3.21 Mi Tierra

I decided that over the next few days I want to try several of the nearby Cuban-inspired restaurants that are so highly regarded. Today for lunch I traveled to Mi Tierra, which is conveniently located near Ed Smith Stadium.

Mi Tierra bills itself as featuring Cuban and Columbian cuisine. It's a very small restaurant, probably seating no more than 30 people at full capacity.


The menu, written in Spanish and English (in that order) offers a variety of full meals generally priced less than $12. They have weekday lunch specials, but none on Saturday.

I ordered a traditional Cuban dish, Carne al Carbón, which is Charbroiled steak, with rice, plaintains, black beans and salad.


The citrus-marinated steak was very tender and flavorful. The black beans, which I mixed with the white rice, were fantastic - I wish I knew why authentic black beans taste so special.

This is an excellent place to go before the Reds home afternoon games, I'm sure I'll be back. Tomorrow my plan is to try one of two highly recommended Bradenton-area Cuban restaurants when I head up for the Reds-Pirates game at 1:00.

3.20 Hickory Hollow

After the Astros game I stopped in at the Hickory Hollow BBQ restaurant, located north of Bradenton, about a mile off of I-75. It was highly recommended by internet sources as the best BBQ in the area.


You have to know where the Hickory Hollow is, because it's a fairly inconspicuous roadside eatery. This isn't cookie-cutter Q like Sonny's. It's a cash-only, local favorite. They had dozens of seats set up outside for people to wait, which in itself is a great sign for what's to come. I arrived there early, just beating the crowd on a Friday night.


The menu, even though presented on a single 8.5x11 white piece of paper offered 14 different meats and 8 different seafood choices, to go with about 30 side dishes. They offered two-meat or three-meat combos.

Unlike many great BBQ joints, this one seems dedicated to quality side dishes to accompany their meats. Some choices include rutabegas, hog shank, white acre peas, collards, and yam patties. They also carried potatoes several ways - mashed, fried and new.

My meal was fantastic. I ordered a meat combo so I could sample both the pork and beef. My sides were cole slaw and corn pudding. The slaw dressing was so good I sat there contemplating how much I would pay for the recipe. The meats were extremely juicy and relatively large pieces, and both were great. They offer a choice of sauces and I went with the "traditional" mild sweet one. You can get Carolina style BBQ here, though.

Those who recommend Hickory Hollow will get no argument from me. I'll go back before my vacation is over.

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.

3.19 Columbia Restaurant

After the baseball debacle on Thursday, I went to the Columbia Restaurant, in St. Armand's Circle, which had been my favorite Sarasota eating establishment last spring. The Columbia features Spanish and Cuban food. Originally founded in 1905 - think about how impressive it is for a restaurant to stay in business over 100 years - there are seven locations, operating primarily in Central Florida.


I once again enjoyed my favorite meal at Columbia - beginning with their historic "1905 Salad" which they toss at your table. It's made with lettuce, tomatoes, julienne ham, swiss cheese and grated Romano cheese, and tossed with their garlic dressing.


For an entrée, I ate one of the many house specialties - Red Snapper Alicante. The snapper (the King of Gulf fish) is baked with onions in a rich brown gravy, topped with sliced almonds and served with yellow rice, fried eggplant, and two jumbo fried shrimp. What I really love about this dish is the unique brown sauce and the incredibly fresh fish.

3.19 Reds vs. Red Sox

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series - a seven-game contest that many believe to be the greatest World Series of all time.

The distance between the Cincinnati Reds of 2009 and the 1975 Big Red Machine was never more apparent than Thursday night at Ed Smith Stadium.


Ed Smith, an old stadium, badly in need of renovation is serving as the spring training home of the Reds for one more year. Beginning in 2010 the Reds will move from the Grapefruit League to the Cactus, switching homes to Goodyear, AZ, where they will share a spectacular, modern facility with the Cleveland Indians.


Sarasota does not yet have a deal with a major league club to play at Ed Smith next year. I sat next to this guy, Joe Barbetta, who is a City Commissioner of Sarasota. I overheard him talking about the failed negotiations with both the Reds and Red Sox. He also expressed doubt that recent overtures by the Baltimore Orioles would lead to anything.

The weather was beautiful and breezy on Thursday night.


The public address announcer reported the local temperature at game time as 78º. The Reds fans showed up to enjoy a home game.


The pre-game expectations were for a Reds victory. After all, Dusty Baker had announced earlier in the day that he would be playing the Reds regulars for nine innings. The Red Sox, by comparison, chose to leave their first team back in Ft. Myers. Shortstop Jed Lowrie was the only starting Boston player who might crack their Opening Day lineup.

