what I would need to do to make that happen legally and benefit from it financially.

I know I've already given our backup catcher an awful lot of attention lately, but I don't see how I can avoid giving him yet more props. In fact, if he keeps up this pace, Red Hot Mama will eventually have no choice other than to just become a Javier Valentín fan blog, complete with fake headlines such as:

Valentín Brothers To Release Husky Boy Clothing Line

'The Javy' the Hottest Trend In Facial Hair

and

Javier Valentín: Half the Height, Twice the Love

All this and great merchandise, too. Really, what more could you want?

CINCINNATI, OH -- This is the true story of 40 baseball players, picked to play in an Ohio club and have their lives secretly taped, and find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.

At least that's the word from an anonymous source close to the project. According to the source, the Fox Network and the Cincinnati Reds entered into an agreement before the 2005 season to covertly collect footage for a reality show to air this fall. The program was to be called The Making of a Winner and the producers were hopeful that it would be a natural segue program to premiere immediately after the World Series.

However, when the high hopes of spring training failed to translate to a winning season, the Reds looked elsewhere for the provacative interactions typical of reality television, and struck programming gold.

The new format, working title The New Biggest Loser, will feature secret footage taken of highly charged interpersonal situations orchestrated by the Reds management. Highlights include the heart-wrenching separation and jubilant reunion of Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns, the awkward interaction of D'Angelo Jimenez and Ryan Freel at AA Chattanooga, and the jettisoning and eventual decent into madness of Danny Graves.

The program will also feature Scooter, Fox Sports' animated baseball character, as the narrator.

The New Biggest Loser will premiere next month and will air on Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

Today we say farewell to Jason Romano, who elected free agency over accepting assignment to AAA Louisville.

And as we bid him well, we say goodbye to more than just an adequate backup; we also sad goodbye to a friend. And a smoking hottie.

Let's take just one more opportunity to enjoy the scenery, shall we?
So Pretty
Pretty AND Sweet

::contented sigh::

OK, that being said, the slot for hottest Red is again open. Watching the game tonight, I want to nominate Luke Hudson, but he actually looks quite a bit like Romano, and we might be ready to go a completely different direction. Wily Mo or Austin Kearns, for example, because these two must always be in competition.

I'm accepting nominations. Ought to be a fun contest to judge.

Here are some selected stats for Javier Valentín compared for the following two time periods:

• From the beginning of the 2005 season to 11:15 p.m., May 27, 2005
• From 11:15 p.m., May 27, 2005 to this very moment

What happened at 11:15 p.m. on May 27, 2005, you ask?

Why, that's the first time RHM published the phrase “Latin Love Machine” in an official post.

Just sayin'.

JAVY!

Demmit, Wily Mo: you get on in the eighth and he gets two grand slams.