Loading ...- From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Barack Obama couldn’t do it. Victoria’s Secret models failed, too.
But Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan delivered in the clutch for comedian Ellen DeGeneres by luring George Clooney onto her daytime talk show.
The actor and huge Reds fan – he tried out for the team twice after graduating from Augusta High School in 1979 – will appear on “Ellen DeGeneres” on Monday (10 a.m., Channel 9) with Bench and Morgan.
The show was taped Thursday afternoon at Warner Bros. studio in Burbank, Calif.
In these days of depressing Reds news…anything to do with the Big Red Machine is newsworthy, IMO.
- Also from the Enquirer:
Nine games – including Jay Bruce’s debut and Joey Votto’s three-home run game – will air at 8 p.m. Mondays on Fox Sports Net Ohio well into the spring exhibition season. Jeff Piecoro hosts the series.
The lineup:
Monday: Joey Votto hits three homers out of Great American Ball Park as the Reds beat the Cubs 9-0 on May 7 last year.
Jan. 26: Ken Griffey Jr. singles in the winning run in a 10-inning home victory over the Brewers on April 20 last year.
Feb. 2: Game 7 of the 1975 World Series in Fenway Park, when the Big Red Machine wins the first of its back-to-back World Championships on Oct. 21, 1975.
Feb. 9: Griffey hits his 600th home run against the Marlins in Florida on June 9 last year.
Feb. 16: Eight Reds hit a total of nine home runs in a wild 22-3 win over the Phillies on Sept. 4, 1999.
Feb. 23: Jay Bruce goes 3-for-3 in his Major League Baseball debut – plus gets on base twice more with walks – in the Reds’ 9-6 win over the Pirates at GABP on May 27 last year.
March 2: Game 3 of the 1976 National League Championship Series, when the Reds sweep the Phillies at Riverfront Stadium on back-to-back ninth inning homers by George Foster and Johnny Bench on Oct. 12, 1976.
March 9: Game 2 of the 1976 World Series, when the Reds’ beat the Yankees 4-3 at Riverfront Stadium on Oct. 17, 1976.
March 16: Game 4 of the 1976 World Series, when Johnny Bench’s two homers power the Reds sweep of the Yankees 7-2 in Yankee Stadium on Oct. 21.
I think it’s a pretty good lineup, some BRM, some highlights of Junior, and some of our new “Young Guns”.
- And from John Fay:
David Weathers and Edwin Encarnacion filed for arbitration. The Reds will likely try to settle in both case before they go to a hearing.
No surprise here.
I do like that FSOH does this kind of stuff but I wish they would go a little further and emulate Sportstime Ohio. Sportstime Ohio shows repeats of Indians games from the previous season on a regular basis.
BTW, are there going to be any game threads for any of those games?
I’m with Jim. When I’m literally starving for some baseball by this time in the offseason, I really appreciate FSN doing this.
Plus, I can pretend the Reds are starting the year at 9-0 ala the ‘90 team.
That might be the most wins we’ll see before the end of May if they don’t find another decent bat.
Good idea, Jim. I’ll try to remember to get game threads up for those games. If for no other reason than to let you pad your comment total, since you are slipping behind in the 2009 race.
Thanks for the news on the replayed games. I’ll definitely have to set the DVR to catch the games from the 1970s. I’ve got the ‘75 Game 7 recorded, but I’m not sure any of the others have been shown on ESPN Classic — perhaps I’ve just missed them.
Whatever the case, I’m glad to see FoxSports doing this. Maybe the arrival of MLBTV has woken up some folks there to the fact that showing retro ball games can bring in some viewers.
And yes, I know this is not a new series, but rather the second season FS has done this. But I don’t remember as many games from the ’70s being a part of the lineup last year.
I’m sort of surprised Cueto’s debut isn’t among the choices from last year’s games. But IIRC, maybe that game wasn’t televised? I work at a TV station, and I seem to remember we didn’t even have a production feed from that one.
Hopefully I am not alone on those game threads, and hopefully FSOH is going to broadcast them at a decent time.
It would also be nice to see an increased broadcast schedule for spring training games. I am so missing George Grande’s critical analysis.
Travis: I’m 99% certain the game was televised because I seem to recall watching it on MLB.tv (I don’t live in an area of the country that gets FSOH though, so it might have been a different station doing the televising).
On a somewhat related note, what are people’s impressions of the new MLBTV? I have Comcast and they told me I couldn’t add it until Spring Training time…and that it might set me back 25 bucks a month. Is it worth that? Is it worth 5 bucks a month (the other option Comcast claims to be mulling over)?
I’m not complaining about the list of games, but perhaps they could have ended their series with the last Reds Opener vs. the NY Mets and Pedro Martinez – the 9th inning comeback win in 2005. That was a great game.
I’m interested to find out what EdE will make in arbitration. I am just guessing he’ll get around 3 million. Anyone have an opinion?
I don’t believe FSN Ohio televised the Cueto debut. MLB.tv probably had it from the D-Backs feed. I remember it was a midweek day game(pretty much usually the only games FSN doesn’t show) and it was really crappy weather and I’m pretty sure it was a radio only game.
I’m curious to see the overall arbitration numbers. Will they reflect the current economy in any way (the way most of the free agent (non relief pitcher) signings have) or will they continue to be pushing the envelope? If I had to guess, I’d say EE is due for 3.5 million or so in arbitration.
CeeKeR — I’ve got the new MLB Network via DirecTV. It’s available in HD and right now, it’s kind of hit and miss.
The “Hot Stove” show (which I suppose will change once Spring Training starts) has provided some pretty good analysis of off-season moves. They’ve got several “compilation” shows of World Series highlights, “Top 9″, and the occasional show highlighting a particular franchise. Replays of the most recent Home Run Derbies and some games — all of last year’s WS, Don Larsen’s Perfect Game, etc.
What’s really going to determine the success of this channel, though, will be what they do once the season starts. They’re promising hours of highlights and analysis, plus live look-ins to games in progress every night. If they can get some live games in addition to all this, it could be a very worthwhile channel this coming season.
I think the MLBTV wil be great during the season. Right now it isn’t great other than the hot stove show. I do like getting to see Barry on there too, that is a plus. If they deleiver what they are talking about in highlights, I will love the channel, no more sitting thru the crap on ESPN.
EE will get 3-4 mil in arb and Weathers will get about 3 mil.
I think this is the make or break season for EE in a Reds uni. If he performs well, I think he will get an multi-yr extension, if he plays like he has to this point he will be trade bait in Aug, and if he does bad I think his days are done.
I would like to lock him up to a reasonable extension while he is still young and on an upside. His value wins over the last 4 years is 6.2 worth $24.9 mil while he made just $1.2 mil. Last year alone his value in dollars was $9.8 mil. It would be worthwhile to lock him up around 4-5 years 20-24 mil while the market is still down and aiming when he will hit his peak years. Does that sound reasonable for both sides? It really is an issue if you want job security or try to hit it big on the market which as we see this year can be dicey.
[...] Bill mentioned George Clooney appearing on some lame talk show just because Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan were going to be there. Well, if you’re interested in seeing pictures of all three on the show, click on through the fold. [...]
3 million for Stormy? I’m not sure it’d be that high.