150 to go

Twelve games down and the Big Red Machine is in first. Somehow. The numbers baffle me at this point. Look at the bullpen- this bullpen and marvel at their collective earned run average, for it will surely increase. Aaron Harang, of all people, has the worst ERA on the club in this bizarro start to the season. Well, John Coutlangus has the worst ERA, technically, but I chalk that up to the taunting he must have endured sitting in the Wrigley Field bullpen.

Anyway, it's nigh on tax day and the Reds are in first. I won't complain yet. Hell, Kyle Lohse got 12 K's today.

I went to my first game of the season on Monday against the D-Backs (the full word "Diamondbacks" does not appear on any of their four official jerseys) in the newly ruddy Chase Field. The Reds blew a solid effort by Bronson. Of course, Bronson should get used to that since it's happened in all three of his starts now.

I was thoroughly impressed by the show that Josh Hamilton put on during BP that night and he seems to be holding his own in his limited playing time. I hope he's the real deal. I don't want this year's Reds to implode when Junior gets hurt again or if Dunn's back spasms are a lingering problem.

Well, it's Jackie Robinson Day. I'm a big admirer of Robinson, one of the great athletes in California history, who was a much more complex character than he is generally portrayed. However, I'll leave the lengthy Robinson essays to smarter bloggers.

And while it is an honor that the Los Angeles Dodgers are all wearing #42 (a number they finally retired 10 years after Jackie was already in the Hall of Fame, by the way). Here's what that franchise thought of him in the fall of 1956: a middle reliever with an ERA .31 above league average and $30,000.