Cincinnati Reds

Pete Rose had no choice. In the 12th inning of the 1970 All-Star game, Rose bowled into American League catcher Ray Fosse to score the winning run.

"He was doing his job but it was my job to score," Rose told reporters as he lay on the training table with his left knee packed in ice.

By a show of hands, how many of you have really heard of Donald Lutz prior to seeing this article?

If everyone is totally honest, I bet there are very few people with their hands raised right now.

Lutz is a 23-year-old prospect in the Reds' minor league organization who's showing signs of a bright future. Lutz was born in Watertown, NY, but signed as an international free agent from Germany in 2007. Since then, Lutz has played in the minors.

In the sixth game of the 1917 World Series, New York Giants' third baseman Heine Zimmerman was forced to chase Eddie Collins of the Chicago White Sox toward an uncovered home plate.

At the time of this writing the Reds are nine games out of first place, pending what the Milwaukee Brewers do later. They have just lost the series to the upstart Chicago Cubs and try (I hope) to avoid a sweep tomorrow afternoon.

Since making his MLB debut in 2007, Cincinnati Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan has without a doubt been a valuable asset to the Reds organization.

As both a backup catcher and a spot starter, Hanigan has proven himself to be a clutch hitter and a solid defender behind the plate.

The MLB All-Star game also known as The Mid-Summer Classic is designed for the fans, right?

I mean, we are the ones who ultimately pay at the gate, buy the drinks and dogs, which pays the wages of the men we come to see.

You may call Cincinnati a small market city, but let’s call Mr. Peabody and have him fire up the Wayback Machine to 1957.

The National League was replete with major stars, some established and some still in the making. Stan Musial, who would go on to set a record for All-Star appearances, was 15 years into his illustrious career.

As a Bleacher Report columnist, I get a lot of comments tossed my way, and can never be quite sure what to expect.

It’s always nice to get the “WOW what a great read, please do me the honor of ghostwriting my biography” notes at the bottom of articles. Or, at the very least, a “good job, keep it up”.

Although baseball's opening day is special in every city, Cincinnati's has long been considered the creme-de-la-creme. Professional baseball's first team is the only team to open each year at home and its fans celebrate the entire day like no other.

Monday night Aroldis Chapman reached back and threw a pitch to Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates. The pitch wound up being high and tight, not a location necessarily to be proud of, and yet he received a standing ovation.

Why the standing ovation, you may ask? The stadium radar reading displayed a velocity of 106 MPH, a speed that has only been topped twice since baseball started recording pitch velocities.

So who else goes down in history for having a rocket for an arm?

To the surprise of no one, the recent Barry Bonds perjury trial ended with a result that satisfied neither party and only really succeeded in stirring up another round of PED-related articles. 

One of the most common type article to enter the fray is how the Hall of Fame will view such candidates; after all, Bonds (and others guilty/suspected of usage) put up some impressive numbers during his career.