The Cincinnati Reds are one of the best at starting their season off right. The RHM family has always enjoyed Opening Night since the new ownership decided to make it a thing. Unfortunately, this year we’ll be missing it by being out of the country for a long overdue vacation, but if you’re in the area, you should participate. It will be worth your time.

Here’s a list of everything the Reds have planned for both Opening Day and Opening Night.

Opening Day: Monday, April 1 – Reds vs. Angels, 4:10 pm (Gates open at 1:10 pm)

• Opening Day Block Party: The second annual Reds Community Fund Charity Block Party kicks off at 11 am on Joe Nuxhall Way and Freedom Way. Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Budweiser, Coca-Cola, LaRosa’s, Queen City Sausage, UDF and Kahn’s. Admission is free. Music provided by WEBN. All proceeds benefit the Reds Community Fund’s P&G MLB Urban Youth Academy.
• 94th Findlay Market Opening Day Parade Grand Marshal: Reds Hall of Famer George Foster will serve as the Grand Marshal of the Findlay Market parade, which begins at Noon.
• Ceremonial First Pitch: Joe Torre, manager of Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
• National Anthem: Cincinnati firefighter John Winfrey will sing the National Anthem.
• Honorary Captain: Bob Kevoian from the nationally syndicated Bob & Tom Show radio program will serve as the Honorary Captain of the Game.
• Game Ball Delivery: Fire Chief Richard A. Braun of the Cincinnati Fire Department will deliver the official Game Ball to the mound during pregame ceremonies.
• Flyover: Two T-28 Trojans and one B-25 Mitchell from the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia will perform a pregame flyover.
• Wounded Hero Recognition: Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will participate in a pregame ceremony to honor wounded heroes.
• Moment of Remembrance: To honor the victims of the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT, the Reds (and all MLB teams) are wearing a symbolic ribbon patch and will observe a pregame moment of remembrance.
• American Flag: Members of the Cincinnati Fire Department will hold the giant American flag during the National Anthem. The Cincinnati Fire Department is celebrating its 160th year in 2013. The Cincinnati Fire Department was organized in 1853 and is the nation’s oldest fully paid professional fire department.
• God Bless America: Local quartet The Mistics will sing God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch.
• Rally Towels: “This is Reds Country” rally towels will be distributed at the gates (while supplies last), courtesy of Cincinnati Bell, Horseshoe Casino, Kroger, Homemade Brand Ice Cream/UDF and P&G.

Opening Night: Wednesday, April 3 – Reds vs. Angels, 7:10 pm (Gates open at 5:10 pm)

• Reds in the Fan Zone: Reds players and coaches to appear in the Kroger Fan Zone to walk the red carpet starting at 5:30 pm.
• National Anthem: Arin Ray, top 10 finalist on the X Factor and School for Creative & Performing Arts senior, will sing the National Anthem.
• 2013 Reds Calendar: The first 20,000 fans will receive a 2013 Team Calendar, presented by Kroger.
• Silver Slugger: 2012 NL Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger winner Jay Bruce will receive his award during pregame ceremonies.
• Ball Delivery: Miss Ohio Kristin Smith and Miss Teen Ohio Brittany Reid will deliver the official Game Ball to the mound during pregame ceremonies.
• Rusty Griswolds: 80’s cover band The Rusty Griswolds will perform from a stage at the new Budweiser Bowtie Bar located on the right field porch during inning breaks and after the game.
• Postgame Fireworks presented by TriHealth: The Rusty Griswolds will play live during the post-game fireworks show featuring Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Padres (15-18)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	10	1
Reds (11-18)	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	3	0	7	8	0

Boxscore

Yes, the Cincinnati Reds are fine-tuning their intensity.

For most of spring training, the Reds’ players were obviously testing out things other than winning. Which was fine. For the first time since I can remember, there were no true battles for roster spots. Everything was set, and everyone had time to work on things and ease back into baseball. Now that opening day is less than a week away, it’s time to practice how to win. And the Reds have done that two games in a row.

