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My feet and back are sore from all the walking and the carrying of multitudinous bags, but Redsfest has left me smiling with the memory of why I like baseball in the first place.

Funny how something so seemingly arbitrary and disconnected with the core of what makes me me has nevertheless introduced me to some of my favorite people and been with me when I’ve passed some of my happiest hours.

I hope that we’ll be able to post our full photo gallery later today, but I wanted to take a moment this morning to tell you that, if you’ve found that you relationship with baseball has lost some of its luster and you find yourself tempted by other sports, you might drop by day two of Redsfest. It opens in 10 minutes and will be there till 7 p.m.

A few months ago I participated in a survey of bloggers. At the time, I mistakenly thought that it was sports bloggers specifically, but looking at the results today, it appears to have been a pan-topic collection of blogs. It also appears to have been a vehicle for promoting video content on blogs, which is an offering of Videojug, the company who did the survey. To their credit, they haven’t put me on any mailing list or tried to pressure me into buying anything.

But that’s neither here nor there.

Anyway, if you’re interested in some meta information about bloggers, you can check out the results here. The one that I want to draw attention to–especially for a certain Cincinnati Reds Director of Media Relations who is paranoid that the whole blogsphere is out to squirm their way into the inner sanctum expressly to embarrass him publicly–the “Reasons for Running a Blog”:

“To take advantage of undue access,” “To humiliate the very subject I care enough about to dedicate time to writing about,” and “To cheer in the press box” fail to appear in the list. Imagine that.

Reading the last post, I didn’t like the idea of casual visitors to the site thinking that we’re all anger, all the time around here. Sure, the Reds have had their share of problems, many of them debatably self-inflicted, but it’s December. The wounds aren’t so fresh anymore, and maybe we’ll have a shiny new shortstop/left fielder/manager under the tree when Santa comes.

So, here’s my reimagining of that last post, with the kind of Redsfest weekend positivity that keeps us all going.

We all know that the current Cincinnati Reds have nowhere to go but up, and they are inspired by the nostalgia of the perfect past. You know, the same inspiration that the Reds marketing department uses to entice people to games.

Barry Larkin will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, and those of us who saw him play know that Larkin may actually be good enough for the Hall. Had I been able to choose newspaper industry back when journalists were revered as heroes and accrued the requisite number of years experience, he’d have my vote.

And apparently, the votes of a few people who actually got to vote. The Reds beat writer John Fay is voting for Larkin, as is Jim Caple at ESPN. I bet there’s more than that out there, but will it be enough? 75% will need to remember Larkin’s genius to send him to Cooperstown forever.

If you’d like to review his statistics, Redleg Nation put up a nifty table comparing Larkin to all other Hall of Fame shortstops. If Larkin’s high standing among those elite doesn’t sway you, how about a personal letter from Bob Castellini?

Whether Larkin makes it in this year or next, I’ll always remember him for the standing back-flip he did during the 1990 playoffs. And you can relive those thrilling days of yesteryear–when the Reds dominated their opponents and were fixtures in the playoffs–by attending RedsFest this year. I understand Barry Larkin is going to be there.

We all know how much the current Cincinnati Reds suck (I’m looking at you, Dusty Baker), so let’s distract ourselves from the dreary present and let the nostalgia of the perfect past. You know, like the only way the poor Reds marketing department has to entice people to games.

Barry Larkin will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year, and unlike Davey Concepcion, Larkin may actually be good enough for the Hall. Had I short-sightedly chosen to enter the dying newspaper industry and accrued the requisite number of years experience, he’d have my vote.

And apparently, the votes of a few people who made that choice I did not. The Reds beat writer John Fay is voting for Larkin, as is Jim Caple at ESPN. I bet there’s more than that out there, but will it be enough? Will it be the 75% needed to be in Cooperstown forever?

For those of you interested in that thing called “statistics”, Redleg Nation put up a nifty table comparing Larkin to all other Hall of Fame shortstops. If Larkin’s high standing among those elite doesn’t sway you, how about a personal letter from Bob Castellini?

Whether Larkin makes it in this year or next, I’ll always remember him for the standing back-flip he did during the 1990 playoffs. And you can relive those thrilling days of yesteryear–when the Reds not only managed to win more than they lost, but make it to the playoffs–by attending RedsFest this year. I understand Barry Larkin is going to be there.