Not bad....not bad at all. 114 pitch night for the phenom....and Homer Bailey only lasts five innings. But he stuck around long enough to leave with a 4-2 lead and pick up his first ever major league win.

He didn't get a lot of help from the Reds defense (welcome to Cincinnati, Homer). A first inning run would've been avoided had Norris Hopper hit the cut off man. But he did get decent run support from Brandon Phillips (solo home run), Jeff Conine (two run home run) and Ken Griffey, Junior (solo home run, career #577).

Bailey needs to concentrate on his 'out' pitch a little more in his next start. He had the count at 2-2 and 3-2 several times and lost the batter. But for starters, no bad, not bad at all.

It's not like the NFL draft. You won't see any of the players the Reds (or any MLB team) drafted today in the major leagues any time soon. But the first pick was more than interesting.
The Reds selected Pennsylvania high school catcher, Devin Mesoraco. He's an interesting choice. Mesoraco missed an entire season of high school ball, recovering from Tommy John surgery. But he built his arm strength up and now has one of the best arms in the country.

Mesoraco has a full ride waiting at the University of Virginia. But he left no doubt today that he'll sign with the Reds, instead.

The countdown to Homer Bailey-mania (not to be confused in Cincinnati with Brennaman-ia) is on. The phenom makes his major league debut Friday night, at Great American Ball Park against the Cleveland Indians. Tough opponent to draw in game one. The Indians have one of the more potent line-ups in the game.

Another thing to watch for Friday is whether or not charges will be filed in Georgia against Bengals linebacker, Odell Thurman. Two man and a woman have filed a coplaint with the Monticello, Georgia, police about an incident that happened at a party in that town last weekend. The complaint alleges that Thurman beat up a man and that one of his relatives, a cousin, was involved with theatening a party goer with a gun.

If charges are filed against Thurman, who has the right to apply for re-instatement to the NFL this Monday, it will further his supension that is coming up on a year.

I laugh a lot when I hear fans call for a manager's head. We hear it a lot here in Cincinnati and we're hearing it a lot this season. A lot of fans want Jerry Narron gone. Like last week.

Criticism of Narron ranges from his inability to manage his bullpen to being too placid inside the dugout. He caught a lot of heat a few weeks back when he didn't bolt from the dugout and corral an umpire for a bad call on a third strike. The fact that the game was over and that the next manager to win a 'ball strike' argument will be the first manager to do so didn't matter. They wanted Narron to bust a vein.

I laugh a lot, because I've heard it all before in Cincinnati. It was the same criticism that Bob Boone attracted, Dave Miley too. When things go badly, first blame the manager. Team broadcasters, stand by, you're next.

The facts about our Cincinnati Reds are this: they can't hit with runners in scoring position, they have the worst bullpen in the National League and their defense is anywhere from passable to atrocious.

Narron has control over the third of those problems. Why he hasn't demanded daily infield practice, which was a major league staple for all teams up until about ten years ago, is beyond me. But you can't hold him responsible for his roster. He only has imput, but not the final say.
That rests with his general manager.

The Reds are where they are by no accident. The new owner hasn't been in charge long enough and the owner before him wasn't interested in spending money for players, after signing Griffey, Jr, to a greatly discounted deal in 2000. The owner in the late 80's through the late '90's did her best to dismantle a once prideful minor league system. And her GM failed to sign and develope a starting pitcher of major league quality in eleven years on the job.

But if you fire Jerry Narron, it'll fix all of that right?

It's official. Homer Bailey makes his major league debut this Friday night in Cincinnati against the Indians. The Reds decided to move him up a day, much to Bailey's surprise. Immediately after getting the news he was coming up, he began phoning friends and family members. Within an hour, the Reds brass had changed their minds. It's Friday, not Saturday they told Bailey. Homer scrambled to let his family know. But by then, he was riding a bus back from Durham, NC, through the hills of West Virginia. No cell service ment the update had to be put on hold. Eventually, everyone got the news. And a large contingent from Texas will be at Great American Ball Park Friday night, watching the Reds phenom toss his first major league game.

More thoughts on Bailey are in my latest Broo View Podcast. You can find it on my web site, www.kenbroo.com. It's in the 'Podcast and More' section.

If you're the Orlando Magic, would you force Billy Donovan to honor his contract? They won't, of course. But in the real world (where you and I live) you know we'd be forced to honor it. It just proves the absurdity of contract law in professional and collegiate sports. The written word means nothing. College coaches can walk on contracts that have two, three, five years left on them. College presidents allow them to. Now we know that a five year, $27.5 million dollar deal is worthless, for a team trying to make a coach adhere to his written word. What does that say about the spoken word of good faith. Right.

