I'm going to keep this short because I've already started drinking tonight. I've got only two things.

1. Javy had a boy. Congratulations to the family from RHM.

2. Opening day tickets go on sale tomorrow (along with all the other single-game tickets). I'll be clicking my mouse and dialing my phone like mad, but I'm not optimistic. Good luck to everyone tomorrow, and if you do get through, don't forget your favorite blogger.

CINCINNATI, OH -- Reds' Manager Jerry Narron re-hired Randy Whisler to be first base coach today when John Moses unexpectedly retired yesterday.

Moses was almost on the plane to report for duty at spring training when he realized that he just couldn't tear himself away from the people he loves most.

“It caught me completely off guard,” Reds manager Jerry Narron said. “He's been in baseball a long time. He told me he was on his way to the airport and just had a change of heart with what he was doing. He felt like he had to do what's best for his family.”

Narron wasted no time tracking down the man who had held the position immediately prior to Moses.

“Whisler brings a lot of base-coaching experience,” said Narron. “He's a real veteran.”

Ken Griffey, father of the Reds' center fielder by the same name, had been thought to be a front-runner for the position. Griffey seemed to fit well with Castellini's stated desire to include more former Reds in the day-to-day activities of the team and could lend his experience with a winning Reds team. Plus, junior Griffey tends to hit better when his father is around; he's hit four home runs on his father's birthdays and four more on Father's Days throughout his career.

“Having Whisler as the first base coach gives us more flexibility,” explained Narron. “He allows us to use [Griffey Sr] in more of a utility role.

It's lucky pennies that always turn back up, right?

When Luke Hudson was designated for assigment to make room for Michael Gosling, and Jung Keun Bong for Scott Hatteberg, it seemed like I was reading a lot of “I never liked him anyway” or “I really thought he could work out” kinds of comments. People seemed to think they were gone forever.

In both cases, though, there's still time to not like or hope for the best for the guys. Both cleared waivers and are again signed with the organization. For Bong, it seemed easy:

Jung Keun Bong has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Louisville along with an invitation to big-league camp.

For Hudson, it was a touch more complicated:

“Waivers were secured (once) to allow us to outright Hudson to Louisville. Because he was a potential minor league free agent, under MLB rules he must sign a major league contract prior to being outrighted. This rule applies to any potential minor league free agent who is outrighted during the off-season after October 15 of the previous year (Bong, Hancock and Kozlowski are in the same category).”

Actually, that makes it sound like Bong was in the same situation, but we were spared the gory details. Really, I'm grateful.

The tinier half of the Reds' dynamic duo of catchers will be late to spring training this season as he awaits the imminent birth of his second child, according to a subhead way down at the bottom of the story Room with a View for Castellini in the Cincinnati Post.

DUE ANY DAY - Backup catcher Javier Valentin will not report with the rest of his fellow receivers today, but his absence has been excused.

Valentin's wife, Ingrid, is due to give birth to the couple's second child at any time. If the birth doesn't occur naturally by today, they probably will induce labor so Valentin can make his way to Florida from Puerto Rico by Saturday or Sunday.

Just think: someday that kid will tell people about how the doctors broke mom's water so that pop could give him or her a kiss before heading off to spring training. How would you like to be able to claim a baseball story like that? As if it wouldn't already be cool enough to have the Latin Love Machine for a father!

So the new guys have their numbers:

• Rick White, 00
• Bench coach Bucky Dent, 7
• Frank Menechino, 16
• Scott Hatteberg, 21
• Quinton McCracken, 30
• Grant Balfour, 36
• Michael Gosling, 48
• Dave Williams, 52
• Mike Burns, 53
• Justin Germano, 57
• Homer Bailey, 74
• Tuffy Rhodes, 83

I really didn't think they'd hand out #21 to anyone this season. But they gave it to Hatteberg, the new cute-as-a-button first baseman who's lacking that traditional first baseman power. Maybe they just got confused.

As usual, many thanks to Marc Lancaster's spring training blog for the heads-up.