Reds Opening Day Pitchers

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Yesterday, the Reds named Luis Castillo the starting pitcher for Opening Day 2019. I think it's a good choice as he was by far the best starter the Reds had last year in the dumpster fire of a rotation they had. Hearing this gave me an idea for a blog post, that would be looking back at the Reds Opening Day starters since 2000. Since I'm currently nowhere near my card collection as I write this, I'll use COMC for help in showing off some cards and I'll provide some quick notes as well.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Homer Bailey - 2018

Homer Bailey got the call for Opening Day and it went down as one of his 14 losses of the season. The Reds went 3-15 in the first 18 games in 2018 which saw Bryan Price get canned after the miserable start and Jim Riggleman leading the team the rest of the way.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Scott Feldman - 2017

The well traveled Scott Feldman took the mound for the Reds on Opening Day in 2017 and didn't fare too well. He allowed 3 earned runs, 7 hits, and 2 walks in only 4 2/3 innings. Feldman's lone season with the Reds was his last of a 13-year career.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Raisel Iglesias - 2016

Iglesias was probably the best choice to start in 2016 as the Reds rotation consisted of such notables as John Lamb, Tim Adelman, and Brandon Finnegan.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Johnny Cueto - 2012-2015

Johnny Cueto started four straight Opening Day games for the Reds, beginning with the 2012 season where they just steamrolled the NL Central and culminating in 2015 where he'd start his final Opening Day in red before being shipped to Kansas City at the trade deadline.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Edinson Volquez -2011

The Reds in 2011 had just come off their first winning season since 2000 and a surprise NL Central title. Volquez got the Opening Day assignment in which turned out to be his last season in Cincinnati. 

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Aaron Harang - 2006-2010

Aaron Harang was one of the few reliable pitchers (aside from Bronson Arroyo) in the Reds rotation in the mid-2000s. Acquired from Oakland in 2003 for Jose Guillen, he spent 8 seasons in red. His best season with the Reds was 2007 where he went 16-6 with a 3.73 ERA. 

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Paul Wilson - 2005

Paul Wilson pitched all of 9 games for the Reds in 2005 after being one of the better starters the Reds has in 2003 and 2004. Opening Day 2005 though will always live in Reds lore as the game where the Reds won on a walk-off homer by Joe Randa in the bottom of the 9th.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Cory Lidle - 2004

Cory Lidle's lone season with the Reds in 2004 was highlighted by his Opening Day start against the Cubs. However, he didn't even last the whole season with the team. He was traded to the Phillies in August for two minor leaguers and a player to be named later.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Jimmy Haynes - 2003

Jimmy Haynes has the designation of being the person to throw the very first pitch at Great American Ball Park in 2003. Honestly, that was probably the highlight of a 2003 season where he only won 2 games in 18 starts.

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Joey Hamilton - 2002

I have zero recollection of Joey Hamilton pitching for the Reds in 2002. However, he has the honor of starting the final Opening Day in Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field history. 

Scan courtesy of COMC.com

Pete Harnisch - 2000-2001

The Reds picked up Harnisch as a free agent before the 1998 season and was one of their better pitchers through the 2000 season before injuries set in again in 2001 and he only pitched in 7 games. The 2000 Reds squad went 85-77, finishing second in the NL Central. The 2001 squad bottomed out at 66-96 finishing dead last.

So there it is, every Reds Opening Day starter since 2000. I didn't remember half of these pitchers and some I forgot even played for the team. This was a pretty fun walk through the past and looking at the 2000s, I'd forgotten how bad some of those teams were (especially that 2001 team). Here's hoping the 2019 team can be one of the better teams in recent memory.

My First Taste of 2017 Topps

I'm woefully behind on the new releases. Topps Heritage and Donruss have released and I'm just now talking about 2017 flagship. Oh well, someday I'll be caught up with the newest trends. Anyway, I bought 10 packs of Series 1 when I visited Magic City Sports Cards during a family trip to Akron in mid-February. I could have spent the same $20 on a blaster at Target but to me it's more fun buying hobby packs as each pack is a mystery. Let's see what I pulled

The honor of first new card of the year goes to Matt Strahm, who isn't exactly a household name in my neck of the woods. However, looking up his stats, he's pretty impressive. Last year he was 2-2 with a 1.23 ERA in 21 appearances. He's also the #1 rated prospect for the Royals. Not bad for a guy who until I pulled this card, I had no knowledge of at all.

Everyone and their brother by now has shown what the cards look like so I'll just give my general thoughts. My first impression is that these are much cleaner looking and nicer than the 2016 release. The pictures on these are bright, there are no smoke effects, and it just doesn't have a general feeling of darkness and doom. 