I'm sure the Reds have thought this through. They'd have had to. Homer Bailey will get the call sometime this week to join the team and start Saturday's game against the Indians. His arrival has been hailed and expected for over a year, every since he began making his meteoric rise from the depths of the Reds minor league system to where he is now, "AAA". He is the phenom, the first legitimate pitcher the Reds have developed in almost 20 years.

But think about this: if Bailey comes up and pitches well on Saturday, what happens? A team as desperate as the Reds for a kick start to this dismal season really can't afford to have Bailey here for one start and then banish him back to the minors. They would have to keep him here, right? Well if they do, then what? The next time the Reds would be in need of a fifth starter would be in early July. Surely, they won't let Bailey sit on the bench, or in the bullpen waiting until then. So that means either Kyle Loshe or Matt Belisle must leave the rotation to make room for Bailey. If he pitches well Saturday, keep an eye on that situation.

Waiting in the minors along with Bailey is another phenom: first baseman Joey Votto. Right now, Votto is hitting .318 with 8 homers and 34 runs batted in. And, Votto has been playing some left field. New contact lenses have helped Votto at the plate this season. He could be another call up. If the Reds are out of the running for the NL Central title, and as bad as that division is, no one is out of it right now, then Scott Hatteberg would be a likely candidate for trade. Like Hatteberg, Votto is a left handed hitting first baseman. It's a natural exchange: Hatteberg traded somewhere for whatever the Reds can get. Votto up from the minors.

Votto doesn't strike out a lot, 43 times in only 236 plate appearances. As much as Bailey's call up is anticipated, Votto should draw the same excitement.

Now Chad Johnson wants to race a horse. And he'll do it, for charity, one week from this Saturday at River Downs in Cincinnati. Johnson will race a thorobread, with the money raised from betting going to one of Marvin Lewis' Foundation charities.

It's not the first time a Cincinnati Bengal has raced a horse. It's not even the second time. In 1983, a young Cris Collinsworth raced against a horse that was winless. The horse left CC in the dust. Collinsworth repeated the effort ten years later....he lost again, badly.

Johnson will certainly meet the same fate on Saturday June 9th. You just hope he doesn't pull a hamstring in the process.

Watching the Cubs Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett rumble in their dugout this afternoon made for great theatre. The fact that Lou Piniella now manages the Cubs made it even better. Piniella had an infamous club house dust up with his relief pitcher, Rob Dibble that was caught on tape. Piniella took awhile to explode over the situation. When he did, he said that team mates should fight the opponent, if they have to, not each other.

And they say people don't learn things when they get older.

Have a great weekend. If you live in the greater Cincinnati area, I'll see you Sunday night on "Sports Rock", at 11:35pm on channel 5 WLWT. Among our guests, UFC's Rich Franklin.

And I'm hosting "Sunday Morning Sportstalk" on 700 WLW from 9am-Noon EDT. If you live outside the greater Cincinnati area, it's on XM channel 173.

Just posted on my web site www.kenbroo.com is the latest editions of The Broo View podcast, as well as Broo v. Broo, the most opinionated podcast in cyber space.

Check it out....and to make it easier for you, here's a direct link to The Broo View podcast.

In the National League Central Division, where all things are possible, it's crazy to say the Reds are dead. Not now. The Brewers jumped out like rabbits, but have come back to the field. And as of early tonight, the Reds are just 9 games out of first, with 108-games to go.

The key for the Reds to jump back into the race is to play defense, and get pitching, like they've had the past three games. Starters pitch deep when their defense performs and when starters pitch deep, it doesn't tax the bullpen.

Josh Hamilton homered again tonight....and again, in his rehab assignment in AAA. That's three home runs for "The Natural" in his two games with the Louisville River Bats. With the Reds a little thin in the outfield, look for Hamilton to rejoin the team when his DL stint is up, on Sunday.

I'm a hockey freak. Truth be told, I used to be a season ticket holder, while in high school, with the New York Rangers. I would hop a bus from north Jersey after school and do my home work in Madison Square Garden, waiting for the Rangers games to begin. I've also had season tickets for the Tulsa Oilers in the CHL and the Cincinnati Cyclones, when they played in the IHL.

