The passion we had as kids...

April 28th and 29th,.. Astros at the reds.

The past two days at Great American were pretty cool and I dont know where to start, so I will just start with what I am thinking about and be all over the place in the process.

What can be said about Adam Rosales?

The guy screams passion.. he oozes it all over the place. whether he is taking the field or leaving.. even on a walk, the guy is excited and passionate about being there.

Last night before the Reds took the field, he was standing at the top of the steps and could not wait to get to third base. As soon as he was given the cue he ran out so fast that it was almost like watching Flash Gordon take the position. When he got walked… again he was like white lightning to first. Coming on and off the field.. it was a reminder (and the only one we need) of Todd Coffey and how he would come out from the bullpen. Another thing about Rosales,.. he was always smiling. Every time I looked at him or zeroed in on him or when Fox Sports had him on.. smiling. Hes not yet jaded by years of hard road travel.. hes not yet consumed with what the Majors have for him.. he is simply enjoying every minute of what hes doing and not feeling like he has to emulate anyone else on the team to fit in.

Maybe he doesn’t even care about fitting in.. maybe.. JUST MAYBE… he is actually enjoying the game.

There was a quote once that Griffey JR said something in the realm of “as long as I still enjoy playing, I will play” or something to that respect. I can remember being at games last year and watching how Griffey would outright ignore fans.. how he would walk past them like they didn’t exist.. how he would scrunch his face when they would call out to him. Of course we know the locker room situation.. how he had two lockers and steamer trunks and what not.. we know how he would hit a grounder and almost just start walking straight to the dugout.. Griffey in my opinion was consumed by the Majors in the wrong way. Consumed by his millions and his endorsements, consumed by being on top and knowing it.

It seemed like in his final years in Cincinnati, Junior didn’t even try that hard… because he didn’t have to. He walked up to the plate every time wanting to hit home runs and not much else.

You don’t see that in players like Laynce Nix, who last night was driven in on a Rosales single.. and then drove in an RBI of his own on a brilliant triple where he was running so hard I thought he was going to bypass third base and crash right into me like a bull.

I said it at the beginning of the season and I will keep saying it. The Reds have the potential to be the NL Central Wildcard. It’s a time of reconstruction,.. of younger guys… of new guys.. and of learning each other. They have the ability to do it, and if the way that Volquez & Cueto have been pitching is any indicator of whats to come, they WILL do it.

Another thing about working every day at the Reds is that you see the same fans, or should I say autograph hounds all the time. There’s one guy who is littered in tattoos and who is always wearing New York Mets gear. Every game before pre game there he is, standing at the third base line wall waiting to try and get autographs. Last night he was holding a bag with something large in it, and got Jeff Keppinger to come over to him.. when he pulled the item out of the bag it was a framed picture ( I am guessing of Keppinger by his reaction) and Keppinger stood and adored it.

Turns out it was a framed picture that he had specially made just for Keppinger and wanted to hand deliver to him. Kep shook his hand and took it back into the clubhouse. A fans devotion will never cease to amaze me.

I asked the guy why he was always at Reds games in Mets gear, and he said “its easier to come here and support a good team and be able to see a lot of games, rather than driving to New York for one game.”

I was happy last night.. it wasn’t too hot, the rain held off.. and the Reds supported some awesome pitching into a win. It will be a week before I get to be there and see them again, but its going to be good to have a small break. It was also nice last night that the only thing I had to dodge on my bike, was the occasional puddle.