OPENING DAY TICKETS OPPORTUNITY ON REDS.COM

Now through noon on Friday, Feb 12th fans can register at www.reds.com/openingday for the chance to purchase up to 4 individual Opening Day tickets.

There are a limited number of tickets available through this opportunity.

Applicants must complete and submit the registration form online on www.reds.com/openingday to participate.

Winners will be selected at random from the pool of registrants.

Winners will be notified via email and will have the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets to Opening Day.

The Cincinnati Reds have had general managers make their share of bad decisions. Heck, Walt Jocketty’s big one from last year, Willy Taveras, will be remembered for a while to come. (Thankfully, Taveras is gone now, but Redleg Nation still thinks Jocketty needs to continue working to redeem himself. I can’t disagree.)

However, in times like this, it’s good to compare to other clubs. For example, take the New York Mets. Please! They are a large market team that always seems to spend their millions on the wrong things. Case in point: Bobby Bonilla.

Don’t remember Bonilla? I do, from his time the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates were good. Apparently, though, his career extended until 2001. He last played for the Mets in 1999, but will be getting paid from them again starting in 2011. Why? Because former Mets GM Steve Phillips isn’t so good at math.

Bonilla was bad in 1999, and the Mets wanted to get rid of him. Instead of doing the logical thing and paying him what they owed on the remainder of his contract, they opted to defer payments until 2011. When worded that way, it sounds smart, until you know the details.

The buyout would have cost $5.9 million. The future payments are $1.2 million for 25 years, or approximately $30 million in total.

That’s right. A Mets GM thought $30 million was better than $5 million. No wonder he’s a former GM.

Early last month Jeff Polman–the baseball fanatic/alternate history enthusiast who runs the blog 1924 and You Are There!! (“a complete ‘fictional replay’ of the 1924 season using Strat-O-Matic Baseball, then reported daily in the language of the time through two characters”)–contacted me about being an absentee manager for another baseball simulation he had in mind. He wanted me to put together a lineup and rotation for the Reds. The 1977 Reds.

Now, I wasn’t born for the 1977 baseball season, so I pretty much expected to be arranging my lineup in order of mustache awesomeness, but as it turns out, there were a few big names on the team back then.

Here’s the result; see what you think. I think you stat heads will appreciate the consideration for OBP that went into deciding this somewhat nontraditional batting order. It’s a pretty balanced group, so we’re starting the season sending out the same guys against righties and lefties and see how it goes. Might need to mix it up as the season goes on.

On the Field
1. Joe Morgan
2. George Foster
3. Pete Rose
4. Ken Griffey
5. Johnny Bench
6. Dan Driessen
7. Dave Concepcion
8. Cesar Geronimo

On the Mound
1. Tom Seaver
2. Fred Norman
3. Paul Moskau
4. Doug Capilla
5. Jack Billingham
6. Mario Soto

The season will start later this month. There’s supposed to be a Twitter feed or something. Whatever the technology, we’ll get the updates to you. I know how entrancing pretend baseball can be.

If the Colts have to lose, I’m glad it was to my old college classmate. 🙂

Last week, the Reds signed Orlando Cabrera to be their shortstop for the 2010 season. The Reds officially announced it on Monday, with a press conference and everything.

My initial thoughts on this signing are, to be nice, less than positive. It feels too much like the Willy Taveras signing from last off season. Cabrera is a light-hitting shortstop who was once known for his defense. However, he has slipped in recent years, and will be 35 in 2010. That’s not a good recipe for success.

But really, my primary concern has to be how “manager” Dusty Baker will use him. The man tents his pants for veterans, and Cabrera qualifies. Plus, since he’s the shortstop, he will bat second in the lineup. That’s where the shortstop bats. Clearly. Even when he gets out 69% of the time. It’s the only logical conclusion.

I have had a little time to think about the deal and am not as negative as I was originally. Unlike Taveras, there was a need for a shortstop. As much as I wanted to see what Paul Janish could do, he was the only option the Reds had. That’s dangerous when embarking on a 162 game season.

I do wish that Walt Jocketty had been better able to down-play Baker’s major weaknesses. But when you have as many as Baker, the only real way to get rid of them is to rid yourself of the entire manager. Hopefully, Cabrera will bounce back and prove my misgivings unwarranted.