This week many of us had the good fortune to head out on the highway, heavy metal thundah style, and travel to see loved ones.  As a child i always enjoyed seeing different parts of this country from the left rear window of my parents automobile du jour.  Without a doubt the highlight of those trips was when we hit a major or minor metropolitan city, especially ones that had a baseball or football stadium that I could see. The family spent a lot of time reflecting on good memories after Thanksgiving dinner and it was surprising to note how many of those memories centered on vacation or road trips for us.

Earlier this year I visited Chicago and Dallas for the first time.  Both were BIG, full of traffic, and full of sprawl.  It got me to thinking about the places Ive been over the years and which ones really left an impression on me.  The three most OBC-livable cities were Charleston, SC.....Nashville, TN....and Portland, OR.  (more on why in the comment section, perhaps) 

So what say you?  What cities have left a mark on you and why?  I think there should be some interesting viewpoints and opinions on this topic.  

(least favorite? LA. No contest.  But get around Venice/Santa Barbara and CA is pretty damn cool) 

Hey guys, first off have an awesome thanksgiving! I just wanted to share one last thing that I now have to be thankful for... I just got accepted to go to Mizzou! While I'd like to get away from Missouri, I am pretty happy to get the chance to go to a place that feels like home... and thank God for dorms... I will be seeing as little of my mom and sister as I can... haha. Anyway, just wanted to let some people who have had a surprising impact on my life and a huge impact on my fanhood know about this next chapter in my life.

While I know I'll be studying entomology in grad school (maybe in Ohio?) I will probably study something with agriculture or biology for undergrad. Agricultural photojournalism looks enticing!

Talk to everyone later!

in each league since 1901?  Well, Brandon Isleib on the Hard Ball Times has tackled this question in two articles on the site. He works on the scheduling splits and projects the winners for each year in each division.  I found the two articles interesting and hope you do too. 

To read them go here and then read this page.  It is interesting to see how the Reds did in a two division set up. 

A big thank you to my friend Steve who sent these links to me for we have had some great conversations today about them.   Your thoughts?

Yes, I'm already dreaming of spring.

Yesterday, many teams released their spring training schedules. The Reds did not, but since many of their opponents did, much of their schedule can be pieced together:

February 25 at TAMPA 1:05 p.m.
February 27 vs. PHILADELPHIA
February 28 at BOSTON
March 1 vs. YANKEES 1:05 p.m.
March 3 at BOSTON
March 7 at TORONTO 1:05 p.m. Dunedin
March 8 vs. TORONTO
March 9 at PHILADELPHIA 1:05 p.m.
March 10 at YANKEES 7:15 p.m. GMS Field
March 14 vs. TAMPA 1:05 p.m.
March 15 at TORONTO 1:05 p.m. Dunedin
March 17 at PHILADELPHIA 1:05 p.m.
March 18 at TAMPA 1:05 p.m.
March 19 vs. BOSTON
March 23 vs. TORONTO
March 25 vs. BOSTON
March 27 at YANKEES 7:15 p.m. GMS Field
March 28 at TAMPA 1:05 p.m.
March 29 vs TAMPA 1:05 p.m.
March 31 vs. YANKEES 1:05 p.m.

The Yankees noted that this is the earliest start to spring training in at least 60 years.

From WCKY-AM 1530 Homer The Sports Animal's Lance McAlister:

Things I'm told
MLB sources tell me the White Sox and Reds are involved in trade talks. I'm told the White Sox initiated the talks. The potential deal involves the Sox sending RF Jermaine Dye to the Reds in exchange for Homer Bailey and another player.
What do you think?
Dye is a right handed run producer that plays RF. He will be 35 in January.
He leads all AL OF in HR's since 2005 with 137.
He has a gun for an arm, but does not move well in the OF.
Money wise: Here is his contract situation.
20009:$11.5M
2010:$12M mutual option ($1M buyout)
He has a limited no trade clause
Homer is 22-years old and has thrown just 81.2 major league innings.

McAlister didn't name his source, but I thought some Chicago papers linked the Reds interest in him back in October.  He is an option, but I would assume he would have to be moved to Left Field.  He has a nice arm, but like Lance mentioned range is not there.  Is it me or does he seem like an older right-handed version of Adam Dunn? 

I don't mind trading Homer if we can fill a legitimate hole.  Is this the right guy for our hole?  Is there another player better Homer could bring us?  I figured Homer could land us one of the good 4 young catchers from Texas.

