Pokey Reese, the Reds' rookie shortstop who was to be insurance for Barry Larkin's tender left heel, on Tuesday was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis, half-an-inning into his big-league career.
Outfielder Ozzie Timmons, acquired from the Chicago Cubs on the eve of Opening Day, was added to the 25-man roster.
Reese won the 25th place out of spring, when he batted .373 and impressed everyone with his sound defense, and because catcher Joe Oliver's thumb injury created an opening.
When he heard about Monday's trade, Reese said, ''I knew it would probably be me.''
In Tuesday's 11-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies, Reese replaced Larkin for the ninth inning.
''Send that man down in a limousine,'' Reds veteran Lenny Harris said.
The Reds lacked a true fourth outfielder, which Timmons
provides.
''As Barry's gotten better,'' manager Ray Knight said, ''the realism of Pokey being here for a long time and me giving him enough at-bats is pretty much non-existent.
''In terms of being cruel, that's the realism of putting together a championship ballclub. (Timmons) will balance us off a little more. But, yeah, they're hard to do when people are deserving of being here.''
Happy in No. 2
About the time Colorado's Kevin Ritz's dead-center fastball was sailing toward him, Willie Greene was thinking, ''This batting second stuff isn't so bad.''
Greene lashed through the pitch with his oh-so-quick bat and sent it sailing high over the right-field wall for a two-run home run.
It was the blow that got the Reds rolling.
The key to Greene getting such a fat pitch to hit was the fact that Deion Sanders had led off the inning with a double.
''If I get my butt on base, Willie's going to see a whole lot of pitches like that,'' Sanders said. '' ... My goodness that ball is still going I think. It may land in my crib downtown.''
There's little question that Greene is very dangerous when he sees good fastballs. Greene, 25, had 19 home runs in 287 at-bats last year.
He reserved judgement on hitting in the No. 2 spot before Opening Day. Afterward he said, ''When Deion gets on, it's going to help me a lot.''
Greene has hit majority of his career batting fifth or sixth.
''I've still got to take the same approach no matter where I hit,'' Greene said.
He finished 2-for-4 with the two RBI.
They're cool
As he has for much of his baseball career, Deion Sanders wore his pantlegs bunched at the knee to honor the Negro Leagues, along with Jackie Robinson. Sanders has a particular affinity for Cool Papa Bell.
''I really wanted to meet him,'' Sanders said.
Cool Papa Bell died on March 7, 1991, in St. Louis.
A line in the sand
The sandlot fields in Ft. Myers, Fla., were like all others in that they had no batter's boxes, only worn places in the dirt where kids put their feet where everyone else had put their feet before them.
Young Deion Sanders, though, drew his own box in the dirt with the end of his bat. In the big leagues, he still does.
At the start of every at-bat, Sanders traces an arc from his back foot to beyond his front foot, then a triangle that intersects at specific points on the arc. For Sanders, those points define his stance and his stride. He tried not to stride beyond the arc.
Now you know. He does not draw dollar signs, as Carlton Fisk once suggested.
Road kill
The Rockies, who are 6-18 at Riverfont Stadium/Cinergy Field, are a notoriously bad road team.
''I'm sure they'll be making jokes about it on ESPN (Tuesday night),'' the Rockies' Dante Bichette said. ''We're going to have to face it head-on ... I've heard that a lot of people don't want to talk about it. (But) we're going to have
to talk about it. When you're faced with a challenge, you have to confront it. You can't pretend it's not there .Ç.Ç. Our road record is the reason we didn't play in the playoffs last year.''
''I think we're going to play better on the road (this year),'' Baylor said. ''But it also starts with pitching, too. Big innings (hurt). In the first and fifth innings, we were looking for someone to stop (the Reds) ... but (wound up) eight runs down.''
On the run
Rockies manager Don Baylor took note of the Reds stealing bases even when they had a five-run lead Tuesday.
''They are going to steal when they are ahead and when they are behind,'' Baylor said. ''They're going to be a running team all year. That's a part of the game.
''If you're going to run that way, expect other teams to do the exact same thing when they are up by five runs. That's a part of the game, and if they want to play that part of the game, they have to be prepared to have it played against them.''
Brantley improved
Reds closer Jeff Brantley, plagued for the past week with a strained muscle in his right shoulder, said Tuesday he is ready to throw again.
Brantley simulated his throwing motion with a five-pound weight Tuesday morning and reported none of the previous irritation. He is scheduled to play catch today and perhaps throw off a mound on Thursday.
Bench mum
Johnny Bench, General Manager Jim Bowden's special consultant, was in uniform and on the field before Tuesday's game. It was his first visit with the club since early in spring, when he was appointed to the post.
Asked what club business he had done in the past month, Bench declined to say.
C'mon, Johnny.
''If I told you,'' he said, ''I'd have to kill you.''
Don't pitch to him
Apparently, Reggie Sanders is going to have to prove that he's all the way back from an injury-plagued half-season in which he batted .251.
Barry Larkin, batting ahead of Sanders in the third spot in Knight's order, was walked four times by Rockies pitchers.
Sanders tripled, singled and drove in a run in five at-bats.
In tow
Willie Greene's steal of second on the back end of Deion Sanders' steal of third in the sixth inning was the first of his career, in his 184th big-league game.
FIne, suspension upheld
The National League upheld the $2,000 fine and six-game suspension of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher T.J. Mathews, who intentionally hit Bret Boone with a pitch during an exhibition game in Plant City, Fla. The National League knew it was intentional, because, in a fit of machismo, Mathews said so afterward.
''The fine may exceed what happened,'' Reds manager Ray Knight said, ''but it didn't exceed what was expressed. What we learned a long time ago, if you do anything, just keep your mouth shut.''
OPENING DAY PHOTOS
GAME STORY
BOX, RUNS
WHOA, BABY! WHAT A DAY FOR SMILEY
LOVE IS IN THE AIR OPENING DAY
TRIPLE A WON'T TARNISH POKEY'S DAY Paul Daugherty column
BOUNCES WILL ADD WRINKLES FOR REDS Tim Sullivan column
MR. RED COULD GIVE BASEBALL A BIG HEAD Cliff Radel column
BICHETTE WEARS BULLS-EYE IN LF
ALLEN HEARS POSITIVES FROM FANS
BAN DOESN'T KEEP SCHOTT OUT OF SPOTLIGHT
REDS HONOR McSHERRY
