Right about now, I’m bored with not seeing the Cincinnati Reds playing every night. The All Star game was, for the first time in decades, an interesting baseball game again, which makes the absence of anything baseball-related the day after that much worse. And to rub salt into the wound, the Reds have an off day today.

What’s a guy supposed to do? Engage with his family? Work on the to-do list around the house? Gah! being productive is for losers.

Instead, I’ll round up some recent Reds news.

• Joey Votto gave us some entertainment yesterday with a quote about the Cubs. Reds fans seem for it; Cubs fans are against. Betcha you couldn’t have seen that one coming.
• Also in All-Joey-All-the-Time news, Votto was voted the first-half National League Most Valuable Player by a survey of players. Arthur Rhodes also picked up the top reliever honors. Hopefully, they don’t let it go to their heads. I’d love for them to keep performing as they have.
• In some non-Joey news, the Reds missed out on trading for super-awesome pitcher of the year Cliff Lee to those dastardly Texas Rangers. Still, the team does have an ace of sorts to add in the second half. Edinson Volquez has been rehabbing in the minors for the last month and is finally ready. He’s throwing harder than he ever has before, and he was dominant in his final start in AAA, throwing 7 innings of shutout, 1-hit ball. I know it’s the minors, but that’s how I’d expect a healthy, Cy Young-caliber pitcher to treat minor leaguers. As awesome as a major acquisition would be, Volquez should do nothing to hurt the already solid starting rotation.
• Unlike Volquez, lefty Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman is unlikely to make the move to the Bigs soon. I’m okay with this. Outside of Francisco Cordero, the bullpen has been solid lately, and Chapman’s use in the bullpen in Louisville has not been perfect by any stretch. Chapman is wild still, and only lots of practice and repetition in the minors will improve that. Besides, I wouldn’t feel any more comfortable with Chapman closing out games than Cordero. I do reserve the right to change my opinion regarding that at any point, though, especially after CoCo blows another one.
• Lastly, there’s a new documentary in town. This time, it’s just about Pete Rose the baseball player, not Pete Rose the lying, cheating scumbag who deserves the expulsion from baseball and the Hall of Fame. Rose was an excellent player, certainly the best hitter ever, and I would be interested in seeing a film that showcases that. It’s easy to lose sight of his baseball skills when constantly being confronted with what he’s become.

Thankfully, there’s just one more day of inactivity for the Reds. At least the Cardinals play tonight. It’s always fun to root against them, but even more so this year.

It’s Wednesday morning, and, as it turns out, the NL winning the All-Star game for once was not a dream. Today is the one day that I and my NL fan coworkers are on the same side, banding together to harass and annoy the local White Sox fans.

That’s right, it’s the one day when I commune with the Cards fans and even Cubs fans to…wait, what did Joey Votto say according to the Chicago Cubs blog on ESPN?

I don’t like the Cubs,” Votto said. “And I’m not going to pat anybody with a Cubs uniform on the back. But because he made that really cool play, it turned out to be a really cool experience. I’m really glad we got the win today.

Ha! Well said. I almost take back what I said about thinking Votto would be a boring conversationalist, what with all his “Manuel was just looking out for his own guy,” and “I’m just grateful to get the opportunity” nicey-nice stuff.

I almost get the feeling there could be a real justified-in-being-arrogant guy buried deep down in that mild-mannered, work-ethic, too-shy-to-want-to-be-famous, Canadian-Mountie exterior. Letting the guy out right after seeing all of two pitches in two All-Star ABs might be a touch premauture, but it’s certainly not boring.

For the first time since Joey Votto was 12 years old–6th grade (or whatever they call it in Canada)–the National League has won the All-Star game.

Scott Rolen went 1-for-2 with a run scored. Brandon Phillips got a key out. Votto saved some for the sequel. Arthur Rhodes rested. All-in-all, I give Reds almost all of the credit for this win. Hopefully they’ll get all the benefit from it.

Go NL, and Go Reds!

CINCINNATI (July 12, 2010) – The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame & Museum has announced the Reds players and Hall of Famers who will be in attendance at events for the 2010 Induction Weekend, July 16-18.

