Tomorrow, Jamie from Better Off Red will be hosting a lunch at Great American Ball Park, where you can apparently just show up and get free food that you try not to spill on your keyboard while you join the masses of other Reds fans voting for Joey Votto.

VOTE VOTTO LUNCH TOMORROW AT GABP!

In support of Joey Votto, Better Off Red will be hosting a Vote Votto Lunch here at Great American Ball Park tomorrow (Wednesday, July 7) from noon to 2pm ET in the press dining room.

You’re invited to join me and many others as we enjoy some free food and plenty of Votto voting.

We will have laptops available for you to help us vote Joey onto the NL All-Star team. If you’d rather use your own computer, you’re more than welcome to bring it to the event. I promise I won’t break it.

Joey needs your help. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to cast your ballots than the very building in which Joey does all of his fantastic work. So come on down to “campaign headquarters” tomorrow to VOTE  VOTTO!

If you plan on attending, enter the main gates at Great American Ball Park on Crosley Terrace. From there, someone will escort you to the press dining room where all of the partying/voting is taking place.

In the meantime, click here to vote Votto.

It’s nice: you don’t see many bloggers these days with the balls to use the all-caps header. The years it must have taken him to work his way to a Google page rank of 5 do come with certain privileges.

I hope that you can make it. Eat a piece of fried chicken for Jeff Brantley and me. I, unfortunately, will be working in the Indianapolis software company coal mine tomorrow, but the Lean Cuisine I’ll eat at my desk will taste all the healthier with a side of Vote Votto.

Was Joey Votto the reason for the creation of the What I Love About series? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I’m not ready to delve into that part of my psyche, so back off. What’s for sure is that I’ve put off writing it, always feeling like I was too tired, my time was too tight, or I wasn’t feeling eloquent enough to do justice to the awesomeness that is Joey Votto.

Suddenly, we are post All-Star voting and in the unthinkable scenario of the league’s best first basemen omitted. Like many people, the fact that this is even possible makes me throw up my hands at the joke that the All-Star game has become–maybe has always been–and if it were just about me, I would turn my back on the whole charade, shake my head at the obvious meaninglessness of it and try to get on with my day.

However, it’s not just about me or even about all the fans (ironically enough), but it’s also about Joey Votto. Guys, this team has sucked hard for friggin’ decade. This is our chance to express our gratitude to the man who has played such an important role in changing that and who has been, up till now, ignored. This guy doesn’t deserve to be left behind just because MLB found it necessary to pimp Albert Pujols and Charlie Manuel felt the need to practice nepotism.

Which gets to the heart of why I love Joey Votto. Because no matter what goes on around him in the league or on the field, he’s going to keep on being awesome. If the world is too blind to see that for themselves, well then we’ll just tell them.

Balloting began immediately following Sunday’s Major League All-Star Selection Show and continues until 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 8. The winners will be announced on MLB.com shortly thereafter.

Mobile voting in the U.S. is exclusive to Sprint, Nextel, and Boost subscribers. To receive the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint mobile ballot, text the word “VOTE” to 1122. To vote for a specific player, simply text message your choice to 1122. EXAMPLE: Text “A3” to vote for AL Player 3 or “N3” to vote for NL Player 3. Messaging and Data Rates May Apply. Mobile voting in Canada is open to all carriers; fans should text their choices to 88555. Std rates may apply.

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Cincinnati Reds starting center fielder Drew Stubbs and infielder Paul Janish are showing support for Jay Bruce by joining the fun at the upcoming Jay Bruce Baseball Camp, presented by CBTS and Fifth Third Bank.

Bruce, the Reds’ hot-hitting right fielder, will host his inaugural youth baseball camp July 19th through July 21st at Prasco Park in Mason, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The three-day camp is open to boys and girls, ages 6 to 14, but potential campers are encouraged to register soon, as less than 30 spots remain available.

Bruce will be on site each day of camp, directing activities and providing instruction with Indiana University head baseball coach Tracy Smith and other top collegiate and prep coaches from the Cincinnati area.

Campers experience various stations, specializing in fundamental skills and the team concept of baseball. Individual groups are small to assure that each camper gets maximum personalized instruction.

Each camper receives an autographed camp team photo with Bruce, a camp T-shirt, free admission to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, free tickets to a Reds home game and the opportunity to win additional contests and prizes.

Jay Bruce Baseball Camp is proud to be conducted in partnership with the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, Meijer, State Farm, Fox Sports Ohio and B105.

Cost of the camp is $199.

Additional information and registration is available at www.JayBruceCamp.com or call 513-793-CAMP.

The final All-Star vote tally before the one that decides the line-up is now available. Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Orlando Cabrera, and Jonny Gomes hang in there in their races, but Scott Rolen is actually within striking distance.

Ken Griffey, Jr. was on the All-Star line-up in 2007, and before that the last Red to appear was Barry Larkin in 2000. Two voted in the last 10 years? Don’t you think we ought to do something about that? Hell, Rolen himself has appeared in the line-up that many times in that many years. Let’s send him again.

Remember, you get 25 votes per email address. Yahoo!, Hotmail, and Gmail are your partners in making your voice heard.

It also appears you can vote 25 times per email address per day. At least I’ve been able to cast votes on different days with the same email address. Why not try it out for yourself?

Today’s Human League “What I Love About” honoree is the NLC’s Hottest Baller of 2008, Brandon Phillips.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his smile. Easy and infectious, his smile says, “hey, everything’s cool here.”

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his glove and his back-handed flip to second. It’s a beginning to a double-play so beautiful that it makes his move to 2B all worthwhile.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is his attitude. Kinda sassy, a little arrogant, but still willing to slow down enough to explain what “crunked” means to a Reds beat writer. I love that he’s not perfect and needs to have a kick to the seat of the pants sometimes. I love that he’s up and down with the team, feeling the energy of the city.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is that horrible commercial that he and Joey Votto were in at the beginning of the season–I think it was for Subway–where the director had to position the camera man ever-so-carefully so you couldn’t tell that there was no one in the stands as they got the out at first–presumably tagging out the high saturated fat you’d get at a burger joint.

What I love about Brandon Phillips is watching him turn it on when the Indians come to town. That’ll show ’em.

What I would really love about Brandon Phillips would be seeing him starting in the All-Star Game, but he needs your help to make that happen. Vote, vote, vote!!