Yesterday, Mike Leake made his final start of the spring and did well. Leake pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 4.

The offense has woken up, too, and I’m certain that all the regulars playing most of the game is a factor. Shin-Soo Choogot the Reds on the board in the 5th with a solo shot. But Ryan Ludwick was the hero for this game, hitting his first spring home run in the 7th inning, a 3-run shot that broke a 1-1 tie.

Then in the 8th, Joey Votto added his own 2-run home run to extend the lead, which was good, since the San Diego Padres scored a couple more in the top of the 9th.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (10-18)	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	9	11	15	0
Cubs (16-17)	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	8	1

Boxscore

As if in response to Amanda’s call to start practicing intensity, the Cincinnati Reds demolished the Chicago Cubs yesterday, winning 11-1.

Johnny Cueto made his final start of the spring, and looked like the ace of old. He tossed 6 shutout innings, allowing just 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5. Granted, it was the Cubs, but that’s still good to see this late in the spring.

The Reds took the first lead in the 3rd inning when Cueto had a two-out single. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Emmanuel Burriss doubled to center and Cueto scored. In the 7th inning, Todd Frazier added another run by hitting his 5th home run of the spring.

The Cubs made it a one-run game again by scoring in the bottom of the 7th, but the Reds broke it open in the 9th, unloading on the Cubs bullpen and scoring 9 runs in the inning. It was a prodigious display of offense that I hope we get to see often in the regular season.

The win is the Reds’ 10th of the spring, so they won’t be toiling in the single-digit wins wasteland any more.

And now there are just 5 spring training games left until Opening Day.

The news we were expecting came today, and it’s what I’d feared, the Cincinnati Reds are not the forward-thinking organization that statistics-aware fans wish they were. Instead of seeing if they’re $30 million investment could become a great starter–what they initially scouted him for–the Reds bowed to the whims of manager Dusty Baker and made Aroldis Chapman the closer.

“We made a decision on our rotation. It’s Cueto, Latos, Bronson, Homer Bailey and Leake,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

I’m not that upset about this. Chapman is very good as the closer. And now there’ll be Jonathan Broxton to help when Chapman cannot pitch a second or third day in a row. I’m just a little disappointed. I really wanted to see what Chapman could do as a starter. I mean, the list of tall, flame-throwing left-handed starters isn’t long, kind of starting and ending with Randy Johnson. And Chapman could’ve added his name, but the Reds were apparently too scared to upset their manager and their player to find out.

But this isn’t bad news. At least, not for this season. The Reds already had an awesome rotation in Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo, and Mike Leake. And the bullpen is a very stacked place. The 2013 season is looking very bright.

Still, it sure would’ve been nice for the team to find out what they had in Aroldis Chapman.

I saw this story about Aaron Harang today making the rounds on various Reds blogs and thought I’d share.

Harang, as you may remember, was the one shining spot in the pitching rotation of the Cincinnati Reds during the first decade of the new millenium. Sadly, his best years were wasted on terrible, terrible Reds teams, and by the time competent people were in charge, Harang was on the down-side of his career.

He resurrected it in San Diego, though, and is now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he’s decided to change his uniform number from 44 to 41. In case that number sounds familiar, it’s one that legen–wait-for-it–dary Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall wore.

Nuxhall moved to the broadcast booth in 1967 and called Reds games for 38 years, including Harang’s first two seasons in Cincinnati, in 2003-2004. The two struck up a friendship that lasted until Nuxhall’s death in 2007. Harang has donated to Nuxhall’s charity foundation, the Miracle Fields in and around Cincinnati, and still keeps in touch with his son to this day.

“He was just a special guy in general,” Harang said. “Everybody who came in contact with him thought the world of him.”

When Harang came to the Reds, he wore the number 39, which was Nuxhall’s first number. Harang changed to 41, another of Nuxhall’s numbers, when he was with the Padres, but it wasn’t available in L.A. Until last year when the wearer of it was traded. And now it’s Harang’s, assuming he can secure that fifth spot in the Dodger’s rotation.