Casey is widely renowned as a nice guy, arguably the nicest guy in all of baseball, because he is accessible and amicable and chats with every person within a 50-foot radius. But that doesn’t make a person nice; it makes him friendly. You could say the same things about a politician or a used-car salesman. What tells you he’s really and genuinely nice is the community involvement, the dedication to faith, and the constant awed look that people sport when talking about how they can’t believe that a person can really be that nice.

Casey has become synonymous with Cincinnati and the Reds and he is featured prominently on team collateral. The Reds’ PR people are far from the most skilled practitioners of their craft, but even they realize that Casey is and should be the bright, smiling face of the Reds. Especially since, in addition to being a consistent player, an outgoing, endearing character, and a pillar of activism in his community, Casey is a real cutie-pie.

So, are you ready to slip into a diabetic coma from the sugary sweetness of it all? Hang in there; there is one negative: any time a person possesses such a deep, heart-felt compassion for humankind, he also opens himself up to all the other emotions. You don’t hear people talk about it much, but Casey is prone to frustration and can display an impressive temper. He’s been known to jump into brawls, beat up on trash cans, and I think I even recall seeing a photo of him breaking a bat over his knee (ouch!).

Certainly a little fire in one’s belly is a good thing, and if Casey could transform his aggressions into stunning performances instead of demolished garbage receptacles, this paragraph would soon become a strength instead of a weakness.

However, you really can’t blame the guy for having some rage issues. I mean, should anyone really have to endure that many ‘Casey at the Bat’ references? You see them every darn place you look: magazine headlines, newspaper leads, I even heard a guy in the crowd at spring training saying it aloud. I imagine any time Casey strikes out to end a game where they’re down by two with two on, he just about wants to bash in his own skull. Or the skull of the guy whispering in a haunting tone: “mighty Casey…has struck out.”

Casey makes his residence in Jupiter, Florida with his wife Mandi (wouldn’t you just figure he’d marry a woman who spells her name with an I?) and two sons, Andrew and Jacob. I couldn’t find their birth dates, but if my memory serves, Andrew has to be coming up on 4, Jacob must be around 1.

Casey is involved with every charity that has ever existed, especially those that benefit children. His bio on the official site lists his involvement with the Cerebral Palsy Foundation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Neediest Kids of All, Lighthouse Youth Services, Joe Nuxhall Character Education Fund, Reds Community Fund, Reds Rookie Success League, Make-A-Wish Foundation and World Hunger Organization.

His nomination for the Branch Rickley award goes on to list even more organizations that Casey is involved with: co-chairman of the �BatsIncredible� public arts project, the Make-A-Wish program held every Friday during batting practice, the Cincinnati Reds Zoo calendar, and Garth Brooks� �Teammates for Kids� program.

And let’s not forget Casey’s Crew program, through which he sponsors 24 seats to each Saturday home game for organizations that serve underpriveledged youth.

During my Internet research, I found several features about him in Christian publications and quotes from a few years back about his deep and abiding faith. He even listed a favorite scripture: Matthew 6:25-34.

Sean Casey is the first baseman for the Reds. When he’s in his groove, Casey is a startlingly good hitter, making adjustments even between pitches at the same at bat. Casey lacks grace in his running and is not the quickest guy you’re ever going to see, but he is quite flexible for a guy his size and is adept at getting his mitt on balls that are thrown pretty poorly his direction. He has saved his fellow infielders countless errors by coming up with great catches, and he makes it look so easy that he doesn’t really get the credit for it that he should.

For a while, it seemed like Casey was getting an unfair shake because first base is often where you put your old, fat guy who can’t be bothered to put down his jumbo pretzel long enough to do much fielding, but still hits a ton of homeruns, and Casey was hitting only a half ton. Last season, however, Casey was far-and-away the Reds’ most consistent hitter, mostly doubles, but more than his fair share of everything else as well, and I haven’t heard a peep of that kind of criticism since.

Sean Casey is the first baseman for the Reds. When he’s in his groove, Casey is a startlingly good hitter, making adjustments even between pitches at the same at bat. Casey lacks grace in his running and is not the quickest guy you’re ever going to see, but he is quite flexible for a guy his size and is adept at getting his mitt on balls that are thrown pretty poorly his direction. He has saved his fellow infielders countless errors by coming up with great catches, and he makes it look so easy that he doesn’t really get the credit for it that he should.

For a while, it seemed like Casey was getting an unfair shake because first base is often where you put your old, fat guy who can’t be bothered to put down his jumbo pretzel long enough to do much fielding, but still hits a ton of homeruns, and Casey was hitting only a half ton. Last season, however, Casey was far-and-away the Reds’ most consistent hitter, mostly doubles, but more than his fair share of everything else as well, and I haven’t heard a peep of that kind of criticism since.