Cincinnati Reds Racing Night – live from Great American Ball Park – the Reds host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, June 17, 2013.

If you don’t already have tickets for the event tonight, you may want to consider the deal offered here: http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ticketing/racing_night.jsp

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What exactly HAPPENS at Reds Racing Night?  Well, a year ago (2012), NASCAR legend (as well as inaugural Hall of Fame member) and 7-time Cup Champion Richard Petty came to GABP and threw out a ceremonial first pitch in the ballpark.  Earlier this 2013 season, reigning (2012) NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski (@Keselowski) came to GABP just a couple of weeks ago to also throw out a ceremonial first pitch that evening.

(See the entire Reds / MLB Press Release here)

REDS PRESS RELEASE:

CINCINNATI (June 14, 2013) – Reds fans and racing enthusiasts should come to the ballpark on Monday, June 17 for an evening of excitement at the second annual Reds Racing Night presented by Kroger. 

May 10, 2013; Darlington, SC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick during qualifying for the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. (Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports)

NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick (@KevinHarvick) will throw a ceremonial first pitch and the Kroger Fan Zone will be packed with a collection of racing showcars, simulators and interactives.

Harvick is currently 5th in Sprint Cup Series with two wins this season, drives the #29 Budweiser NASCAR racecar for Richard Childress Racing and is scheduled to race in the Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, June 29.

Reds Racing Night schedule of events:

• 5:40 pm: Ballpark gates open and fans can experience the Kroger Fan Fest showcars, racing games and driving simulators in the Kroger Fan Zone.

• 7:00 pm: Kevin Harvick throws out ceremonial first pitch

• 7:10 pm: Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

• End of the 5th Inning: Kevin Harvick guest bartending at the Budwesier Bowtie Bar (open to the public)

Discount tickets for Reds Racing Night are available at reds.com/racing or at any Kroger Ticketmaster outlet.

Reds Racing Night tickets include a game ticket in the Field Box ($23), Mezzanine ($17) or View Level ($11) sections and a concession credit on your ticket barcode for a Kroger Meal Deal.

The Kroger Meal Deal for this homestand includes a hot dog, 16oz Coke product, bag of chili cheese flavored Wheat Thins and pack of Oreo cookies. Redeeming your concession credit is easy! Visit any concession stand where the Kroger Meal Deal Logo is displayed and simply scan your game ticket bar code at the register.

Additionally, fans that attend Reds Racing Night can use their Reds ticket stub to get $10 off any ticket for the June 29th Quaker State 400 race or Fan Zone pass. Please call the Kentucky Speedway for details: (859) 578-2300.

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Continue the conversation with me on Twitter @JDRentz

May 3, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake (44) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

After a 5-2 week against the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, the Reds were able to gain some ground on the division leading St. Louis Cardinals. A task that has seemed beyond impossible at times this year.

This week it’s time to face another team that is trying to establish themselves into a contender, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates, currently making their third consecutive run at relevancy are getting themselves into this fight with the Reds and Cardinals, stop me if you’ve heard this story before.

All joking aside, the Pirates are a team that has a solid bullpen, a rotation that through a few injuries is still productive, and a lineup that has a lot of power. This is a very important four game set between these two teams, lets look at some important keys to the series.

1. Pitching Matchups

Monday: Mike Leake (6-3, 2.76 ERA, 59 K) vs Francisco Liriano (5-2, 2.36 ERA, 49K)
Tuesday: Mat Latos (6-0, 3.08 ERA, 78 K) vs. Charlie Morton (0-1, 3.60 ERA, 5K)
Wednesday: Bronson Arroyo (6-5, 3.27 ERA, 53K) vs. Jeff Locke (6-1, 2.19 ERA, 60K)
Thursday: Homer Bailey (4-5, 3.80 ERA, 87K) vs. Brandon Cumpton (0-0. 5.40 ERA, 5K)

The Reds will not see rookie sensation Gerrit Cole in this series, nor will they see A.J. Burnett or Wandy Rodriguez. This is good news.

Francisco Liriano pitched very well his last game against the Reds, but was defeated by Mike Leake. Mat Latos should have a couple wins against the Pirates as well, had it not been for his bullpen blowing games in April and June. Not to mention Homer Bailey has made a pretty nice living going against the Pirates.

2. Keep the pressure on
As mention before, the Reds have lost two games against the Pirates in late innings. in their six games this season, Cincinnati has been victorious twice.

The Reds have let the Pirates back into the games they lead, (see April 14 or June 2nd) or have battled back and forth with the team going blow for blow, just to miss the knockout punch.

Keep the pressure on the Pirates, do not let them get back in games. The numbers show that if Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli come into the game this year, the opponent is in trouble.

3. Jay Bruce

The Reds right fielder is very important to the Reds success, no doubt about it. Last week Bruce hit .366 with two home runs, four RBI, and five of the eleven hits he had were for extra bases. Jay has a solid line this year of .283/.330/.495 with twelve home runs and 47 RBI.

This series will start a stretch where the Reds play 19 of their next 26 games against teams with a winning record. Now is the time for a big series from this team.

Jun 10, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of the fog at Wrigley Field during the first inning of a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds during the second inning. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

According to my mini-bio I have been following the Reds since 1960. Growing up in the ‘other’ tri-state area in Huntington, WV all we essentially had was Waite Hoyt bringing us the colorful play-by-play, albeit in past tense. For example, if Marty would say, “Here comes the pitch”, Hoyt would probably have said, “There was the pitch.” His reasoning was that by the time you heard it, it wasn’t there anymore.

The further the game progressed, the more Berger Beers were downed by Hoyt and he would recount the days of yore.

It takes much more from a broadcaster do work on radio than television. Marty, Cowboy or any other radio man doesn’t have the time to debate whether a pitch was a two-seamer or a four-seamer. They are not just your ears, they are attempting to be your eyes too.

I believe back then WSAZ was the station that carried them on the radio. Now that Clear Channel has gobbled most of the stations up, one of their ‘talk’ radio stations, WVHU is the Huntington area’s voice for the Reds. That is, of course at night, and on weekends.

I had been wondering why I could not hear a game on the radio when the Reds played a day game. I was ready to pull the plug on my car radio’s life support system when I heard Rush Limbaugh crushing (I borrowed that from the Mayor)some democrats. If you are not a conservative Republican you can tire of his hyperbole in short fashion.

Then on Saturday I read this article by Chuck Landon in the Herald-Dispatch, Huntington’s daily newspaper. It was such a good read, it took me back to my own youth.

As mentioned above Clear Channel owns WVHU as well as countless other stations across the fruited plain. I know Limbaugh has oodles of ‘dittoheads’ who can’t seem to get enough of his trashing of the democrat party. Say what you will, that takes up 95 percent of his airtime. If the democrat party disbanded, he would be out of work in a hearbeat.

Money, you know the filthy lucre, controls everything including what we hear on the radio. Apparently Limbaugh, and Limbaugh wannabe Sean Hannity dominate my tri-state area from noon till 6:00 pm.

I thought it judicious that Landon called the station manager to inquire about this. The manager, Jim Davis told him that they do broadcast the Reds day games, although not in Huntington.

As Landon says in the article,

So, it appears WVHU wants to eat the cake
of its Reds affiliation and have it, too,
by refusing to pre-empt the Limbaugh or Hannity shows
for Cincinnati day games.
And that includes National League
Divisional Series playoff contests.”

Which prompts a contractual question. When is a Reds affiliate not a Reds affiliate? When Limbaugh sits in front of his golden microphone.

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