Well, the game was lopsided. The final score was 9-1. Unfortunately, from the standpoint of Mr. Red, and all the other Reds fans in attendance, the home team lost.


This game followed a pattern for the Reds that I've already seen more than once this spring. In the first inning they start out getting on and aggressively running the bases, with mixed success. Taveras walked (the last one of the night for the Reds) after once again missing a bunt. Alex Gonzalez singled to center field. Brandon Phillips singled to left, but Gonzalez got caught between second and third, making the second out. Brandon Phillips stole third with two outs, for some unknown reason. The Reds scored one run.

After the flurry of questionable base running in the first inning, the Reds demonstrated their serious flaws as an offensive club. Hitter after hitter showed zero plate discipline and knowledge of the strike zone. Brandon Phillips swung at the first pitch every time up except his third AB when it was over his head - in which case he swung at the second pitch. Alex Gonzalez swung at a third strike that was above eye level. Only Joey Votto exhibits any respect for the strike zone.

Despite some talented hitters - Votto, Jay Bruce, Chris Dickerson, these Reds will set team records for (a) fewest walks, (b) lowest OBP, and (c) most strikeouts. Their starting pitching will keep them in many games, but their run production is going to be truly awful.


Boston, playing with a collection of AAA and AA-destined players, drew walk after walk off of former Red Sox SP, Bronson Arroyo.


Arroyo gave up three home runs, two of which included a walked man on base. Lowrie had a great hitting night, going 3 for 4 with a HR and 3 RBI.


Cancer-survivor Jon Lester, threw 67 pitches over 4 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, and striking out six Reds.

3.18 Reds at Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays have started using a renovated field in Port Charlotte for their spring training games. While it's a new site for them, it's actually one of the older facilities.

It seats about 5000 in fixed seats, making it one of the smallest capacities in that regard. But addition fans can sit on the grassy area along the third base side. There is also a wooden deck that runs around the length of the outfield fence, giving great views of the bullpen.

Wednesday was cool by central Florida standards, somewhat cloudy. My seat was on the first base side of home plate, about 12 rows back. I was in the shade, for which my pasty Midwestern skin was thankful.

One noteworthy fact - this park is huge. The home run fence is 343 feet down the lines and a whopping 414 feet in dead center. Add some pretty strong wind blowing in yesterday and it was going to take a real jack to get it out.

Dick Vitale, Tampa Bay fan, was at the game yesterday, prompting the awkward question of whether he is stalking me. Hopefully the return of the NCAA tournament will require his return to Bristol, CT. He does get great seats, though.

Two Debate World Fantasy League Issues

First, we've received photographic evidence that the league trophy - The Gibby - has arrived to its new residence in Arizona. The Adam Ants will possess our traveling award for the next year. I'll include one of the pictures Adam sent yesterday showing it off. Color me green with envy.


Also, in the fifth inning, Carlos Peña and Brandon Phillips got together to discuss the DW trade where they were exchanged straight-up by the Ybor Rollers and the Curse of the Deciders.



Notes on the Tampa Bay Gabes

What are the odds that the two major league players with the first name of "Gabe" would not only be on the same team, but bat next to each other in a given line up? Yesterday Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross batted 6th and 7th respectively. Too bad the Reds former relief pitcher, Gabe White, wasn't here to face them.

Pat Burrell missed another chance to impress his potential fantasy owner by hitting into a bases-loaded double play to end the first inning.

Starting pitcher Jason Harrell, who apparently is aiming to make the team as its fifth starter, looked just so-so, having trouble in the first two innings, but having no problems in the third and fourth.


Here, Carlos Peña batted in the first inning with a runner at third.


Notes on the Cincinnati Reds

Another loss for the Reds, although this time the fault did not lie with the starting pitching. Edinson Volquez, who was far from sharp, did not surrender a run in his three innings (71 pitches) of work. He seemed to lack focus early in innings, only to regain it when the bases were loaded. He also seemed to be throwing his curve ball more than usual, along with his fast ball that he was having trouble controlling. When he resorted to his go-to pitch, the change up, it produced devastating results. Carl Crawford flailed at two consecutive off-speed pitches with bases loaded in the second inning, making the third out.


Willy Taveras missed another bunt attempt, walked (WALKED!), stole second on the first pitch and then failed to score on Chris Dickerson's liner up the middle, more bad baserunning by Willy T. Here Willy misses a bunt attempt.