The backs are also bright and cheery. The colors match up with the team colors and all the basic stuff you'd find on the back of a Topps card is there. This is definitely a win.

The horizontal cards are even nicer this year. Although the graphic seems like its a little stretched out, these have a Stadium Club-ish feel to them. My absolute favorites of this batch are the Jesse Hahn and the Tyler Naquin.

Obligatory Reds cards. Brandon Finnegan proved himself to be more than serviceable last year and was one of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal rotation at points. Bailey was bitten by the injury bug (again!) right before camp opened as he had bone spurs removed from his elbow and will start the season on the 60-day DL more than likely.

I'm really digging these 1987 style insert cards, complete with the rainbow "Future Stars" logo. They also have vintage stock which gives them a bonus point.

These are the "Topps Salutes" inserts. I really like the design of these first off but I'm not sure what the point of them is. I guess it's to salute special holidays, legends, and rookies. Regardless, I'm not disappointed at all. Overall these, plus the 1987 style cards, are leaps and bounds better than last years Perspectives (which I honestly didn't get at all) and Berger's Best reprints.

Buybacks are back and while they're not from the 70s, these will help boost the buyback mini-collection. I know there are different levels of these things and I think the silver one (Palmerio) is better that the bronze (Scurry) but I'm not too sure.

The remainder of the inserts and parallels I pulled. I love me some First Pitch cards but there's only a handful of them that I'm actually interested in this year (Goodman, Shatner, and Joan Jett) but I'll take one of Victoria Justice, even though I'm not exactly sure who she is. The pull of my 10-pack batch though was the black Yoan Moncada #'d to 66. I had to look up exactly what it was called but I'll take it nonetheless. 

Overall, I'm definitely a fan of Topps flagship this year, the inserts are range from decent (Salute cards) to really cool (87 Topps style). I'm definitely going to be buying more of this when I hit up the card shop.

You've Got Mail #26: Play at the Plate

To help kick off the #Supertrader festivities, the co-chair of this wacky little group, Brian from Play at the Plate, broke into a box of UD Ultimate Collection and shared his findings with the group. My stuff from the break showed up in a nice little PWE along with some friends to accompany them on the journey.

My haul from the UD Ultimate Collection break. This is my first experience with that particular brand at it's pretty cool. I'm pretty happy that I got a Homer Bailey RC autograph.

Some 2008 UD Documentary cards. In theory, this is a good idea and I give Upper Deck credit for thinking outside of the box but I can't imagine anyone putting the set together of who knows how many cards. No wonder this was a one and done product.

Brian also threw in a nice assortment of Bengals cards for my Bengals binder. The nice thing about doing this blog is that not only has my Reds collection ballooned to epic proportions, but my Bengals collection has seen a nice sizable bump as well.

Thanks to Brian for the great PWE and for busting the box of Ultimate Collection for the group!

Fun Stuff From the Reds Caravan

Every January, the Reds do a big caravan with three different buses hitting different sections of "Reds Country" as they call it. One of the regular stops is the auditorium on the Hamilton campus of Miami University, which is about 25 minutes from my house. I won't be able to make it this year since it's the same day as my son's birthday, but I have made it out in the past so I thought I would share a few cool things that I came back with the few times I went.

The first year I went was 2011, the year after the Reds surprised everyone and won the Central Division. I believe it was also the first year they added Miami University as a stop on the tour. A friend of mine, his dad, and I all met at his house since he lived close to the campus at the time and rode over.

It turns out that its just a giant Q&A session and then a line for autographs. I'm not going to complain as the autographs were free and everyone who was there signed, even the mascots. While I didn't bring anything to get signed as it was during my collecting hiatus, they had giant posters there for the taking. The flyer above is signed by Brandon Phillips, the late Ryan Freel, Devin Mesoraco, announcer Marty Brennaman, then assistant-VP Bob Miller, and mascot Gapper.

I missed the 2012 event but made it back in 2013, just three days before my son was born. It was the same set up as the previous time, but had a whole new line-up. The Q&A session was brief, probably due to the large number of people in attendance and the fact they had to get everyone through the autograph line. The two big names on the 2013 tour were Homer Bailey (who looked like he'd have rather been anywhere else in the world) and Corky Miller, the cult favorite of Reds fans.

Again, I grabbed a posted for everyone to sign. This time it was signed by Bailey, Miller, GM Walt Jocketty, CEO Phil Castellini, minor league outfield Ryan LaMarre, and Mr. Redlegs. I went with the same friend that I went to the 2011 caravan with and this time, he brought some baseballs to have signed. I had Corky Miller sign the one below and Homer Bailey sign another, which has currently gone missing.

Hopefully next January I can get out the caravan again and maybe this time get some cards and another poster signed.