It's Almost Been a Year

Okay, so during the season the Sox take up my blog time and I neglected this place. I'm hoping that won't happen again this year.

We'll see.

The Bronson File

Courtesy of CBS Sportsline and Scoop Malinowski. (Pasted here in full, original article can be found by clicking on the title)

Status: Cincinnati Reds All-Star pitcher. Height: 6-5 Weight: 194 DOB: Feb. 24, 1977 In: Key West, Fla. Getty Images Childhood Heroes: "Ozzie Smith. That was my man. I thought I was gonna be a big league shortstop. I'd say Ozzie Smith. Then, Dwight Gooden, the pitcher I used to watch as a young kid. He's from Tampa. I was from north of Tampa. And obviously, he had dominating stuff." Nicknames: "Growing up, Flaco -- Latin word for skinny. And through the minor leagues -- I really haven't had any that stuck 00 usually people just call me B." Hobbies/Interests: "Golf, play the guitar, sing, play music, and scuba dive a little bit." Favorite Movies: "I'd say Scarface and probably Good Will Hunting. Favorite TV Shows: "Documentary things, Masterminds, I Shouldn't Be Alive -- things like that. I don't watch anything usually, if it's not a documentary." Musical Tastes: "Pearl Jam, early 90's stuff, Nirvana, Creed, Stone Temple Pilots." First Baseball Memory: "Playing T-ball on the big softball field, Big Pine Key down in the Keys. You hit it in the outfield and sucker would have to run all the way to the wall [smiles]. You couldn't hit a home run, you had to hit an inside-the-parker." First Job: "Working at a Snapper lawn mower store (age 15)." First car: "Chevy Corsica (light blue)." Favorite meal: "Spaghetti." Favorite breakfast cereal: "Raisin Bran." Favorite ice cream flavor: "Chocolate." Pre-game feeling: "(Think of) kind of a plan of attack against the lineup. You're focusing. And a little bit nervous, kind of just antsy. Want to get the game going." Greatest sports moment: "Winning the World Series 2004 with the Sox (Boston)." Most painful moment: "Aaron Boone (Yankees) -- hittin' the home run in the 10th inning off Tim Wakefield. To beat us in '03." Favorite uniforms: "San Francisco Giants." Favorite stadium(s): "Fenway and Wrigley." Closest baseball friends: "Probably Shawn Camp from the Devil Rays. And Lenny DiNardo from the Red Sox." Funniest players encountered: "Kevin Millar, far and away [smiles]. Have no one else even to compare." Toughest competitors: "David Eckstein. Probably Albert Pujols. Just because he's so damn good." Embarrassing memory: "Definitely being dressed up as a rookie (in 2000), you know, put in a Hooters outfit, with some extra small shorts [laughs]. Having to walk out of the tunnel right in front of Mark McGwire and Eric Davis." Favorite athletes to watch: "Always loved watching Greg Maddux get guys out with not dominating stuff. And, who else ... there's so many guys out there. Lately, Ryan Howard, man, he's really fun to watch. He's got so much power to all fields. (NBA?) Grew up with Michael Jordan. (NFL?) Patriots, Tom Brady. I like the way he manages the game. Kinda cool and calm and always seems to find a way to win. (Boxing?) I liked Roberto Duran as a kid. (Why?) My father was Cuban, he was a Latin guy, and he had a lot of heart. And he was a guy who moved up a lot of weight classes and wasn't scared to fight anybody. I mean he came up 20, 30, 40 pounds and he's fighting Marvin Hagler. When he was almost 40 years old. (Tennis?) Pete Sampras. I liked watching his style. He seemed to be in command all the time. (Golf?) Never watched it until Tiger Woods." Last vacation: "Costa Rica -- fishing." People qualities most admired: "Somebody being a man of their word. Doing what they say they're gonna do. Especially in a hairy situation." Funny baseball memory: "Every year -- when I was with the Pirates -- Jason Kendall, Brian Giles used to attack the strength coach once a year. Because they hated the things he used to make us do during stretching. So during every spring training they'd hold him down to the ground. It took like three or four dudes jumpin' on him because he was so strong. Guy named Warren Sipp. And they'd tie him up in BP and put him in center field every year. And then they'd put him in catcher's gear and just let him lay out there. And then balls were hit at him, if they hit him they didn't care. So one year they decided, "Hey, let's throw some breadcrumbs out there and see what happens." It was unbelievable. There was like 100 seagulls, man, just dive bombing him with the bread. Just boom! Taking the bread off of him. And he's all tied up, he can't do s*** about it. And all these birds are just hittin' him, man, they just stayed. It was like home at the beach. It was hilarious [smiles]."

On This Day in Bronson Arroyo History - 2

Bronson was born...thirty years ago. Happy Birthday Bronson!!!

There are no words

Okay, maybe one:

Yum.

"Yeah, we have responsibility, but I don't feel any more pressure than I had last year,"

I'm not sure Bronson ever lets himself feel pressured.

Oh to be that mellow AND that successful!

Bronson's picture is the sole Red player on the cover of the Reds media guide this year.

"It's definitely weird to me, especially when you come from a team that had 10 other guys that would have been on the cover well before me in Boston."

Aaron Harang says hello. :-)

First Day at Spring Training!

No real news, but this picture, courtesy of Yahoo Sports!

Interesting Puff Piece

From NBC Sports. (Yep, that is a screen grab of Bronson as a kid!)

Check it out, and see a tour of Bronson's house!

Pitchers and catchers report this weekend!