There is no doubt trading Homer now, would be selling low.  He could be a great safety net if the injury bug would bite Cueto, Volguez, Harang, or Arroyo.  Maybe we should hang on to him.

Thoughts anyone?

I'm lifting this whole from C. Trent, because it's important.

It turns out that former Red reliever Ricky Stone developed a malignant brain tumor in August and, because he was pitching in Taiwan at the time, doesn't have insurance in America.  A group of MLB wives, headed by Nelson Figueroa's wife Alisa, are setting up an auction with the proceeds going to help Ricky Stone's treatment.

Here is the e-mail that Alisa Figueroa sent to C. Trent.

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alisa Figueroa. My husband, Nelson, pitched for the NY Mets this season.

I hope you can publicize our online memorabilia auction to be held this coming week to benefit 33-year-old Ricky Stone, relief pitcher for Astros (2001-2004), Padres (2004), and Reds (2005, 2007), who was stricken with a malignant brain tumor in August 2008. Over 100 baseball players donated signed jerseys, bats, baseballs, and baseball equipment to help Ricky. In August of this year Ricky Stone, a former MLB Pitcher, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Earlier in the season Ricky had been playing baseball in Taiwan. Because of this the Stone family had insurance in Taiwan, but none in the States. Tracey, Ricky's wife, was to begin a job with insurance for the entire family on Monday morning and Ricky's seizure was the Thursday evening preceding her job.

Major League Baseball is an amazing family. Almost immediately after learning about what had happened to Ricky Erin Pote (husband Lou) was in touch with me. Erin was in Taiwan. She and I had never met. Our common link was that we were both friends with Ricky and Tracey. Erin said, "I want to help. What can we do? Do you think we could collect items for an online auction to help them out?".

As I had been one of the founders of the MLB Wives auction for 9-11, I told her we could try to do it. The first step was to contact other wives. The second step, as Ricky and Tracey are incredibly strong Christians, was to contact all the team Chaplains and ask for their help. The response we had was absolutely amazing. In the past two months since our first request we have received over 100 unique items. These items represent twenty teams. We have items from current Baseball Hall of Famers, Golf and boxing hall of famers as well. We also have items from some rookies who wanted to do anything they could to help another member of the baseball "family" in any way they could.

Erin and I have joined together with Helping Hands Ministries, Inc. (a 501c charity) in order to set up a fund for the Stone family through them. This will allow all items purchased through this auction to be a tax deduction. In addition this allowed us to partner with eBay's Mission Fish program so that 100% of the monies from this auction can be donated to Helping Hands Ministries, Inc. and in return, to the Stone family. Also, we have COAs from Herman Darvick who is an independant consultant for PSA/DNA experts. Finally, we have a website with information about the Stone family and the auction (http://rallyforrecovery.blogspot.com).

Now the last and most important part of making this auction a success is what we are hoping to receive from you. As baseball writers your words reach the fans. Tho articles you write inform and inspire others. We are hoping that you will be able to write something to inform those readers in your area of our auction and the specifics.

I am including two attachements. One is a press release written for Erin and I from a friend who does this sort of thing as a profession. The other is our list of items for our auction. I am including this spreadsheet so that you can see items you think may be more specific for your own city should you choose to write a piece on your own about the auction. The general website, again, is http://rallyforrecovery.blogspot.com. The press release has a link to our eBay store.

I think I can speak for all of us here when I wish Ricky a speedy and full recovery, and wish his family luck during this hard time.  If you want to do more to help, click on those links, and they'll provide more information for what you can do.

Pete Mackanin seems to be moving pretty quickly up the ladder. After posting a 49-31 record with the Reds as the interim manager, he was brought to New York as a pro scout for the Yankees... Same job he originally had with the Reds if I'm not mistaken. Now he's joined the World Series Champion Phillies... as their Bench Coach! Story can be found here.

The guy has kept moving up... Expos, Pirates, Reds, Yanks, Phils... Congrats Pete!

The Official Scorer of the Reds passed away last night.  He'd been on the job for 29 years, and even though he's not someone most people are familiar with, I was a little saddened at the news.  I met Sample back in high school and only got to talk to him for a couple of minutes but he was a very gracious man.  Strangely that short meeting with him always left me kind of rooting for him.  Thinking on it now, all I can think is, that's weird.

Sample was also the head baseball coach at the University of Cincinnati for 21 years.  He still holds the record for most wins, with an overall record of 391-333-7.

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In unrelated news, but something that might add a little more meat to this FanPost(tm), I invite you to read the story of Squeaky Parker.  It's nice to hear the Reds taking care of one of their own even when they aren't obligated to.

