Yesterday before the Cincinnati Reds lost to the Boston Red Sox in extra innings, Mark Sheldon interviewed so-called General Manager Walt Jocketty about Billy Hamilton.

Team doctor Tim Kremcheck had checked on Hamilton earlier.

“He looked at him and he’s shown some improvement but he’s still the proverbial day-to-day,” Reds GM Walt Jocketty said.

Hamilton had failed in an attempt to swing a bat earlier in the day, having it drop from his hands due to the pain from his swollen knuckles. Sounds like a guy who should be on the disabled list, right?

“Not yet,” Jocketty said. “I don’t know who we’d replace him with.”

Really? The GM of the Reds has no ideas on who to replace an injured player with. This quote is so ridiculous that I can’t even. Jocketty’s job is such that he should always be ready. This shows that he’s either unprepared or incompetent.

Or perhaps he’s simply given up on the Reds entirely. That would explain Jocketty’s inaction for the last year.

The other day I got an email from a lady at Penn Station Subs letting me know about a deal for Reds fans:

During the month of May, Penn Station is partnering with the Reds to bring customers the Big Reds Meal Deal. When purchasing an Cheesesteak sub and lemonade at regular price, customers will receive a voucher for discounted Reds tickets and an entry form an exclusive Reds VIP game experience.

Traditionally, I’ve been more of a Subway gal, seeing as I have lifelong goals of 1) eating fresh and 2) find myself way too small for my pants. But I’ve been getting progressively disillusioned with Subway ever since I tried their highly advertised avocado and found it to be an additional $1 in price for an additional zero amount of flavor.

When they rolled out this whole “flatizza” crap, they totally lost me.

The Penn Station lady had offered me a couple of Reds tickets to write about the sandwich deal, so I couldn’t resit taking a flier on Penn Station being my new sub shop of choice.

I noticed the artichoke heart sub and just had to have it, so I ordered that and left the ordering of the proper Big Reds Meal Deal to my hubby on the condition he’d let me have a bite. It’s just a side note, but for what it’s worth, the artichoke sub is spectacular.

But before we get back on topic, a quick cheesesteak story: I was once at a conference in Philadelphia where the mayor made a brief appearance. During his prepared remarks, he told us that a “real” Philly cheesesteak doesn’t have “real cheese,” but rather Cheez Whiz. It was one of those self-deprecating stories politicians tell for a cheap laugh. Unfortunately for him, there was a sizable delegation from Kraft foods at the conference, and they were quick to indignantly informed him that Cheez Whiz did, in fact, include real cheese.

I just did a search on Cheez Whiz now, though, and it looks like they did away with the real cheese in 2011. I guess that’s the inexorable march of progress for you.

No matter; the Penn Station Philly cheesesteak doesn’t use Cheez Whiz anyway. I think it was provolone. And that’s all the better for the taste, in my opinion. I’m not a huge Philly cheesesteak fan in general, but I enjoyed this one. The lemonade is really good too, and that’s coming from someone who considers herself to be somewhat of a lemonade snob.

If you’re in the greater Cincinnati area and want $5-12 off your Reds tickets, it’s worth a trip to your local Penn Station. A nice sandwich and great cup of lemonade come as part of the deal.

The Cincinnati Reds took the 4-game series from the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, thanks to more excellent pitching. Or maybe, since it was Star Wars weekend in Cincinnati, it was the Force.

The lineup on the stadium’s scoreboard showed each of the players in Star Wars regalia. I didn’t catch one for so-called General Manager Walt Jocketty. I imagine that image to the right is the one that would have been used.

Despite any lack of effort from Jocketty, though, the team took the series and found themselves one game below .500 again. Homer Bailey, Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto, and Alfredo Simon, along with the bullpen, limited the Brewers to just 10 runs over the 4 games.

The offense even showed up with some timely hitting, most notable in Sunday’s walk-off extra inning win that was won on Todd Frazier’s 10th inning double. It was a good weekend to be a Reds fan.

At least until this morning, when the news reported that Jay Bruce will be out for a month or two because of an injured knee. The injuries keep coming. If only the Reds had a real general manager instead of a so-called one in times like these.

This has not been a lucky year so far for the Cincinnati Reds. Not in terms of wins or in terms of health. And another one went down today.

Tony Cingrani was sent to the disabled list following his four-inning start against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. He wasn’t happy about it.

“I don’t know why they do a lot of things. I don’t agree with it,” he said. “But if they don’t want me to injure myself, I understand. I think I can keep throwing, but they’re exercising caution.”

I can’t say that I’m happy about him being disabled either, although it’s for different reasons.

There is one good spot of news for the Reds. Aroldis Chapman made his first rehab appearance today. And he did well.

Guessing that will be it. 18 pitches, 11 strikes. 2 K and a line out for Chapman. #Reds #Chapman #Dragons

— ctrent (@ctrent) May 1, 2014

Chapman’s expected back in less than two weeks. Hopefully, no more Reds fall before then.

Duane Rhodes, more commonly known to Cincinnati Reds fans as “The Woo Guy” has recorded a song about his favorite baseball team to celebrate the beginning of the season.

Unlike his song about shouting, “Woo!”, there’s no fire crackling in the background this time.