Reds Review (Such as it is)

Today, Pete Khazen reviewed the National League for 2007 and wrote this about the Reds:

This appears to be the team year in and year out that looks downright intimidating on paper with their lineup. But that's why we play the game, right? Well, the Reds aren't as formidable heading into 2007, but Adam Dunn, Ryan Freel, Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang definitely pack some punch. Kirk Saarloos could be the big wild card in Cincy. He'll likely earn a starting spot in the rotation and could present some difficulty for NL hitters. And Mike Stanton figures to be the closer as Eddie Guardado will be out until mid-season recovering from offseason surgery

Admittedly, that doesn't say much. Damn, and he gets paid for that! Everyone is convinced that Bronson and Aaron will be this magic one-two punch for the Reds this season. I certainly hope so.

Quotes from Bronson's Press Conference

"Last year in the beginning of the season, I was still watching a lot of Sox games and I was kind of still caught up in the middle emotionally about being traded. After being here a year and going through what we went through last year with having a chance to make the playoffs, I'm a Red through and through now."

"I think the team here definitely has embraced that part of me a little more than Boston did. I think Boston discouraged it [the music] from the fact that they thought it was a little bit of a distraction to me."

It's actually good to see him saying these things. He needs to focus on being part of the Reds if he wants to continue to be successful. Heck, he might never play in Boston again, but we'll always have 2004 - and he'll always be one of the 25.

Still doesn't mean I'm giving up hope. :-)

Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(er, I mean, Congratulations to Bronson!)

Bronson, you break my heart. But at least you're making a lot of money doing it.

(I'm so conflicted. Good for him. Bad for me and any other Boston Bronson fans.)

This MLB/Direct TV thing better NOT go through. I'll never see Bronson pitch again at this rate.

(Screw it. I'm still NOT giving up the vigil.)

Krivsky finally signs Harang

A four-year contract worth $36.5 million with a club option for 2011. Not too shabby for Aaron, but also not close to being outrageous. Well-done, all around gentlemen.

And I might have been too harsh on poor old Aaron before. This is a nice blurb about him:

As part of his contract, Harang will make an annual donation to the Reds Community Fund

And he and his wife will be moving from San Diego to Cincinnati so he can really become part of the community. Nice job, Aaron.

The Cincinnati Enquirer refers to Bronson and Harang "a solid 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation".

What a bizarro world Theo helped create, eh?

On This Day in Bronson Arroyo History - 1

The Boston Red Sox picked Bronson up off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on February 4, 2003. Alas, 'the hair' has yet to make its appearance.

(Photo courtesy of Dale and taken on the Red Sox Cruise in January, 2004)

A Bronson Bobblehead

So the schedule for Reds' promotions is out and May 23, 2007 is "Bronson Arroyo Bobblehead Night". The first 40,000 fans get a Bronson bobblehead.

40,000? Do they get 40,000 people at the Great American Ballpark?

Damn.

Going to have to find a way to get me one of these!

Flashing back to that fateful March morning

My friend Emily, who was working in the same office as me at the time, yelled over to my cubicle,

"They just traded Bronson!"

I knew it was a possibility. Against his manager's advice, he had left himself open to just this scenario. But I never believed Theo would betray his trust that way. A lot of people didn't.

What the hell did we know?

I blogged about it that day. A lot. And then continued to blog about it. Theo has no idea what he unleashed in me when he traded Bronson. Hell, I didn't even know.

Now, short of a year later, Bronson is one of the aces on the Reds pitching staff. My dreams of the Reds trading him back to the Sox for a bag of balls are long gone. All I can do is enjoy his success in Cincinnati and count the days when he's back in Boston playing for the hometown team.

Harang me, Harang me, they oughta take a rope...*

Today, Phil Rogers writes that, in 2006, Aaron Harang:

• Led the National League in complete games
• Led the National League in strikeouts
• Pitched 6 complete games
• Went 16-11
• Struck out 216 batters
• Tied for the lead league in victories

Pretty impressive. The gist of the article, though, is that in spite of how well Harang pitched last season, Bronson is the pitcher for the Reds who got all the attention, and the Reds are being cheap in negotiations with Harang. Rogers points out that

Arroyo got off to a fast start but wound up 14-11, going 11 consecutive starts in one stretch without a victory.

Which is true. Arroyo also is the player who was part of one of the most talked about trades of 2006. Reds fans were incredulous that their team would trade an up and comer like Wily Mo Pena for a rubber-armed 'utility' pitcher like Arroyo. Bronson also got in the spotlight precisely for that 'fast start' as well as because he hit two homeruns in two consecutive starts off of the same pitcher. The media and the fans love that stuff. Apparently, the ownership does as well.

Harang, on the other hand, had been with the team since 2003 and went along his way, quietly doing his job. In the perfect world, the ownership would appreciate this. I have no idea why they are holding out on him this way. But it certainly isn't Bronson's fault.

When asked about his season versus Bronson's, did Harang say "Well, he came over from such a high profile team that the media was bound to jump on him. I'm just happy that I pitched well and helped my team."?

Nope.

Here's what he said:

"Maybe I should grow my hair long and play the guitar,"

No, maybe you should stop being such a baby and deal with the fact that more magnetic personalities get more attention. Especially in a field such as yours. It isn't fair, but it's true.

Implying that Bronson is who he is for no other reason than to gain publicity isn't very good form for a teammate.

Although, I suppose, since the Reds haven't signed you yet, you have a right to be a little cranky.

I want the Reds to win. So Wayne Krivsky, sign his ass and shut him the hell up.

(* with apologies to Roger Miller)

Welcome!

I spend a lot of time blogging about Bronson on Red Sox Chick and Sox Sistahs Speak, so I figured I'd start a blog where I could solely focus on blogging about Bronson.

So when the spirit moves me, I will.

Maybe I'll actually keep this up during the season. For now, I'm just marking my spot in cyberspace.

I actually tried this last year (with the same blog name and address) but didn't keep it up and eventually deleted it. I'm hoping to be more diligent this time!