So I'm watching a little of the Sunday night baseball on ESPN. The Cubs are up on the Mets 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Nice, I think. The Mets come to Cincy this week; maybe losing to the Cubs will bring them down to earth a little. I finish my Spinach Chicken salad from Wendy's and wander off.

Fast forward several hours. I consider mentioning that the Mets lost to the Cubs in my game wrap and go check the final score. Oh, the Mets didn't lose? 13-7. Huh.

It wasn't until I noticed the 11-run sixth inning that my jaw dropped.

After Mets shortstop Chris Woodward flied out, and with the help of a fielding error, the Mets loaded the bases to set up Carlos Floyd for the grand slam.

A walk and a catching error set up Endy Chavez to single in the fifth run of the inning, which paled in comparison when the Mets loaded them up again and (after Woodward made the second out) Carlos Beltran hit another grand slam.

But that's only nine runs, you might say. Well, David Wright hit a two-run shot two batters later to bring in two more before Ramon Castro robbed Woodward of the chance to provide the third out as well.

The best part of all is that, because of the two errors, no runs after the first grand slam were earned. I would say that the best part of all is that Glendon Rusch pitched two scoreless innings at the end of the game, but the Mets probably weren't really trying anymore by that point.

So, that's what we've got to look forward to on Tuesday. Thank goodness we've got Gary Majewski to get us out of any jams.

I've created a Human League entry for Brandon Phillips. JinAZ doesn't have a corresponding entry yet (something about a new baby or something), but we can add a link to that later. I wouldn't put off reading the HL entry, though; I've got a picture of his girlfriend and everything.

I've also added a section to the Bronson Arroyo Human League with those spring training photos. Enjoy!

Brandon Phillips on Wikipedia
Phillip’s profile on Reds.com
Black Ice: Ladies

Brandon Phillips on Wikipedia
Phillip's profile on Reds.com
Black Ice: Ladies

Today three of the Reds' all-time greats were formally inducted into the team's Hall of Fame: Lee May, Tom Seaver, and Tom Browning.

May got traded away in 1971 before the Big Red Machine had its best years in '75 and '76, and he largely gets forgotten about by many Reds fans as a result. But he wasn't known as “The Big Bopper” for no reason. May hit a lot of very meaningful homers for the Reds while he was playing in Cinci. One I'll always remember was the last game ever played at old Crosley Field. It was in 1970, and after Johnny Bench had homered to tie the game in the eighth inning, May came up and took Juan Marichal deep to beat the Giants, 5-4. It was the last homer anybody ever hit at Crosley Field.

I also remember a game in St. Louis later that year where the Reds and Cardinals took a scoreless tie into extra innings. Lee May won it for the Reds with a grand slam. Less than a month later against the Phillies, he drove in all the Reds' runs in a game the reds eventually won, 5-4. May tied it with a homer in the ninth - his second HR of the game - and won it with an RBI single in the 14th.

Seaver is mostly remembered by baseball fans as a Met, a member of the Miracle Mets in 1969. I remember him for that, too. But I also remember that Tom Terrific was wearing a Reds uniform in three of his appearances in the All-Star game, and he was wearing a Reds uniform when he threw his only career no-hitter, in 1978 against the Cardinals in St. Louis. I was on vacation that week and listened to that game on the radio. When George Hendrick grounded out to Dan Driessen at first base to end that game, my family needed crowbars to peel me off the ceiling.

Tom Browning went Seaver one better some ten years later (in 1988), pitching a 1-0 perfect game against the Dodgers in Riverfront Stadium. So far, it's been the only perfect game in Reds history. Although I can't confirm it, I read somewhere that it’s the only time a perfect game was thrown against the team that would go on to win the world championship that same season. Browning also was a World Series winner with the Reds in 1990, when he led the team with 15 wins.

It is fitting that these three men should join the other Reds greats recognized in the Reds Hall Of fame, and on this, the occasion of their official enshrinement, I salute Lee May, Tom Seaver, and Tom Browning. Thanks for the many fond memories, guys!

John (KC2HMZ)