MLB columnist Anthony Castrovince has an article today on Scott Rolen. It reads almost like a eulogy to a career that isn’t actually dead yet, but it highlights a lot of what makes Rolen so awesome:

• He’s down-to-earth – “I have a job, you know,” he said. “That’s the short answer, I guess. Having four surgeries and rehab, I don’t like any of that. But I wasn’t given a choice, necessarily. That’s kind of where I am and what I’m doing. We’re free to feel sorry for ourselves, and I do. But I have a job. I play baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, and I take it very seriously. I have a responsibility, an accountability to get myself in physical and mental shape and go to work.”
• He’s in touch with reality – “I’m 100 percent of whatever I’ve got,” Rolen said with a laugh. “That’s about it. I don’t know what that equates to [relative to] the rest of the league.”
• He knows there’s more to life than baseball – “I feel like I’m more valuable,” he said, “than just where my locker space is.”

In my opinion, Scott Rolen has been a rare example of a “veteran presence” actually making a difference on a ball team. Especially when he first came around, the Reds were fielding a lot of young guys with more talent on the field than sense about how to comport themselves. I suspect he played a big part in shaping the grown-up team you see today. I think the Reds can’t really give Joey Votto the captain’s C while Rolen is still on the roster.

I don’t want to add to the eulogy of Rolen’s career, but I do think his best contributions have already been made. And they’ve been really important ones. I hope that the rest of his last contract year with the team is kind to the guy, and lets him go out on top like the class act that he is.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Reds	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	9	1
Indians	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	10	1

Boxscore

What a tough break for the Reds. They held their own in a pitcher’s duel all the way into extras, only to have their once-ace give it away in the 10th.

Mike Leake started for the Reds and gave ’em all he could. He went beyond his normal pitch count through the 7th, hoping his offense would break the 1-1 tie. In his 7.0 innings pitched, he allowed 1 run (earned) on 6 hits and a walk, but alas, he wasn’t eligible for the win when he left the game.

Sean Marshall came in for the 8th and 9th innings. Two whole innings? Why, that’s the exact opposite of the LOOGY role that Dusty Baker had knocked him down to when he didn’t come strong out of the gate as closer. Marshall allowed 0 runs on 2 hits.

And maybe it’s good that Marshall is finally working his way back into Baker’s good graces, because Aroldis Chapman continues to struggle in the closer role. He got one guy out in the 10th, but also let a guy on before serving up a walk-off home run pitch to Asdrubal Cabrera.

There’s not much to say as far as the offense goes. Zack Cozart went 3-for-5 and scored one of the Reds’ 2 runs. Chris Heisey only went 1-for-5 but got an RBI and a run scored.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 38-29. They close out the series and this season’s games against the Indians tonight at 7:05 p.m. Bronson Arroyo (3-4, 3.84 ERA) takes on Justin Masterson (3-6, 4.38 ERA).

It’s All-Star vote status report day: my favorite days in June!

Joey Votto increased his lead over the second-place vote getter in the first base field. The person he’s beating has changed, though. Freddie Freeman of the Braves has overtaken Lance Berkman of the Cardinals for second place. But whereas Votto had 2.47 times as many votes as Berkman last Tuesday, he has 2.64 times as many votes as Freeman today.

Just more gaudy numbers for Votto.

Meanwhile, Brandon Phillips has finally gotten past the 1,000,000 votes mark, but he’s lost ground on first place Dan Uggla. I don’t know if there’s much hope for this race. Uggla has been a Reds killer for as long as I can remember. Phillips really is a rock star, though. He deserves a better showing.

In the outfield, Jay Bruce has fallen yet again. Fall any further, and he won’t be on the list anymore. Yipes.

You can make a difference for guys like Phillips and Bruce. All you have to do is cast your All-Star votes on MLB.com. It’s free, but the difference you make for one second baseman is all the difference in the world. Plus, maybe we can get Votto over 10,000,000.

Tallies as of June 19, 2012:

FIRST BASE

• Joey Votto, Reds: 3,151,032
• Freddie Freeman, Braves: 1,193,455
• Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 1,159,418
• Brandon Belt, Giants: 907,739
• Ryan Howard, Phillies: 677,368

SECOND BASE

• Dan Uggla, Braves: 2,054,920
• Brandon Phillips, Reds: 1,272,389
• Jose Altuve, Astros: 1,074,993
• Omar Infante, Marlins: 901,970
• Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 814,263

OUTFIELD

• Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 3,322,009
• Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: 2,652,980
• Melky Cabrera, Giants: 2,144,107
• Ryan Braun, Brewers: 2,118,925
• Andre Ethier, Dodgers: 1,517,218
• Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 1,374,004
• Hunter Pence, Phillies: 1,234,428
• Michael Bourn, Braves: 1,201,215
• Angel Pagan, Giants: 1,158,500
• Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 1,151,403
• Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 1,120,406
• Jason Heyward, Braves: 1,049,769
• Shane Victorino, Phillies: 1,039,970
• Martin Prado, Braves: 893,995
• Jay Bruce, Reds: 893,101

To see the tallies for the other positions, you can go to this story on MLB.com and scroll all the way to the bottom.

Reds’ pitcher and stuck-in-the-90s poster child Bronson Arroyo played the Fan Cave recently. I thought there was no way the Fan Cave could top the Brandon Phillips eating weird gourmet foods video, but this one did have me laughing out loud, particularly when Aroldis Chapman made his appearance.

Reds hooded sweatshirt. It’s so goofy it’s good.