The Cincinnati Reds Basketball Club?

When I was a kid, there was something different the Reds did during winters. These days I'm sure they aren't allowed to do it for insurance purposes, but back then, you got to watch the Cincinnati Reds play a sport even during the off season. That sport was basketball.

I don't remember how many years they did it, but I know it was a few. The Reds had a traveling basketball team that went to different high schools and played basketball for charity. It wasn't just the nobodies who played, either. The stars played, too - Barry Larkin, Paul O'Neill, Hal Morris, Joe Oliver...the good old days when the Reds were a winning franchise. Barry Larkin's brother was also part of the team - Byron is it? He was the best player, as if I recall correctly, he was a college basketball star? (Fuzzy memories...)

The highlight was not the game itself, but the autograph sessions afterward. I must have those programs somewhere back in Ohio, all smeared with glorious ink at the hands of a ballplayer - I'll have to get them out and scan them to show you some time.

I mentioned this on Twitter (@churchofbasebal) and someone said he had never heard of these traveling winter teams. I'm wondering - does anyone else remember the Reds winter basketball teams?

Top ten all time favorite players

I thought I’d take the time to reflect upon my favorite baseball players. The only rule I’m using is that I had to watch him play and remember him, so any Big Red Machine players are out. I’m sure I saw Johnny Bench play as a child, but I just don’t remember.

10. Paul O’Neill. I never really got over the trade. I never considered him a Yankee even though his best years were in pinstripes. He could have been one of the Reds greats if they’d have kept him. I have a picture of my family and me with him – I had to be in fifth or sixth grade and had a hideous perm, so that won’t be displayed on the mantle.

9. Derek Jeter. Maybe the one player whose entire career I followed, at least from Columbus on. Jeter’s one of those players who has that extra something that people who’ve never played competitive ball don’t understand, things like leadership and stepping up when things count. He’s played in the brightest spotlight and has never had a scandal. That’s something right there. He may not be the greatest shortstop in the game, but he’s good.

8. Ryan Zimmerman. This kid has a head on his shoulders and can be the next Brooks Robinson if he stays healthy. I can’t believe the Nationals haven’t signed him to a longterm contract yet.

7. Bret Boone. I liked him when he played for Seattle. I was thrilled when he came to Cincinnati. He was one of those players you can’t explain why you like, you just do. He was good, not great, but he was a big part of winning Reds teams and I was pretty sad when he left.

6. Sean Casey. Who didn’t like the Mayor? Nice guys are easy to love. It was pretty sad to see him retire this year. He’d make a great bat off the bench in Cincy.

5. Ryne Sandberg. Call it a WGN childhood. I loved Ryno. I had nearly every baseball card of his except the rookie cards – I only had the Fleer rookie card and spent a pretty penny on it back in the day. Maybe my Ryno love had something to do with the fact that my uncle got me a Sandberg Louisville Slugger when I first started playing Little League back in second grade. Sometimes you just develop an attachment to a player, but he was a pretty darn good one. I didn’t lose any love for him when his team got into that big fight with the Dayton Dragons last season.

4. Jose Rijo. 1990. The squirt gun. The Banana Phone pranks. What was there not to love about Jose? It was a bummer his arm didn’t love him, though. Bummer he might be in trouble, too.

3. Ken Griffey, Jr. Yes, yes, I have been hyper-critical of him in the last couple of years, and I even suspect that he had more of an impact on the Reds losing than we could imagine, but Junior was my favorite non-Reds player as a kid and my god, is that swing art. With time, I’ll forget all of the negative things about him, even the injuries, and remember him as the greatest centerfielder of my lifetime. I’ve already almost forgotten the bad and cannot wait to see him in a Mariners uniform again. I hope he hits forty out this year.

2. Barry Bonds. Yes, baseball’s all-time homerun hitter. But I don’t need to elaborate on why. I’ve written about it before. It’s just that I’ve never seen the atmosphere of a game change as it did when he came up to bat. There was electricity in the air. You just knew when he was going to hit one out.

1. Barry Larkin. One of the greatest shortstops in the history of the game. Born and bred in Cincinnati, Ohio. A pure Red.

