John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that the All-Star Game will be coming to Cincinnati in 2015. It’s about damn time.

Back when Great American Ball Park opened in 2003, it seemed like the Reds would be hosting an All-Star Game at any moment. But then, what with one thing and another, three years passed.

Then comes the new ownership, and surely Major League Baseball wouldn’t still be holding the Schott years against Bob-o and friends, but alas, no All-Star Game was forthcoming.

Then Yankee Stadium was going to close after all those years, so of course you had to have one more romp there before you lost the chance. And hell, Angel Stadium and Kauffman Stadium are pretty old too…might want to take another tour of those.

But the most irksome one, the one that is the cause of the bitter, hateful tone of this post, was when the damn Cardinals got the All-Star Game in 2009. Their stadium opened three years AFTER Great American Ball Park, and (having been to both myself) looks pretty much exactly the same, just with more expensive beer.

They had a better-looking team, of course, but if that’s what counted, we wouldn’t have been visiting Kansas City a couple years ago. It’s irrelevant now, in any event. At this rate, the Reds might not only be hosting the All-Star Game in 2015, but also managing the team. That’d show those damn Cardinals.

The rosters for the World Baseball Classic were released yesterday, and Brandon Phillips will be playing for Team USA.

Phillips was hesitant, at first, but manager Joe Torre convinced him.

“My conversation with Joe Torre convinced me to really do it. I wanted to do it the past. But some of the players got hurt and started off real slow in the season. Talking to Joe Torre, he said representing the country was something I could always say to my kids — to say I played for the country.”

Phillips is the only member of the Cincinnati Reds named to any of the WBC teams. Neither Joey Votto and Johnny Cueto were on their respective country’s rosters. At first, I wondered what the deal was. It’s not like there are any Canadian first baseman blocking Votto.

But it turns out that both Votto and Cueto, because of their injuries during the 2012 season, are on a chronic injury list. That means that the two must pass physicals before being cleared to play.

I wouldn’t mind if neither of them didn’t end up playing in the WBC. I understand there’s some national pride involved in playing for your country, but I’d hate to see any player get seriously injured playing a meaningless game.

It was something other than excellent list segmentation that caused Major League Baseball to send me an announcement of the SABR Analytics Conference that is coming to Phoenix in March, but I was glad to get the email anyway. It’s nice to know that people attending the Cactus League in the second week of March also have the option to drop in at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown for $595 worth of stat-crunching fun.

Or if you don’t want to shell out the registration fee, you could just hang around in the lobby and try for autographs from front office types, such as Derrick Hall (President and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks), Jon Daniels (General Manager of the Texas Rangers), or Rick Hahn (General Manager of the Chicago White Sox).

According to the conference website, some topics that will be covered include:

• General Managers Panel on how analytics shapes front-office decisions (with Jon Daniels, Rick Hahn and Jed Hoyer)
• Measuring Player Performance
• New innovations in baseball analytics
• Player Agents — their view of analytics
• Advances in medical information and its impact on decisions
• New applications of PITCHf/x data
• The use of analytics in scouting
• Player panel — the impact of data and information on performance
• The International Game — the next hot spot for talent development

If you can’t make it in person, you can follow along on Twitter using the hashtag #SABRanalytics. See pictures of how much fun they had last year in the daily photo galleries at SABR.org/analytics/photos/2012.

Via John Fay’s blog, I learned that the Reds have announced their non-roster invitees to spring training, which is just around the corner. Here’s a list for you:

• RHP Nick Christiani – 25 year old who’s been in the Reds’ system all along. He had a 3.34 ERA last year in AAA Louisville.
• LHP Wilkin De La Rosa – 27 year old who’s been bouncing around minor league teams for the last 8 years. He rocked a 2.49 ERA in AA Pensacola last year, so maybe this is finally his shot.
• RHP Justin Freeman – 26 year old who’s come up through the Reds’ system. He had a 2.91 ERA in AA Pensacola last year.
• RHP Drew Hayes – Another 25 year old coming up through the Reds’ system. 3.41 ERA in AA Pensacola last year.
• RHP Chad Rogers – Ooh, a youngun at just 23. Also home grown. 2.92 ERA in AA Pensacola last year.



• C Nevin Ashley – This 28 year old came up with the Rays before becoming a free agent and signing a minor league deal with the Reds in November. He’s got a fairly active Twitter account. He’s a fellow Hoosier and apparently likes yoga.
• C Tucker Barnhart – Just 22 and another Hoosier. Tucker spent last year in AA Pensacola.
• C Corky Miller – What could I possibly say about Corky Miller that hasn’t already been said? I’m just hoping to get a good picture at the Reds Caravan.
• IF Emmanuel Burriss – 27 year old who actually logged some major league experience in the middle infield with the Giants over the last 5 or so years.
• IF Cesar Izturis – Izturis has been the name out of this list that everyone’s been talking about. My take: they’re tempting Dusty Baker with a light-hitting, 32 year old shortstop? Heaven help us.
• IF Kristopher Negron – We saw Kristopher in 5 games with the Reds last year. He even got a hit in one of his 4 ABs.
• OF Billy Hamilton – I heard that Hamilton will be wearing #6–pretty bold for a spring training invitee who’s so young to choose such a low number. I wonder if it’s in honor of the Reds’ last best base-stealing threat (not Drew Stubbs).
• OF Ryan LaMarre – 24 year old who’s come up through the Reds system. He hit .263 in AA Pensacola last year. He’ll also be on the western leg of the Reds Caravan this year.
• OF Denis Phipps – We saw this 27 year old in 8 games in Cincinnati last year. Hit .300. Way to handle the pressure.
• OF Derrick Robinson – This 25 year old switch hitter came up through the Royals’ system and most recently played for the AAA Omaha Storm Chasers. Clearly, they’ve run out of good minor league team names.

We tuned in for the sneak peek of Pete Rose: Hits and Mrs last night on TLC. I was fully expecting it to be the latest headshaker in the line of headshake-inspiring activities that we’ve come to expect from Rose.

In fact, the program was quite mundane. The episode I watched contained:

• Multiple references to how sorry he was for his mistakes
• A short scene in a batting cage, but no other baseball that I noticed
• Plenty of his super-hot, surprisingly intelligent, and unduly tolerant fiancee

There were also several mildly racist comments (to explain how nice the Mexican restaurant where he proposed was, Rose said “I don’t think any Mexicans go there”) and some really sophomoric behavior (like showing a picture of his scantily clad fiancee to her mother) but that’s where the outrageousness ended. Pretty bland for reality television.

Rose says he wants the public to get a chance to know him through this show, but unless his stepkids-to-be turn into Honey Boo Boos, I don’t see people taking the time to tune in to this one. That being said, his own kids haven’t shown up; there might yet be plenty of emotionally stunted drama to come!

The show is Pete Rose: Hits and Mrs. It is on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC. Check out TLC’s website for more information.