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A somewhat interesting article on WAR over 5 year spans, but found this tidbit particularly intriguing: 1989-1993: Barry Bonds (46.3), Rickey Henderson (34.3), Cal Ripken (30.3), Ryne Sandberg (29.4), Ken Griffey Jr. (28.6) Speaking of 1993, Bonds was off-the-charts spectacular that season, as he led the NL in home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging and total bases, scored 129 runs, won a Gold Glove, stole 29 bases, cured the sick and kept the fog out of San Francisco. An interesting note: Bonds spent most of that season batting fifth, as Dusty Baker wanted to split Clark and Bonds, two left-handed batters, with righty Matt Williams. So Baker hit his best hitter fifth, giving him fewer plate appearances over the course of the season (about 30 fewer than if he’d hit third all season), and the hitter with the lowest OBP fourth, cutting into Bonds’ RBI opportunities. It’s likely that if Baker had gone Williams, Bonds, Clark or Bonds, Williams, Clark, the Giants may have won an extra game or two ... and beat out the Braves.

John Fay's blog has the specifics of when, where and who's being sent out into Reds Country. Via Better off Red, the Caravan is currently traveling in the north country fair.

Two very awkward segways into a mediocre segment. Dusty and the little slugger experiment with some ballpark favorites.

Hall O' Famer Hal snuck this little nugget in his post this morning. "Then Baker rushed from the clubhouse to fly to Sacramento for today’s off day to visit his gravely ill father, Johnny Baker Sr. Asked how his father was doing, Baker said, "Not good."" We've said a lot of nasty things about Dusty on this site, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that I hope he has comfort during his father's illness, and hope for a recovery for Senior. If you have any nice things to say about Dusty, this would be the place

I found this on ESPN. It was Dusty's first season. Dusty says something to the point of "I prefer talent over experience". I enjoyed reading this article.

My girlfriend Chris Welsh takes Bill from Redleg Nation for one of his patented mustache rides. I think Welsh does his usual good job of being both candid and careful. He says some things I disagree with, but he continues to be the best broadcaster in the Reds' stable. Congrats to Bill for a solid interview. It gets going at the 6:45 mark.

Via Awful Announcing. One of the secondary arguments made in favor of bringing in a "big name" manager to the Reds such as Dusty Baker was that he would give the Reds a national profile. Attract free agent talent, yes, but also pique the interest of the general baseball fan. Computer says no. http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2009/01/look-at-fox-and-espns-early-baseball.html That's 0 appearances for the Reds. Keep in mind that ESPN has only named its games through July and Fox certainly has some flexibility built into its scheduling down the line. Perhaps the Virus and his merry band of havoc-makers will have the Reds a hot commodity by then?