But I'm troubled by the TV ratings the Stanley Cup Playoffs are getting. Only a little more than 500,000 homes tuned in to watch game one between the Ducks and Senators. That's probably because not too many fans can find the games, now on the Versus network. This weekend, the games flip to NBC and channel 5 here in Cincinnati. I know NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman wasn't playing a strong hand when he made his latest TV deal. The NHL is still suffering from it's lockout/strike of a couple of years ago. But for the good of the game, Bettman needs to re visit with ESPN. This is a sport that desperately needs casual fans to rejoin its party. And the casual fan simply can't, or won't, find Versus.

The good news is, Ryan Freel will be OK. He's sore tonight, after hitting into fellow outfielder, Norris Hopper and then slamming into the turf at Great American Ball Park.

But the heads up play of the day goes to Hopper. Replays show that Hopper, before the umpire arrived on the scene, put the baseball back in Freel's glove, as Ryan lie motionless on the ground. It appeared that Freel made the catch, anyway, as he took at stumbling step after catching the ball before hitting the turf. Though the TV replay didn't show it, the ball apparently fell out of Freel's glove, while his body sheilded it from view.

Fast one by Hopper, but quick thinking.

And this game showed what Kyle Loshe can be. He went the distance, throwing his fifth complete game of his career. But he'd lost his last six decisions, lasting only an out into the second inning in one of those games. In this game, he pitched ahead in the count, and won for the first time since April 15.

Here's a stat. In their last 17 games, the Reds are 5-12. Division leading Milwaukee is 3-14.

Somebody who'll remain nameless, wrote a less than flattering email to me today, questioning why I'm so 'hard' on the Reds and the Bengals. Negative, was his implication.

The fact that teams are what they are, and reporters merely report, is often lost on some alleged fans. They want cheerleaders, not journalists. But my guess is, these kind of fans would howl bloody murder if the team slighted them, say by its players not signing autographs or jacking up ticket prices.

I explained to my critic that rather than being upset with something someone on TV or in print says, be upset at the team; the Bengals for all of their player arrests, the Reds for now having the worst record in all of major league baseball.

You pay for the players' salaries with inflated ticket prices (or by investing your time watching the games on TV if you're too cheap to buy a ticket.) Think of the team as a stock. If the investment doesn't return what you believe it should, hold it accountable. Don't get upset with the folks who report what's going on.

Eventually, the Bengals will keep their players out of jail and the Reds will win again. But along the way, understand the role of the journalist. He or she is there to represent you, ask the questions you want answered and report on the team you live and die with.

My guess is, at the end of the day, the guy who takes for fall for releasing the misinformation on Chris Henry will be Kenton County, Kentucky, attorney Gary Edmondson. If you're not living in the Tri-State, you might not have heard that early Monday, Edmondson admitted to a lot of news outlets that Henry had flunked a random drug test. And because of that, Edmondson stated, Henry had violated his parole and was going to jail.

Turns out, a second test on the same sample was clean. And for the moment, Henry is back to his former status: suspended for the first eight games of this season. Edmondson says a third test on that same sample will be conducted.

If it's even possible, it's turned Henry into something of a sympathetic figure. His multiple misteps leads even a rational person to believe he'd be guilty of flunking a test. But it just shows how the wrong information about the right person can lead to a very dangerous situation.

I wouldn't be surprised if Henry seeks legal action against the Kentucky attorney. The tests are supposed to be held in strict confidence.

Funniest story I've seen today involves former heavyweight boxing champ, George Foreman. He's now saying his trainer gave him something to drink before his classic fight with Muhammad Ali that had some sort of medicine in it. Foreman said he spit it out but "After the third round, I was as tired as if I had fought 15 rounds"

Foreman has this in a new book he's written. All of that is rich. Foreman wasn't drugged. He 'punch drunked' himself...flailing away at a defensive Ali in the African heat. By the eighth round, Foreman could not have stood upright, even if he was attached to a derrick.

Makes for a good story, though.

I had to laugh today, listening to the local radio here in Cincinnati. A sports talk host and a lot of his callers were upset that Jerry Narron didn't rush out to argue a ball four call that forced in the winning run from third base. It was a walk off 'walk' for the Padres on Wednesday night, a night when Narron left his starting pitcher, Bronson Arroyo, in for a nine inning 129-pitch game.

Like Narron getting up in an ump's face AFTER a game is over would have a different.

Look, get made with the way Narron handles pitching. Get mad because he doesn't force his woefully inept team to take infield practice. But getting on the guy for not screaming at an umpire? It never works as a motivational tool in major league baseball. That's high school, show pony stuff.

Here's what you should get mad at. The Reds bullpen is pathetic, save for David Weathers a complete untrustworthy bunch. The defense is dreadful. And the only organization with fewer hits, is NBC prime time programming.

