Last game
The Reds won big time yesterday, 11-1 over the Cubs. Johnny Cueto’s last spring training start was a beauty, including 6 shut-out innings and a 1-for-1 night with a run scored. It was a regular looking score until the Reds unleashed nine runs in the ninth inning. You can read more details in the game wrap.

Next game
The Reds host the Padres today in Goodyear. Mike Leake will be making his last spring training start for the Reds at 4:05 p.m. On the other side of the scorecard, Edison Volquez will be starting for the Padres.

There are no outs
Jorge L. Ortiz had a very interesting piece in USA Today yesterday about the dearth of openly gay athletes–baseball players specifically. It even quotes Dusty Baker:

When he joined the Dodgers in 1976, Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker played with Glenn Burke, who along with ex-outfielder Billy Bean are the two former major leaguers known to have publicly come out after their playing days.

Baker says Burke, who died of AIDS in 1995, was “like my little brother,” yet he didn’t know Burke was gay until a mutual friend who is a lesbian pointed it out.

Much like Burke kept his sexuality a secret, Baker figures gay players are doing the same now.

“I don’t think the world is at that stage (of accepting them),” Baker said. “It’s not baseball. It’s the world.”

Baker’s opinion matches the rest of the article. While individual players and teams are already saying they’ll be supportive when someone does come out, it’s the world at-large (specifically the media) that’s going to make life so difficult for that first guy.

Increasingly, high schoolers are coming out and living the entirety of their lives free from the sense that there’s something weird about them. It is inevitable that within a few generations of draft picks there’s going to be a few guys who don’t even need to come out because they always will have been.

It will eventually be as much of a non-issue as all those other characteristics that don’t directly correlate to playing ability–race, religion, national origin. That’s how it has always gone, and that’s how it will go with sexual orientation.

That being the case, if a guy is going to be the brave one, the one to make his mark on history as the first, his window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
There are just 5 days left until Opening Day.

Last game
Ugly, ugly score yesterday. The Reds lost to the Mariners 16-0. Homer Bailey took the brunt of it, allowing 9 runs (8 earned) on 9 hits and 2 walks through 3.1 innings. Wilkin De La Rosa gave up the next 6 (5 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks through 1.1 innings. Compared to those two, the run apiece given up by Manny Parra and Kevin Whelan hardly seem worth mentioning. Justin Freeman and J.J. Hoover pitched scoreless innings.

Not much to say on the offensive side. Zack Cozart was the only one to manage two hits. Even Joey Votto went 0-for-4.

Next game
Today the Reds go to visit the Cubs for a night game starting at 10:05 p.m. Johnny Cueto is taking the mound for his final start of spring training.

Not that I’m worried, but…
With all respect to the fact that spring training games are just a chance to try things out and work out the kinks, and acknowledging the fact that the Reds don’t have a lot of contentious roster spots for guys to be going all out to secure, it seems like maybe Cincinnati should be winning a little more. I mean, this is practice time for all the other teams, too, but they’ve still managed to beat the Reds 2/3 of the time.

I take a little comfort in the fact that I’m still seeing an awful lot of names I’ve never heard before in the box scores, which makes me think Dusty’s mostly fielding the AAA team to see who will come up when injuries happen. I’m also encouraged that today’s start by Cueto marks the last practice turn of the rotation: maybe this is when they start practicing the “intensity” part of the game.

I don’t care about the 9-18; I just don’t want March to have been a month’s worth of practice at losing.

What to say to sound smart at the water cooler
You can get on TV during a Reds post-game show to ask a question (to the hosts of Reds Live, I guess?) by going to the Holy Grail at the Banks before the games on these dates:

• 4/1/2013 (Opening Day) 1p-3p
• 4/19/2013 6p-7p
• 5/10/2013 6p-7p
• 5/24/2013 6p-7p
• 6/14/2013 6p-7p
• 7/3/2013 6p-7p
• 7/19/2013 6p-7p
• 8/2/2013 6p-7p
• 8/23/2013 6p-7p
• 9/6/2013 6p-7p

Last Game
It was yet another loss for the Reds yesterday. They lost 2-4 while visiting the Rangers in Surprise, AZ. The game was televised on the MLB Network, so I got to watch a Reds lineup minus Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips while I put in my time on the treadmill. It was so meta.

Devin Mesoraco went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Miguel Olivo went 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run scored. That’s about all that’s worth mentioning from the offensive side.

From the defensive side, there’s more to say. Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo took a line-drive to the pitching hand in the sixth inning. He left the game for x-rays, which were negative, and it sounds like today he’s already feeling fine. It must be the supplements.

Next Game
This afternoon the Reds host the Mariners at 4:05 p.m. Homer Bailey will be starting for the Reds.

Get Well Soon, Berry
The Reds’ long-time third base coach, Mark Berry, has been diagnosed with cancer in his left tonsil and two lymph nodes on the left side of his neck.

He has caught it early and has a couple treatment options, which may or may not limit his ability to take the field.

Apparently his sister has a similar condition, so though the preliminary tests showed that there was no cancer, Berry pursued more aggressive testing and discovered it was more serious.

The organization is super supportive, and it sounds like Berry might have a very positive outcome. There’s a great write-up of the situation on Reds.com. I recommend you check it out.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
This weather sure doesn’t make it feel like it’s time for baseball. But there have been several snowed out games. In 2007, the Cleveland Indian’s opening day game was delayed by snow. There are a few videos on YouTube, even.