Dickerson had another line drive hit, and he stole a base as well. Joey Votto, who continues to swing a strong bat, was victimized by the park dimensions and wind, on a ball he hit to deep CF in the first. It did result in a Sac Fly, however. Brandon Phillips, of course, struck out watching, failing to score Dickerson with one out from third.

Jared Burton and Arthur Rhodes looked great in relief. Young phenom Pedro Viola pitched an inning. David Weathers said of Viola's stuff, "He throws harder in PFP (pitchers fielding practice) than I do in a game. I never seen anyone that free and loose throw so hard." This is a pic of Viola waiting in the bullpen yesterday.


Three Important Questions for the Reds


Does Brandon Phillips = Corey Patterson against RHP? Almost. Keep in mind that Phillips bats cleanup in Dusty Baker's everyday lineup. Last year, in almost 400 AB vs. RHP, Phillips' line was: .247/.293/.383. That's right, against the pitchers who throw with their right hands, the ones who take the mound 70% of the time, Dusty Baker's cleanup hitter has less than a .300 OBP and a woeful slugging percentage. By comparison, Corey Patterson's line vs. RHP was: .209/.244/.358.

Should Jeff Keppinger make the major league squad out of spring training? He's barely batted over .100 and all six of his hits are singles. He hits ground balls (easy double plays with his speed) all the time. Wednesday, his defensive liabilities were exposed. Keppinger is generally regarded as a solid but not flashy fielder. Yesterday, in the decisive fifth inning, he waved at a one-bounce grounder to his right. Then, with two out and the bases loaded, and the Reds still leading 3-1, he charged a routine (and that's giving it too much credit) ground ball and just didn't throw to first. Result: six unearned runs.

Will Edwin Encarnacion ever become more consistent? Wednesday in the field was a microcosm of his entire career with the Reds thus far. He made the toughest, by far, play of the day that went his way, stabbing a sharp ground ball and turning it into an inning ending double play. Then he made an error on a basic play (dubbed "E5E5" by someone more clever than I). At bat, when someone makes the mistake of throwing him a first pitch fast ball, he crushes it (seriously, scouting reports?). But he has trouble with anything else.

3.17 Reds at Phillies

Sorry I've fallen a bit behind due to a couple other projects I've had to finish. I promise to get caught up today.

On Tuesday I went to the Phillies fantastic minor league park Bright House Field. It's definitely the best stadium for this half of the Grapefruit League.


The temperature was 76º and the skies were overcast all afternoon. Gametime was 1:00. Every game I've attended at Bright House has been sold out, and this St. Patrick's Day crowd didn't disappoint either. My seat was 16 rows back, just to the first base side of home plate.

Apparently the tradition of wearing green at spring training days was started by the Big Red Machine-era 1978 Cincinnati Reds.

The guy sitting next to me annoyingly kept poking my arm and pointing at a guy who he claimed was Pete Rose. It wasn't (and I know Pete). But that didn't dissuade this fellow, who was convinced the Hit King would leave Las Vegas to attend a pre-season game in Florida. I didn't even bother with a picture from Clearwater. This is Peter Edward Rose.


Notes on the Phillies

For those of you concerned about Chase Utley's health, he not only played, but lead off the game for Philadelphia. He dove on his newly repaired hip (ARod were you watching, or too busy admiring yourself in the mirror?) to field a ground ball up the middle - and just missed it. While he looked rusty at the plate - two Ks, two BB - I'm sure it's just a matter of time for him to get back into his (top of the) game shape. This was just his second game back.



Here's some video of Utley striking out.


Today the Phillies pounded Aaron Harang, early and often. They apparently didn't miss Derek Jeter's backup, Jimmy Rollins, or Shane Victorino.

Newcomer Raul Ibanez fit right into to the gap left by Pat Burrell's departure. He scorched a double to left center in his first AB. Ryan Howard also had an early hit right into the teeth of the Reds shift.


The Phillies did all their damage on the scoreboard in the second inning, capped off by a bases-clearing double by Matt Stairs.

The star of the show for the Phils was starting pitcher Brett Myers, who struck out seven over 5 2/3 innings. He gave up four hits in a commanding performance against the Reds, who seemed off-balance the entire day. Myers (here comes the new baseball cliché of the year) pounded the strike zone consistently, and also threw some off-speed breaking balls that apparently baffled the Reds. His start should offer a small bit of comfort to those folks preoccupied by Cole Hamels' elbow.