Narron is one of the last things the Reds and their fans need to worry about right now.

If you head to my web site right now, you'll catch the lastest edition of Bengals Report, our off season look at the Cincinnati Bengals. Bengals Report newspaper executive editor, Marc Hardin joins me. Also, there's a fresh edition of the hottest sports show in cyber space: Broo v. Broo.

You can find it all on my web site: www.kenbroo.com

Sam Adams was sent packing by the Bengals today. He had to see it coming. For the last month, the Bengals were attempting to get younger on that defensive line. They drafted a player in April and signed two other free agents.

The fact that Adams was still recovering from knee surgery and that he struggled last summer with his weight and missed most of training camp had to factor in this decision.

Cap money, apparently wasn't an issue, as Adams was only going to count about $700,000 against the cap in 2007.

It's a shame, really. If Adams had been in any kind of shape like he was in Buffalo the year before he arrived here, he would have really helped this defense. As it was, he started all 16 games last season and help the Bengals defensre shore up against the run.

He'll remain in town for awhile, as we continues to run the AF2 team in Cincinnati, the Jungle Kats. But my guess is, a 14 year veteran recovering from a surgically repaired knee may have a tough time finding another NFL team.

This is a hillarious story, confirmed to me by Ken Griffey, Junior's agent, Brian Goldberg this afternoon. It happed at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, a verbal spat between Junior and a fan. Here's a link to the story, that appears on the fan's my space page: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=40172915&blogID=263990044

I think it shows that Junior has a sharp sense of humor, which he parlayed into being named the National League player of the week.

I'll have some more things here in my blog as the night progresses. But I wanted to get this to you, now that I've stopped laughing.

The Bengals are filling in the blanks. That's what you have to do when you spend a second round draft pick on a player who's really a luxury, and you need help on defense.

Ed Hartwell, a linebacker, Blue Adams a cornerback and Kendrick Allen, a tackle, all signed free agent deals with the Bengals this week. Be still my beating heart.

While the Patriots load up on established super stars and mortgage the future to win now, the Bengals are bargain hunting.

That's the difference between the two franchises. One will take a mortgage out on their future, the other wants to pay bills with cash now.

Two weeks after the draft, I still contend that Kenny Irons, while gifted player who will be a star in the NFL, was a luxury pick. The Bengals defense was crying out for help and was neglected in this draft. Maybe the fourth, sixth and seventh round picks will pan out. But you rarely find impact players that low in the draft. Instead of Irons, the Bengals could have taken defensive tackle, Turk McBride out of Tennessee or defensive end Tim Crowder out of Texas, both excellent young players with tremendous upside. Irons, with Rudi Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and other wide receivers, may only get on the field a handful of times during a game. Few teams use two man backfields anymore.

I hope I'm wrong. I'll admit it if I am. But I've seen nothing so far since the end of last season, that makes me believe this season the Bengals defense will be any better.

The Reds bullpen remains a real liability. And unless I miss my guess, GM Wayne Krivsky is trolling for a solution. He didn't blink when he pulled the trigger on a deal that brought bullpen help (allgedly) last season. He won't now.

Gary Majewski should be ready to pitch in the majors again in a few weeks. He's been on the DL since the end of spring training but has pitched well at AAA. Monday, Eddie Guardado threw off a mound, amazingly just nine months down the road from Tommy John surgery.

But here's a solution that may be too tempting for the normally cautious Krivsky to pass up. At AA Chattanooga is a pitcher named Calvin Medlock. Through Sunday, Medlock is 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA, His numbers have been just as strong before this season. At 5'9" Medlock won't scare anyone by sight. But his repetoire of pitches will do that for him. Medlock is also averaging a strike out per inning.

Don't be put off by the fact that Medlock is only at the AA level. Current Reds reliever, John Coutlangus was a AA pitcher coming into this season and has been a nice surpirse so far in 2007.
Medlock could be the same thing.

If it happens, remember, you heard it here, first.

The Reds bullpen remains a real liability. And unless I miss my guess, GM Wayne Krivsky is trolling for a solution. He didn't blink when he pulled the trigger on a deal that brought bullpen help (allgedly) last season. He won't now.

Gary Majewski should be ready to pitch in the majors again in a few weeks. He's been on the DL since the end of spring training but has pitched well at AAA. Monday, Eddie Guardado threw off a mound, amazingly just nine months down the road from Tommy John surgery.

