Reds Caravan, Indianapolis Edition
By
Amanda
Posted at 9:26 pm
The Cincinnati Reds caravan made its first stop tonight at Pinheads in Indianapolis. The event was hosted by WNDE Sports Radio and covered by WISH-TV 8 and WRTV-6. The joint was jumpin' with standing room only and people willing to wait in the autograph line through the entire Q&A period.
I arrived about 35 minutes early, so I had gotten my free sticker, entered my name in the drawing for the opening day tickets, and found a seat in the second row before most fans had found their way down the winding path to the Pinheads parking lot.
I sat there, chatting with the guy sitting next to me (apparently there is a farm near Connersville whose claim to fame is being the exact midpoint between Cincinnati and Indianapolis) and being available for someone to come ask for their free copy of Funnyball. But no one claimed the book, so I guess I'll just keep it nearby for the next time I need paper for origami or something to wedge under a wobbly table leg.
Finally the program was underway. Hall of Fame announcer Marty Brennaman gave a short introduction of the panelists, pictured here. From left to right they are Chris Denorfia, Dave Williams, Phil Castellini, Marty Brennaman, Jerry Narron, Lee May, and Steve Stewart. Jerry Narron had a short statement about how excited he is to work with the new management and about the potential of Wily Mo Peña and Austin Kearns getting regular playing time, and before we knew it, the floor was open for the Q&A.
Apparently the crowd was not ready for the Q&A, because the queue failed to form. Since I had prepared questions, I leapt up to the microphone to be the very first person in line. My first question was for Mr. Denorfia:
RHM: With Adam Dunn moving to first base and rumors swirling about trading Austin Kearns, how do you feel about your chances for becoming Cincinnati's next big outfield heartthrob?
::crowd laughter and general embarrassment from Denorfia::
CD: You know, this would be the first question I got. I thought I might sneak out of here, but I got this question right away. I'm really looking forward to making it very hard on these guys this year. I'm really going to try to press as hard as I can the guys that are in place and I'm just looking to get an opportunity. That's all I can do and that's what I'm looking forward to and I'm really excited.
Yeah, if you win opening day tickets, you should totally take me with you.
Am I creeping you out yet?
Excellent questions, RHM. I’d be a puddle of goo. “Uh, hi. Remember when you got that hit? Yeah, that was awesome.” Total Chris Farley.
I think I saw you on the live remote by the Channel 8 news with the book under your arm. Does that count?
Thanks for the report – I hoped to attend but was unable.
Off topic, but my wife and I are going to be in Indy. Any bars or restraunts downtown that you’d recommend?
St. Elmo’s Steak House is probably the best known place in Indy. They’re known for their shrimp cocktail.
The Rathskeller is a German place designed by Kurt Vonnegut’s father. Cool building, good food, and if you want to transition from eating to nightlife, they’re always got live music. Cab ride from downtown, though – it’s out near the Murat Theatre.
Dunaway’s is near Conseco Fieldhouse. Located in a historic Art Deco building, it’s also worth a visit. Mediterranean with some steaks, I think.
Iaria’s is an Italian place I’ve always heard good things about.
The Slippery Noodle Inn is the oldest bar in town and has live blues every night.
The Warehouse District & areas near Circle Center Mall have several basic dance bars and several chain places you probably have in any other city of Indy’s size (Ruth Chris, Rock Bottom, The Ram, Morton’s, Palomino, PF Chang’s, Buca Di Beppo’s, etc.)
If you like seafood and don’t mind spending for it, The Oceanaire is good.
[url=http://www.nuvo.net/cuisine/browsel.html?&alpha=5]http://www.nuvo.net/cuisine/browsel.html?&alpha=5[/url] has reviews & listing for most of these.
I’m a big fan of The Rathskellar. I’ve been there a couple of time and loved it both times.
That’s all the help I can give though. I’m usually just passing through Indy. If you need to know where Steak ‘n Shake is, though, I can help you out with that one.
Wow, joeberk and joel are on top of the restaurant situation. Thanks for stepping up; I wouldn’t have been any help. I’ve been to a sushi place downtown once, and that’s about it.
(Now that you’ve seen me on t.v., joeberk, if you can identify me anywhere in public I’ll hand over a book. 🙂
As for the questions, Ms. Scratcher, I was pretty close to the goo threshold myself. That’s the primary reason you got a transcript instead of an audio file: I didn’t want to clue the world in to how much my public speaking skills have atrophied since my community theatre days.
Darn, shouldn’t have said that then, huh?
And as for you, Geki, you’re going to have to do a lot better than THAT to creep ME out! Don’t try!
Thanks for the info! The Rathskeller sounds good – I love German food. I’ll have to take my sife to St. Elmo’s or Dunaway’s to balance the scales.
Thought you might be interested to know that yesterday on the Hot Stove League on 700 WLW Marty and Steve commented that Chris Denorfia got a new nickname on the Reds caravan
Heartthrob
This may be my finest hour. Thanks Farlet.