As part of the annual pilgrimage taken by professional baseball’s oldest franchise, one of the three Reds Caravan groups dispersed into Reds Country paid a media visit to Maysville last Friday morning.
The entourage, which included president of baseball operations Nick Krall, manager Terry Francona, broadcaster Jim Day, roving minor league instructor and former Reds catcher Corky Miller, catcher Jose Trevino, outfielder Jacob Hurtubise, 19-year-old minor league catcher Alfredo Duno and mascot Mr. Red, was in town to visit Reds on Radio affiliate WFTM. They were greeted by invited guests at the Limestone Center to shake hands, pose for pictures, sign autographs and chat with the attendees.
Day introduced each member of the group, with the new Cincy skipper understandably receiving the warmest reception. The personable Francona is one of the most well-respected and successful managers in Major League Baseball history. He led the Boston Red Sox to its first world championship in 86 years in 2004, and added another title in 2007 during his eight-year stint in Boston. In his 11 seasons as Cleveland’s manager, Francona led his teams to six playoff appearances, including the 2016 American League pennant.
Cincinnati fans are hoping the 65-year-old can bring their beloved Redlegs the same type of success and add to his Hall of Fame managing resume after he was coaxed out of retirement. Francona has compiled a career record of 1950-1672 during his 23 years as a big-league manager, and he needs 59 regular
season wins to pass Leo Durocher and move into 12th place on the all-time list.
The Reds Caravan made 14 fan stops in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia to meet with fans over an eight-day period, spreading the news about the upcoming season while answering questions and signing autographs. The group that visited Maysville also traveled to Louisville’s Slugger Field later on Friday, before going to the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green and the Red Mile in Lexington on Saturday.
It’s always a treat for frozen baseball fans to look ahead to warmer temperatures and the upcoming season, and the Reds Caravan has become a welcome regional tradition. The Reds organization enjoys a special longtime connection with their radio partners, which is why they value stopping in Maysville while they make their rounds around the commonwealth and beyond.
On a personal note, I always look forward to the annual visit, and thanks go out to Travis Scaggs, the sports director at WFTM for the invite. For more information, check out his interviews with members of the entourage that will be airing on Soft96 in the coming days.
The visit is also an excellent opportunity to visit with Reds fans in the community, and talking with Mark Carpenter, the sports editor at the People’s Defender in West Union, Ohio is always a personal highlight of the annual event.
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SHORTHANDED CATS FACE TOUGH ROAD – News came Tuesday morning as I was writing this blurb that the Kentucky Wildcats would be playing at Tennessee later in the evening
without starting point guard Lamont Butler. Butler has struggled in recent games while battling a nagging shoulder injury, including the disappointing 74-69 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon. His stat line reflected that something was amiss. Butler, who has been a solid leader at the point, was just 2-for-7 from the field, uncharacteristically turned the ball over six times, and was not the defensive presence UK fans have gotten accustomed to seeing. He fouled out after playing 27 minutes as well.
Butler was certainly not the only Wildcat to struggle in the Music City. Koby Brea’s shooting slump continued – he was only 1-for-4 from 3-point land – and 7-footer Amari Williams, who is perhaps the most confounding player on the team, appeared disinterested at times.
The Cats were playing without starting forward Andrew Carr as well. He remained questionable going into the UT game, and he may be out a significant amount of time. Backup point guard Kerr Kriisa remains out, and his return this season remains a huge question mark.
In addition to the injuries, several of Kentucky’s issues in their other losses resurfaced in Memorial Gymnasium, i.e. shoddy defense, handling physicality, getting outhustled for loose balls, and offensive droughts. UK simply did not appear to be ready to play and it may be the first time all year their effort has come into question. That won’t get it in Knoxville; a physical dogfight and an elite Volunteer defense were already expected to be factors, and if the Cats don’t respond early and often, this one could get ugly for the visitors.
It will be an uphill struggle for the Cats to finish in the top half dozen or so teams in the deep and talented Southeastern Conference, and the team depth will be put to the test during the foreseeable future. This was not an especially deep team to begin with, and getting and staying healthy appears to be a challenge as well.
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EAGLES FLYING HIGH IN OVC – The Morehead State Eagles were also in action on Tuesday evening (after this was submitted) hosting Southern Indiana, and hoping to continue its stranglehold on the top spot in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Eagles entered the game undefeated this season at Ellis T. Johnson Arena and 8-2 in OVC play, a game in front of Little Rock and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
First-year coach Jonathan Mattox, who took over the program when Preston Spradlin moved to James Madison University after last season, has the Eagles in prime position for a regular-season title, but the big prize comes in the OVC tournament, when the champion receives an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
MSU is 13-8 overall and is led by former Madisonville North Hopkins standout Kenny White Jr, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder. The 6-foot-7 senior has posted averages of 13.3 points per game and has grabbed 6.5 rebounds per outing. Former George Rogers Clark star guard Jerone Morton, who led GRC to its first state title since 1951, has been seeing increased minutes and is tossing in 11.7 points per game.
Morehead State’s next home game is Thursday night, when Tennessee Tech, coached by former UK Unforgettable John Pelphrey, visits Johnson Arena. The Eagles will be looking to
avenge a 74-55 defeat to the Golden Eagles in Cookeville on Jan. 4.
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LET THE HYPE BEGIN – With Super Bowl LIX set for Sunday, Feb. 9 in New Orleans, that gives the national pundits and so-called experts ample time to come up with storylines and speculation about the participants, the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
We will have more to say as the clash, also known as SB 59 draws nearer, but the early betting line has installed KC as a 1.5-point favorite. Apparently, most of the so-called experts are picking the Chiefs to three-peat, but you can bet most of America is rooting for the Eagles to soar and spoil the party for Patrick Mahomes and company.
Lots of fans are getting tired of the Chiefs, which is a natural reaction to a team that wins and wins and wins some more. Many fans buy into the conspiracy theory that the NFL wants the Chiefs to win, which is just ridiculous. Coach Andy Reid and his team simply have a knack of performing their best under pressure, and he and his players deserve a tremendous amount of credit.
I would not be the least bit surprised to see Kansas City make it three in a row, but I expect the Eagles to perform at an extremely high level. If you recall two years ago, Philly seemingly was on its way to knocking off the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII, but Mahomes rallied his team to a 38-35 victory. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts arguably outplayed the Kansas City QB in that one, but the Chiefs overcame a 24-14 halftime deficit to pull out the win. Hurts was 27-for-38 for 304 yards
and a touchdown through the air, and rushed for three more scores and 70 yards.
One player who was not a member of that Eagles team should play a prominent role and perhaps lead Philadelphia to a victory. That of course is running back Saquon Barkley, who has had a magnificent season in the City of Brotherly Love.
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“I like information. I love when smart people make me think of something in a new way.” – Terry Francona
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“The church is always trying to get other people to reform; it might not be a bad idea to reform itself a little, by way of example.” — Mark Twain
