3.20 Reds at Astros

The longest distance the Reds travel in the spring, about a two hour drive, is to the Houston Astros' Osceola County Stadium in Kissimee, which is where today's game took place. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and breezy.

The Stadium

I really like this stadium, despite the relatively long drive. The seats are wide (yay) and are really close to the field. The facilities are modern. The food is unique and generally good (I had something called 'Fried Chicken on a Stick', which was a large piece of incredibly juicy, whole chicken meat, on a wooden skewer). Although, their signage misspelled "Cincinnati" for their chili dogs.


My Seat (I must be in the front row)

The great thing about today was that my seat was in the very front row of the stadium. It came as a complete surprise since my ticket said Row 2 but for some reason there was no Row 1. I was literally sitting next to the field, just past third base. Here is the field from my seat.


Here is the Astros bullpen, which was right next to me.


You know your seat is sweet when the main obstruction to your view of the pitcher is the third base coach. This proximity earned me some excellent closeup photographs today, particularly of Astros players, as you'll see.

Notes on the Astros

Before the game long-time Reds TV announcer, George Grande, talked to former Reds closer Danny Graves, who is now trying to make the Astros club. Graves was solid for the Reds for several years, but it has been since 2004 that he has been an effective major league pitcher. A trivia note: Danny Graves is the only player in Major League Baseball history to twice have only home runs as his hits for an entire year. In both 2000 and 2001 he had a single hit - a tater.


Lance Berkman, in full sideburn glory, hit a home run off the hapless Nick Masset.


Carlos Lee played, here he looks at a pop-up straight over home plate.


Miguel Tejada is clearly the leader of the team. He yells directions on every hit ball from his shortstop position. I remember watching Tejada play in Baltimore when I lived in Bethesda. He would literally take over, dominating baseball games in a way that is usually reserved for Kobe or LaBron in basketball. I realize there are issues with Tejada, but I absolutely love watching him play.


A couple other "Astros Royalty" spottings. About half way through the game Hunter Pence, who was not playing today, walked to the dugout, so right past me.


Also, Astro favorite second baseman, Craig Biggio, was there in uniform.



Notes on the Reds

As for the Reds today, they didn't have their starting lineup in town. Some brief notes:

Johnny Cueto pitched well, the only run he gave up was on two bloop hits. It's early still, but I'm going to predict that Cueto will be the Reds best pitcher this year, having a true breakthrough season.

Jeff Keppinger, playing second base, went hitless, is now hitting .167.

Laynce Nix hit the ball well three times, he's still in the mix to make the club.

Paul Janish, the best shortstop in the entire organization, made a fabulous play today, chasing down a fly ball looking back over his head, diving to the ground. Too bad he can't hit even a tiny bit.

Adam Rosales, playing 3B today and known as "Pete Rosales" for his hustle, made a great play on a ground ball where the bat shattered and flew out to where he fielded the ball. Now there are rumors that he might make the club instead of Keppinger. I'm totally fine with that.

Jaques Jones was batting fifth, hitting .088 this spring. Dusty, what is he doing taking AB away from other players at this point?

Nick Masset, who came to the Reds from the White Sox in the Griffey give-away, continued to pitch himself off the team.