From the stretch

Through the magic of backdating I'm writing this entry on Saturday night when I was actually about halfway home going north on Interstate 71. For you see, today was the Cincinnati Reds Stitch N' Pitch.

I'm too beat to do a proper write-up of the even tonight, so I present a photo of the 4192 mural on the back of the Great American Ball Park scoreboard. The mural showing the record-breaking bat and ball is the team's way of honoring Pete Rose (and, in my opinion, thumbing its nose at Major League Baseball) while observing the all-time hit king's continued banishment from the game.

Rose is a sore point for me as a lifelong Reds fan. He's still a beloved figure by much of the fan base and understandably so, but I wish they'd drop the illusion that he's a martyr. By now it seems pretty apparent that he did indeed bet on baseball while managing the Reds--something strictly verboten, if you're unaware--and is willing to change his story for whatever it can earn him. The hard-nosed player known as Charlie Hustle for his go-for-broke style still deserves the nickname, but it's for the other meaning of hustle.

Anyway, I'm getting off track. I just wanted to provide context for the picture as it's probably not something you see in stadium shots on television. I'll have a Stitch N' Pitch recap on Sunday.