January 2010
Turn your front yard into a Major League Baseball field
Good luck finding a man that didn’t, at one time or another, dream of stepping onto a Major League Baseball field. As a kid, I imagined emerging from the Cincinnati Reds’ dugout and setting foot onto the artificial surface at Riverfront Stadium. I grew up in the astroturf era, but welcomed the change to natural grass when the Reds finally made the switch in 2001.
When the team moved to Great American Ball Park, everyone expected an immaculate facility and playing field. After opening its doors in 2003, the home of the Cincinnati Reds has exceeded those expectations.
It is a thrill to see a well-manicured baseball field. The sight of the freshly cut grass and brushed dirt is absolutely beautiful. Thanks to Major League Baseball and Scotts, you now have the chance to be the envy of your neighbors and grow a “ballpark-inspired” lawn.

Read more in The Wight Pages.
Reds Report: Jay Bruce
When Ken Griffey Jr. was traded, right field at Great American Ball Park officially became the home of Jay Bruce. His natural ability and physical tools give him the potential to be an all-star. Like most young players, Bruce will go through slumps and people will question his spot on the Major League roster.Offensively, Bruce struggled through the first half of last year. Again, being a young player, he chased a lot of bad pitches and often tried to pull everything. He finished the year with a .223 batting average, with 22 home runs and 58 runs batted in.
After suffering a broken wrist on July 11, Bruce spent about two months on the disabled list. When he returned, it was obvious that he used his time off to become a better hitter, even if he couldn’t swing a bat. In 18 games after returning from the disabled list, Bruce batted .326 with four homers and 17 RBI.
Defensively, Bruce is outstanding. Last season, he quickly gained the respect of baserunners by collecting 11 assists. He also had an impressive .991 fielding percentage.
Barring injury, Bruce will be in right field on Opening Day. Hopefully, the experience of last year combined with the being in the lineup with a veteran like Scott Rolen, Bruce can carry over the success he had at the end of last season.
Read more in The Wight Pages.
Photo credit to Team Doster.
Do steroids make you cry like a little schoolgirl?
Mark McGwire has finally admitted to using steroids during his playing career. He cried like a schoolgirl during an interview with Bob Costas on MLB Network as he confirmed what many baseball fans have suspected for years.
Please excuse me if I don’t make a mad dash for the tissue box. McGwire was a cheater.
He claims that he only took steroids to help recover from injuries and that the drugs had no impact on his statistics. Hey Mark, da nile ain’t just a river in Egypt. If steroids don’t help you perform on the field, then why are they called performance-enhancing drugs? He claims to have started using steroids on a consistent basis in the winter of 1993 into 1994.
Check out McGwire’s at-bat to home run ratio before and after he started being “healthy” by taking steroids. These statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com, and require the minimum number of at bats or plate appearances to qualify for leadership in offensive categories.
| AB per HR | |
| 1987 AL | 11.4 |
| 1988 AL | 17.2 |
| 1989 AL | 14.8 |
| 1990 AL | 13.4 |
| 1992 AL | 11.1 |
| 1996 AL | 8.1 |
| 1998 NL | 7.3 |
| 1999 NL | 8.0 |
The steroids obviously enhanced his performance. I think the numbers speak for themselves, but…you know how it goes…I’m not here to talk about the past.
McGwire also let us know that the steroids he took were a low dosage. He said, “I took very, very low dosages, just because I wanted my body to feel normal. The wear and tear of 162 ballgames and the status of where I was at, and the pressures that I had to perform, and what I had to go through to try and get through all these injuries, it’s a very, very regrettable thing.”
What is regrettable, Mark? The injuries, pressures or playing 162 games? Or was it the fact that you cheated to overcome the same obstacles that thousands of baseball players deal with everyday?
He rambles on to talk about how he wanted to tell Congress about his steroid use in 2005 but didn’t because his lawyers were unable to get him immunity from prosecution. He didn’t want his family, friends and teammates to be called in to testify. He told Costas, “So you know what I did? We agreed not to talk about the past. And it was not enjoyable to do that, Bob.”
Wow! Mark, you are a hero. Child please. You did this to yourself. Nobody forced pills down your pie hole. I seriously doubt you were standing in the locker room when someone stuck a needle in your tookus while you were flexing in the mirror.
McGwire also called Roger Maris’ widow and told her the news. He told Costas of the conversation, saying, “I felt good…I felt that it was…that I needed to do that.” I…I…I… It’s always about him.
The irony is that Maris was vilified for breaking Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record in 1961 because of the schedule being 162 games, as opposed to 154 games when Ruth set the record in 1927. The legendary asterisk debate should now be applied to McGwire 1998 season, if you want to count it at all.
I hope McGwire lives a long, healthy life. But when the time comes for him to walk into that big clubhouse in the sky, I am counting on the M & M Boys to break out a can o’ whoop ***.
Anyway, why come clean after all this time? He says, “I’m not here doing this for the Hall of Fame. I’m doing this for me, to get this off my chest.”
I actually believe him this time because he was recently hired by the Cardinals to be the team’s hitting coach. I think Bud Selig and/or Tony LaRussa told him that he had to fess up before being allowed to put on a uniform again.
Read more in The Wight Pages.
Reds Sign Cuban Star Aroldis Chapman
I am not one to to lose my mind over baseball prospects. I don’t really pay attention to the Major League Baseball draft. When the Washington Nationals gave Stephen Strasburg a boatload of money last year, I questioned the move. I usually want to see the kids play a few innings in the bigs before we put them in the Hall of Fame.
When a big name free agent hits the market, fans of “small market” teams seldom even care. That is because their favorite team usually has no chance of landing said player. The latest phenom to hit the baseball world is Aroldis Chapman, a 21-year old Cuban defector.
In a shocking move, the team that won the bidding war was none other than the Cincinnati Reds. Topping the Red Sox, Angels, Blue Jays and Marlins, the Reds offered Chapman $30 million for six years and he took it.
Should Reds fans be excited? Absolutely. This kind of acquisition is rare for a team like the Reds. They should be excited because the team is obviously trying to win and I believe they can compete in the National League Central. Of course, the chill of winter makes me optimistic about the Reds playing winning baseball in the summer months.
Will Chapman be in Cincinnati on Opening Day? Most people who have seen him play conclude that he is not ready for the big leagues just yet. He seems to be blessed with amazing, raw talent and has a fastball that has been clocked in the triple digits. Oh yeah, he is also left-handed.
I have no clue if he will be a star or not. Neither do you. However, I do know one thing. You can’t teach someone to throw 100 mph. It is a God-given gift.
ESPN ran a fascinating story about Chapman several months ago. Escaping from your country is not something many of us can relate to.
http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf
Read more in The Wight Pages.
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