Wow, what a day! (Part 1)

Except it was sort of ruined by the loss. I guess you could say that up until the fifth inning when Livingston fell apart, it was a pretty perfect day. I gave a quick account of my lunchtime with the Reds, but wanted to add a few things before I dive into the game. When I saw Chad Moeller leaving the hotel yesterday, I didn't realize he was leaving for Louisville. I also didn't realize that the familiar baseball-looking type with the Lizard was Mark Bellhorn. And the guy with the coffee who I thought was Matt Belisle was actually Ryan Freel - he had Paris Hilton glasses for men covering half his face and a cap pulled down over most of his head like he was trying to be incognito (like anyone aside from a Reds fan is going to recognize him on the street in his civvies). He seemed weird enough to be Belisle, but it wasn't until I saw Farney on the field that I realized it was he who had bolted through the lobby, head down, as if he were, in fact, Paris Hilton fleeing from the paparazzi.

I arrived at the game before the gates opened and was pleasantly surprised to find as many Reds fans there waiting to get in as there were Nats fans. I had some business to attend to - dropping off tix at will call and trading my Friday vs. St. Louis tix for a Giants game at the end of this new month - so I did not have to wait long to get into the ballpark. The Nats were just finishing up batting practice - it's a shame they don't let fans in to watch the home team take BP, but what do you expect from this miserable management group?

I bolted for a spot behind the Reds dugout, where I would stand for the next hour, snapping photo after photo and getting Edwin Encarnacion's ink on the ball Brandon Phillips had signed earlier in the day. (Edwin is ballworthy, don't you think?) I was sooo happy to see Dunner in the batting cage (wearing Red instead of blue.) He hit two moonshots into the upper deck in right. Too bad he didn't do it during the game!

Junior didn't launch any, either. The rightfield line is 335 as opposed to GABp's 325, so all of those first and second row shots he hits out in Cincy are just routine outs in RFK Canyon. But he could have been playing on a Little League field yesterday and still wouldn't have done anything. Remember when he was hitting about .290? Well, he's down to .268 these days.

I tell you what - I'm still thinking of running into him at the hotel yesterday. He seemed so cool! He floated in on a glowing cloud and carried a quiver of lightening bolts on his back.

That strikeout on the check swing? That was an absolutely terrible call by the home plate umpire. What politician paid him off?

Javy was the first one of three Reds to sign (Edwin and Conine being the others.) For some reason, I didn't pull my scorecard out for him to sign, which I regret. I think I was a bit embarrassed about my "ballworthy" versus "not ballworthy" categories and felt bad that I considered him not ballworthy. I should just be grateful that these guys are signing, shouldn't I?

David Ross was 3-4, so that was something. He raised his average to .209. He better be careful, or they're going to rename it the Ross Line rather than Mendoza.

For some reason, I have a ton of good Ross photos from the six Reds games I've been to this season. I like this one a lot - the crappy RFK grass on the right gives it some shape.

On an unrelated note - you know what's funny? I don't have a single photo of the Nationals. It's like the Nationals were not even on the field last night - the players could have been wearing plain white uniforms. They were simply the "Other Team." One that upset me by defeating my team.

Here are some more photos from the evening. I'll post more later.