Notes on the Reds

Speaking of worrying about a pitcher, I think it's time for Reds fans to begin a bit of concern about the noticeably thinner Aaron Harang. He lost 25 pounds (from 280 to 255) over the off-season, and it really shows. He used to come across a large, intimidating presence. By comparison now he just seems thin. I've provided two pictures, the first from this year, the second from last year, to back up my point.


On Tuesday, Harang gave up seven hits, six runs and three walks, striking out only two Phillies. He's had some good starts this spring, if you count pitching well against the Astros. But he's also had other bad ones. It's way too early to panic, I'm just sayin'...

The Reds were no better at the plate. The ghost of Corey Patterson's OBP, Willy Taveras, struck out looking, failed to get a bunt down, later struck out swinging on a pitch way of the zone (no plate discipline), and later committed a running mistake. Keep in mind he made so many errors on the base paths in the WBC that he was first demoted then benched by the temporarily offensively-challenged DR.


Chris Dickerson continued his solid spring with a single up the middle and a SB. Dickerson does have plate discipline issues himself, being very prone to strike out.

Some non-surprises: Jeff Keppinger grounded out (.182/.206/.182 this spring); Mike Lincoln pitched a clean inning; Josh Roenicke, minor league closer, was solid; and, of course the daily E5E5.

3.16 Rays at Pirates

It was a beautiful night in sold out McKechnie Field, the spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Since the park is located in a residential area the number of games held at night is relatively low. In fact, last year I attended the first night game in its 75-year history.

Visitors of Note in the Crowd

The day after Selection Sunday found Dickie V, resident of Tampa, attending the baseball game in nearby Bradenton with his friend Howie Schwab, of trivia-show "Stump the Schwab" fame. Schwab was the first statistician hired by ESPN and compiled a record of 64-16 over the show's four-season run. I saw Vitale and Schwab together last year as well, eating at The Broken Egg, which Dickie V frequents pretty much every day for breakfast.


Also in the crowd was Bret Saberhagen (I think), two-time Cy Young winning pitcher from Kansas City. In 1985 Saberhagen compiled a 20-6 record with a 2.87 ERA, a World Series championship for the Royals (!) and a World Series MVP. His other Cy Young year was 1989 when his record was 23-6 and ERA of 2.16. He threw 12 complete games that year.



Random Errors Trying To Make the Team

Two players in the game are current Random Errors property on the bubble for being kept, Paul Maholm and Pat Burrell. Maholm is coming off an excellent year and has pitched well so far this spring. On Monday night he threw 4 2/3 shutout innings, giving up two ground ball singles and striking out four Rays. He has now allowed only 1 earned run in over 13 innings this spring and is under serious keeper consideration for the Errors.


Pat Burrell missed a great opportunity to impress his fantasy owner when he batted in the 6th inning with bases loaded. He walked, shortly after hitting a foul ball, on a 3-0 green light, practically to downtown Bradenton. That half inning, the top of the sixth, was the longest half inning I've ever sat through. It lasted so long that David Price, who had pitched the bottom of the fifth for the Rays (more later) went down to the Rays bullpen to stay sharp before coming back out in the bottom of the sixth.



Pirates Game Notes

Amazingly, a year ago Nyger Morgan was competing with Nate McLouth for the Pirates' center field job. I wrote then:

I don't understand what's so hard about the decision. McLouth has been about the most impressive player I've seen over several games this spring. Yet he apparently hasn't won the CF job for Pittsburgh. Tonight, leading off the game for the Pirates he homered to the opposite field on a 3-1 count. He made two spectacular plays in CF. In the second inning he made a diving catch to rob the Yankees of a couple runs. Later in the game, with bases loaded, he made a full-run over-the-shoulder catch of a line drive. He ended up 2 for 3 with 2 runs scored. Give this guy a job, will ya...(3.19.08)

McLouth's 2008 season proved me right - 113 runs, 26 home runs, 94 rbi (from the lead-off spot), 23 SB and .356 OBP.

In 2009, Morgan is now in the running for the LF job for the Pirates with McLouth having been moved to the three-hole in the line-up.

Here's a picture of Ryan "EBay" Doumit, the Pirates catcher.



Rays Game Notes

Andy Sonenstein was throwing hard, but wasn't dominant. Brian Shouse, lefty specialist, showed why he doesn't pitch often against RH hitters.

The most excitement for the evening occurred in the bottom of the fifth when LHP David Price entered the game for the Rays. Price showed flashes of his electric stuff, but wasn't consistently sharp. He was aided by two excellent defensive plays by 3B Evan Longoria. McLouth worked Price for a walk then stole second. Price gave up a run over 2 1/3 innings.