FanPost

Reds Caravan feature

Hello.

I haven't been around much, but I'm still kicking. I'm going to be doing some reporting for my paper, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, for the Reds' Triple-A franchise, the Bats. I'm not the beat reporter, but I'll be something like the backup beat reporter.

Anyhoo, I cut my teeth on the Reds Caravan yesterday. We ran a little item on our Page 3, which is sorta a quirky/interesting news page, so I wrote about some of the guys' favorite autographs that they've gotten. Space and time were limited, so I didn't get to ask/say everything I wanted, but I think it's got a little sauce.

You can read the story here.

Some other tidbits that didn't fit into the story/didn't make the cut:

  • George Grande once met Martin Luther King Jr. at an airport and had him talk to a youth team he was coaching.
  • The only pieces of memorabilia Grande admits to acquiring were scoops of dirt from Yankee Stadium -- where he did his first major leage broadcast -- and Shea Stadium -- where he saw former college teammate Tom Seaver make his Mets debut.
  • Yonder Alonso said he does practically nothing outside of baseball. Of his bat: "That's my girlfriend." Of her name: "Louisville."
  • Speaking of Louisville, Alonso stepped foot in the city for the first time yesterday. He loves the park -- "It's a hitter's park; the wind blows out" -- and said he wants to start the season here.
  • Alonso said he feels comfortable playing third base or either corner outfield spot and that "I'm a hitter." He said he hasn't spoken to Dusty about where he'll play once he's in Cincinnati but plans on having that conversation soon.
  • I caught the tail end of a conversation in which Dusty said he's proud of Jerry Hairston for figuring out he needed to stop trying to pull the ball and that Chris Dickerson just has to stay healthy to be successful.

So that's about that. I didn't get to ask a lot of the questions I wanted, but I'm not unhappy with what I came out with. Hope you don't hate it too much.