Reds 5 at 5: Autographs, WBC, More

We help answer some questions on today’s “5 at 5”. How can I get Mat Latos to autograph my jersey? (answer supplied by his wife, Dallas). Who is on Team USA’s WBC roster (by Barry Bloom of MLB.com). What’s going on with baseball and replay (by Jayson Stark of ESPN). Wait. You forgot about that one? It appears the replay issue was swept under a rug, but Stark hasn’t forgotten about it.

1. Mat Latos will sign your jersey

I love this idea!

Fans love getting autographs from their favorite players. Mat and his wife Dallas have arranged for you to have your Mat Latos jersey autographed. Dallas provides the full details on her blog, So I Married a Baseball Player. Here’s part of the lowdown from Dallas…

"Simply mail your jersey to Mat at the Spring Training complex (address below), make sure the package is insured and is trackable, include proof of purchase date, what you would like signed on the jersey (“To Joe”, etc), a return address and voila! Mat will sign it in as timely a manner as possible and I will be the mail fairy and get it back to you."

The rest of the info is on her blog (and there is more like the address), but I think Mat and Dallas are seriously onto something here. This could be a fantastic means of getting your favorite player’s jersey autographed by your favorite player. Finding a way to get other players involved would be fantastic. Would be a great PR thing, too.

Best part…no standing in line! Who’s with me?

2. BP named to Team USA for WBC

We saw the hints of this one a week ago, didn’t we?

First of all, congrats to BP. It must be an honor to have “USA” on your “new” uniform.

I got a kick out of reading some of the comments on Facebook (go fig). A few stated the team sucked (Jeff Passan of Yahoo! was tweeting who he would have on his team, although it wasn’t going happen under this scenario) to team USA had no chance to advance to others stating they were glad players from their favorite team were on the roster.

Oct 10, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Phillips fields a ball during the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants in game four of the 2012 NLDS at Great American Ballpark. The Giants defeated the Reds 8-3. (Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports)

There is no demand, requirement or fan voting in order to play for Team USA, or any of the other teams either. Don’t take this the wrong way (and I know I’ve probably opened a can of worms with that statement), but players don’t get a bonus for making their country’s WBC team, but it’s honestly not about that. It’s by choice. Some players, regardless of their home country (or any other they could possibly play for) are seemingly more committed to their MLB team. That’s where they make their living, not perceived exhibitions like the WBC. And some view the WBC as that, an exhibition. Have to say I’ve never been a big proponent of it myself.

To get Team USA’s provisional roster, Barry Bloom has it all on MLB.com. And here is the link to Team USA’s team page.

And how do you feel about Reds players participating in the World Baseball Classic?

(FYI, on the last poll about the Hall of Fame voting, 60 percent said the process needs to change while 40% voted the current method is fine. Not sure Cliff would agree with that, would ya Cliff?)

3. Doc loves Pete

Is there anything about Pete that Doc doesn’t like? I mean he still writes-in Rose’s name every year on his HoF ballot. But that’s not what Paul Daugherty is “selling” today. Nope, Doc is pushing Pete’s reality show on TLC.

"And really, it’s not bad. Don’t give me that Masterpiece Theatre look, sport. I watch PBS, too. But I liked Hits And Mrs.I watched the first two episodes. It was like inviting The Hit King over for dinner and a DVD. Most “reality” shows are anything but. At least with this one, I felt as if what I was watching was real. Of course, if you’re from around here and/or you’ve spent any amount of time with Peter Edward, none of this is new."

I confess that I have watched the first two episodes as well. If you’ve missed them, head over to TLC’s website to watch them if you wish. I’ll also admit I did like the first couple of episodes. Maybe not to the extent that Doc did. I’ve seen worse reality shows including on TLC for that matter.

Then again, someone could say it was the fact it is Rose on the screen and not some other former player, and they would be correct. I don’t know of too many Reds fans that don’t have a love for the Hit King. Take all the gambling stuff away and some would view Rose as lovable as anyone.

If you’ve met him (and Doc obviously has), you’d probably say the same.

And I do remember when TLC (you know, The Learning Channel?) taught us something. You know, we learned. Nowadays, not so much.

4. Reds and Indians team for a great cause

When you are in Goodyear for spring training, there will be an event held on called the Reds/Indians Celebrity Golf Classic. From H.O.P.E. Team, the Good Guys and the Tribe will partner together for the charity event and those participating will have the chance to play along side players from both teams as well as alumni and front office personnel from each team.

H.O.P.E. (an acronym for Help, Optimism, Peace and Encouragement) is a non-profit that supports patients at Cancer Treatment Centers of America® and provides aid to cancer patients and their families.

For more information on the event, please head over to H.O.P.E. Team”s website.

And finally…

5. No changes seen in replay for 2013

ESPN’s Jayson Stark has an informative read about how baseball is highly unlikely to institute any changes to the instant replay “system” for the upcoming season. As Stark notes, the issue isn’t between the union and the owners as the last CBA does have language addressing this. No. It is between baseball and the umpires.

But don’t be so quick to point your fingers at the umps…as we do whenever they miss an obvious call. There are other aspects in play here such as what types of calls are to be “reviewable” and what process of review is to be utilized. Both are holding up the process, but both are doing so for good reasons.

This isn’t your two-minute read either. There is a lot of stuff to digest here, but I thoroughly recommend giving it a read.