But here's a solution that may be too tempting for the normally cautious Krivsky to pass up. At AA Chattanooga is a pitcher named Calvin Medlock. Through Sunday, Medlock is 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA, His numbers have been just as strong before this season. At 5'9" Medlock won't scare anyone by sight. But his repetoire of pitches will do that for him. Medlock is also averaging a strike out per inning.

Don't be put off by the fact that Medlock is only at the AA level. Current Reds reliever, John Coutlangus was a AA pitcher coming into this season and has been a nice surpirse so far in 2007.
Medlock could be the same thing.

If it happens, remember, you heard it here, first.

This weekend and next, NFL begin the spring ritual of mini camps. Most of the early camps are for rookies and undrafted college free agents. Here in Cincinnati, the Bengals open their on Friday. There is one player that should draw lot of interest.

Kenny Irons is a gifted running back. In this current draft, he was the best of all the senior runnings back available. In the middle of round two, Irons was considered a good 'get' for any team. But for the Bengals, it was a reach.

This is a team that has no shortage of fire power. It can score from just about anywhere on the field. That's the good news. The bad news is, any team playing the Bengals can score from just about anywhere on the field. The Bengals defense is, to put it gently, pourous. So why would a team so desperate for defensive help choose a running back with its second round pick? Simply put, the Bengals were seduced by Irons' break away speed.

They thought they had that a few years ago, when they drafted Chris Perry number one. But he has been nothing but hurt in his time in Cincinnati. So this choice of Irons was really a make up pick. The thinking is, Irons will be a great change up from Rudi Johnson and insurance should Johnson get hurt. But if you're going to apply that logic to whom you pick, why not take a quarterback in round one, just in case Carson Palmer gets hurt? You don't, because that philosophy is usually termed a luxury. And few NFL teams can afford luxury picks.

The Bengals think they can. If their defense isn't any better this year than last, look back to draft day for at least one reason why.

Check out my web site: www.kenbroo.com. Friday, I'll be posting my latest Broo View podcast!

Any recovering alcoholic or drug abuser will tell you life is one day at a time. It's true for the Reds' Josh Hamilton, back in organized baseball for the first time in four year. Hamilton has been clean and sober for over a year and a half now. He never play an inning of major league baseball before this season. But for a man living life one day at a time, what a month April was.

Hamilton banged out six home runs, drove in 14 and hit .266. Wednesday, Hamilton was named the National League rookie of the month.

Hamilton has been a terrific story so far this season. It would be crazy to think he could keep up the pace, never having played above "AA" baseball before this season. But so far, he's written one of the best stories in Reds history. They took a gamble with him. He's paid off. With any recovering abuser, it could all end in a second. Hamilton has given no indication that second is in sight.

The Bengals adios'd linebacker Jason Berryman today. This is the guy the Bengals signed hours after Marvin Lewis declared he was going to clean up his act and take in only good citizens to his locker room. Berryman was kicked off the Iowa football team, for among other things, spending close to 300 days in jail for theft.

In another town, with another team at another time, Berryman might have been a good pick up. But not this town or this team. He should have never been signed in the first place, even if things for him are better now.

Just posted on my web site tonight, the latest Broo v. Broo podcast. Go to www.kenbroo.com and click on the "Podcast & More" section. This is the most opinionated sports show in cyber space. Guaranteed.

Check back...

The Reds have announced that they're going to retire Davey Concepcion's number 13 this summer. And while that's a great honor for the slick fielding short stop, it occured to me what an injustice it is that Concepcion is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

Concepcion was without arguement, the best fielding short stop of his time. He defined the way the position was played on astro turf, a common playing surface in the 70's. Not that the little Venezuelan wasn't good on real turf. He was. But on the plastic grass, he exceled.

He was often over looked in the dream line up the Reds ran onto the field every night in the 70's. Pete Rose at third, Joe Morgan at second, Tony Perez at first and of course, Johnny Bench behind the plate. But no Red of that era fielded his position better than Concepcion.

20 years or so ago, the big injustice was, if you listened to the New York media, Phil Rizzuto not getting into the Hall. It was New York bias, to be sure. But Rizzuto was eventually elected by the veterans' committee. Now facing his final year of eligibility with the writers, Concepcion will have to wait another ten years before the veterans can judge his case, should he not be elected by the writers this fall.

Let's look at the numbers. Rizzuto played 13 seasons, all the the Yankees. He hit .273, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 563 runs. He fielded his position at .968.

Concepcion played 19 seasons, all in Cincinnati Red. He hit .267, hitting 101 home runs and drovein 950 runs. He fielded his position at .971. Aside from Concepcion's better power number, they're basically the same player.

Davey belongs in the Hall.