OPENING DAY IN CINCINNATI

       

Ah....Opening Day.

In the city that housed the first professional baseball team, Opening Day is as much a holiday as any. In a city that faces gray winters....Opening Day seems to be the unofficial first day of spring. People are just crawling out of their homes, getting their lawns shaped up, planting flowers, going on walks, cleaning those grills and getting ready for another season of Cincinnati baseball.

Unlike the Yankees and Red Sox...who every year know they will be fighting for a spot in the World Series every season....being a Reds fan brings different excitement. Hope. The season could be magical...or it could be a bust. Being a mid-major MLB team brings that. You hope you have enough hitting...your pitching holds up...and you avoid as much injury issues as you can. If so....you have a chance to be relevant in September. If not....you’ll be trading away those guys you were supposedly building your team around.

This year’s Reds team could contend for the NL Central. Or they could finish 25 games out. There is the question of Ken Griffey, Jr’s health. Every year since he’s been here....Griffey can’t stay on the field. The Reds were 46-40 when Griffey suffered his hamstring injury that knocked him out for the season. They were 30-46 after that. There is the question of the new pitchers Ramon Ortiz and Eric Milton. Milton gave up more HR than anyone last year...and he’ll be pitching in a hitters ball park.

This is a team with a ton of character. You have All Stars like Griffey, Sean Casey and Adam Dunn. You have youth in Wily Mo Pena and D’Angelo Jimenez. They have those gritty guys like Ryan Freel and Jason LaRue and added Joe Randa and Rich Aurilla in the offseason. Not to mention some young pitchers like Ryan Wagner, Joe Valentine, Aaron Harang and Brandon Claussen.

In that Opening game....Adam Dunn hit two moon shots....Pedro Martinez came in and struck out 12 Reds....and the Reds scored 3 in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. A great start to a new season.

Hopefully we’ll have a great finish.

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