Players who would have made this list but…:

Roger Clemens. I know, I know, it seems like a double standard loving Bonds and hating Roger. I used to love him, even as a Yankee. I remember taping a Clemens-Martinez matchup once and watching the game later. But the whole weirdness about his half seasons and his perceived craziness soured me to him. What can I say? You can’t help the way you feel. And I didn’t have the luxury to see him play on a regular basis like I did Bonds. Maybe it was the bleeding butt that turned me off.

Manny Ramirez. I loved Cleveland Indian Manny Ramirez. But then Manny became Manny, and the love stopped flowing.

Darren Daulton. Something about a guy who preaches that the end of the world is coming ruins the legacy.

Jose Canseco. Dude is just crazy. I loved him as a kid. But something about a rat just rubs me the wrong way.

I was surprised that there weren’t more Reds on my list when I really thought about it. I hope that one day I can rewrite this list and add Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, and Homer Bailey to the list!
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A Trip Back in Time

Half my life ago, I won the "Milk Duds Celebrity Bat Girl Contest" and had the great fortune of getting to stand on the field during batting practice. I was 16 years old and I missed a soccer game for it - I was the goalkeeper for my high school team and we were playing a small farm school, but even if we had been playing for a division title that day, I think I'd have missed it. The day was September 16, 1992. Yes, I even remember the date, because it was an incredible experience.

Here is the official contest photo taken of me with "my favorite Reds player," Hal Morris. Actually, Paul O'Neill was my favorite, and Joe Oliver was second, but neither of them was "available," so the Reds deemed Hal Morris as my favorite. I didn't care. I loved Hal, too! As you can see, he does not look pleased to have been deemed "my favorite player." Yes, they made me wear the Milk Duds hat, which was made for a size 10 head, I think. I do not have it anymore. I do, however, still have the Reds jersey, and I'd wear it if it didn't have "Milk Duds Celebrity Bat Girl" on the back. It's no matter - I only have about 50 other Reds shirts to choose from. (Yes, that's hyperbole.)

I also had my picture taken with Chris Hammond - the promising prospect Chris Hammond, not the aged veteran retread Chris Hammond we saw a couple of years ago. It was 1992, and he had his whole promising career ahead of him. Now, HE was happy to take a picture with me. (I had one of those 110 cameras with the strangely-shaped rolls of film back then, and objects ended up on the left side of the pictures.) Chris was a guy I'd had high hopes for. Everything was high hopes then - we were only two years removed from a World Series title, and no one could have foreseen the 18 year drought we would have.

Barry had yet to become my favorite player, though he was extremely nice and autographed a ball and a photo for me, asking me how was school and engaging in conversation as he signed. Of all of the moments of that day, the moment I spoke with Barry Larkin is the most memorable, even as I was unaware of the player he would become. Lark deserves the Hall, and he better get it next season. HEAR THAT, SPORTSWRITERS?????

He also needs to get back to Cincinnati. I share the view of Redleg Nation when I say BRING BACK BARRY! I was disappointed to see that rather than making room for newbies like Barry, the Reds hired back all of the coaching staff from 2008. That coaching staff did such a great job, we only ended up in FIFTH PLACE out of SIX TEAMS. I want to see Barry's butt on that bench!

As I said, Paul O'Neill was my favorite player. Never did I think this day would be the last time I saw Paul in a Reds uniform. What a sad, sad day it was to learn that he had been traded. Even now, after Paul had all of those great seasons with the Yanks, after he won all of those World Series rings, I still can't view him as a Yankee. He was a Red. He was part of that very special 1990 team. He was my favorite! I am happy, though, that New York embraced him as one of their own. That's awfully tough to accomplish when you're an outsider.

The Reds played the Braves that day, the first place Braves, the Ron Gant/David Justice Braves. The Reds lost. Mike Stinkton was the winning pitcher for the Braves and Mark Wohlers got the save. Scott Ruskin blew it for Greg Swindell, my favorite non-Jose pitcher, by serving up two runs in the eighth, giving the Chopheads a 3-2 lead. The Reds fell the furthest behind the eventual division winning Padres that night - 10.5 games back - than they were all season. They'd been in first place until the end of July but started to lose more games than they were winning and ended the season in second place, 8 games back of the Fathers.

On that night, though, September 16, 1992, the standings did not matter to me.