Reds Hall of Famers: Johnny Bench, Jack Billingham, Pedro Borbon, Tom Browning, Leo Cardenas, Eric Davis, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, Wayne Granger, Tommy Helms, Barry Larkin (Sat./Sun. only), Jerry Lynch, Jim Maloney (Sat. only), Lee May, Joe Morgan (Fri./Sat. only), Gary Nolan, Jim O’Toole, Chris Sabo and Mario Soto.

1990 Team Members: Glenn Braggs, Keith Brown, Tom Browning, Norm Charlton, Eric Davis, Billy Hatcher, Barry Larkin (Sat./Sun. only), Hal Morris (Fri./Sat. only), Randy Myers, Paul Noce, Ron Robinson, Chris Sabo and Herm Winningham.

Fans will have many chances to meet and greet with their favorite HOF’ers and Reds players from the 1990 World Championship team at the Hall of Fame & Museum:

Friday, July 16
• 5 to 6:30 pm – Meet and greet with returning Hall of Famers (photos OK, no autographs)

Saturday, July 17
• 11 am to 3 pm – Meet and greet with select 1990 team members (photos OK, no autographs)
• 3 to 4:30 pm – Meet and greet with returning Hall of Famers (photos OK, no autographs)

All meet and greet sessions are free with Hall of Fame admission.

For full details and updated meet and greet schedules, please visit www.redsmuseum.org or call (513) 765-7923.

2010 HOF Induction Weekend – Full Schedule of Events

Friday, July 16 – Reds vs Colorado Rockies (7:10pm)
• FameFest at the HOF (5 – 6:30 pm)
• MC Hammer concerts (pregame and postgame)
• 1990 team celebration (pregame and postgame)
• Fireworks presented by Klosterman Baking Co. (postgame)

Saturday, July 17 – Reds vs Colorado Rockies (7:10 pm)
• FameFest at the HOF will include baseball instruction, cornhole, caricature drawing, games, meet and greets, mascot visits, a band, sponsor booths, inflatable for kids, and more (10 am to 4 pm)
• New Inductee press conference (5:45 pm)
• Chris Sabo bobblehead presented by John Morrell (free to the first 30,000 fans)
• HOF Induction Ceremony (pregame)

Sunday, July 18 – Reds vs Colorado Rockies (1:10 pm)
• Vintage baseball game (Noon)
• Powel Crosley Jr. Award presentation (pregame)
• Kids replica batting helmet presented by Furniture Fair (free to the first 10,000 kids 14 and younger)
• 2010 Induction Gala presented by Extra Bases at Duke Energy Convention Center (6-10 pm)
– Featuring the entire 2010 Reds roster along with current and former Hall of Famers

The irony is that just as my summer classes wrapped up, and I can watch baseball without the guilt of not reading my homework, the All-Star Break comes around, preceded briefly by four of the crappiest games the Reds have played all season.

I mean, sure, I have one whole late-game Joey Votto AB to look forward to, but this isn’t exactly a standard week of baseball. That’s probably a good thing, given those four crappy games I just mentioned. Clearly I’m not there, and I can’t say for sure that the team could use a few days off, but I know that, personally, I pretty much always could use a few days off.

In other news, MLB sent me an email with a “reward” for voting in the Last Man competition. Just think: 10 whole days of a free trial of MLB.tv! How did I ever get so lucky?

MLB almost tricked me into entering the Win a Free All Star Batting Practice Jersey contest, by sending the message through Reds.com. “Giving away 30 jerseys?” I thought, “among a hundred thousand people who will enter? I like those odds!” When I read closer and realized it was one jersey per team, so 30 jerseys among 20 million fans, suddenly I found myself not so willing to hand over access to my browser activity after all.

Home Run Derby is tomorrow, and it’s not exactly a magnet for the heavy hitters this year. I like how they’re spinning it on MLB.com

The cast in Monday’s State Farm Home Run Derby may not be as star-studded as in years past, but the intrigue has hardly taken a hit.

It’s “hardly” taken a hit. Just barely. Just entirely. Personally, I may take a nap. I can’t speak for the Reds, but I’m tired.