From the Diaro Libre last Tuesday, November 18:

SANTO DOMINGO. El comité organizador del equipo dominicano que participará en el Clásico Mundial 2009 presentó este lunes a Mario Soto como el nuevo coach de pitcheo de la novena quisqueyana en sustitución de William Castro, quien fue designado en las mismas funciones por los Cerveceros de Milwaukee en Grandes Ligas.

Hablando para los periodistas en presencia del doctor Leonardo Matos Berrido, presidente de Lidom, el gerente general Stanley Javier resaltó que tanto él como Felipe Rojas Alou se sienten muy contentos porque saben el tipo de persona que es Mario Soto.

"Tanto Felipe como yo estamos muy contentos porque conocemos a Mario y sabemos la persona que es", destacó Javier.

Aprovechó para anunciar que fueron integrados, en adición a los ya existentes, nuevos coaches entre los que cuentan Luis Pujols, Luis Silverio, Mariano Duncan, Nelson Silverio y Miguel García. Anteriormente se dieron a conocer los nombres de Alfredo Griffin y Junior Noboa. 

Dijo que otros nombres aún no pueden salir a la luz pública debido a que los reglamentos del Clásico así lo impiden, aunque resaltó que jugadores como Robinson Canó, Santiago Casillas, Edinson Vólquez y Aramis Ramírez firmaron el acuerdo de participación.

El recién designado dio las gracias a todos los miembros del comité organizador y de manera especial a Felipe y Stanley, con quienes dijo tener magníficas relaciones.

SANTO DOMING.  The organizing committee of the Dominican team that will participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic announced yesterday former pitcher Mario Soto will be their team's pitching coach.  Soto will replace William Castro who was recently named the pitching coach of the Milwaukee Brewers.  The general manager of the Dominican team, Stanley Javier said that both he and team manager, Felipe Rojas Alou are very content with this selection because the understand the value of Soto.

"Both Felipe and I are very happy because we know Mario well and we know the kind of person he is," said Stanley.  Stanley also announced the selection of other new coaches who will join the existing managers, including Luis Pujols, Luis Silverio, Mariano Duncan, Nelsion Silverio, and Miguel García.   Alfredo Griffin and Junior Noboa had already been neamed as coaches on the team.

Stanley mentioned that other names of participants still have not been announced to the public due to the rules of the Classic, but he did highlight that players like Robinson Canó, Santiago Casillas Edinson Vólquez, and Aramis Ramiraz have signed up to play.

Soto thanked the organizing committee of the Dominican team, and gave special thanks to Stanley and Alou.  Dating back to their years as players, Soto said he has a great relationship with both Stanley and Alou.  "I give thanks a everyone who has made it possible for me to replace Castro on the team," said soto. "Everyone is involved the Classic and for that reason the Cincinnati Reds organization didn't have any problem with granting me permission to participate." 

Could this be the experience/recognition that Mario Soto needs to become the next Reds' pitching coach?  After his work with Vólquez and Cueto, and his general ability to teach his devastating backdoor slider ("puerta atras") shouldn't he be a pitching coach somewhere, preferably with the Reds?

How do we feel about Vólquez participating in the Classic?  Weren't a lot of players, especially pitchers, kind of wiped out last time around going straight into the season after the competition?

In other Dominican news, the governement here is trying to push through a a youth emplyment act that is very similar to the law that led to so much unrest in France in 2006.  It is a law that basically says that folks between 18-30 who are enterng their first formal job, should have limited rights including the right to be fired without warning or reason, and also are exempt from severence pain.  The idea is to stimulate the economy by making young people more exploitable, I mean, hirable.  

Here in Justicia Global we are currently working on mobilizing young folks to take action against the law which is now in the senate after gaining approval in the house.  Our goal is to use this event as an entrance point for young people into the work of creating a broader, more long term movement towards more fundamental socio-economic change.

Things seem to be getting pretty bad in terms of unemployent in the States.  What is the feeling like there these days?

Another SIS?  Re he eally?  Yup....Tis the season. 

As the site's resident sushi and burger aficianado it pleased me to see an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer today highlighting some of the best local burgers.  Then i read the article.  I havent been to ANY of those places, and I was perplexed at the burger fixins. Here's the link:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081120/ENT01/811210311/1026

Personally I'm putting Tink's, Terry's Turf Club and Bard's Burgers atop the local rankings.  Slyders in Dayton is pretty damn delicious also. But this is really about where y'all think the best burgers are locally, or even nationwide.  What say you?