Saturday, March 20, 1999REDS NOTEBOOK
Opening Day sold out
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati EnquirerSARASOTA, Fla. — The Reds achieved their earliest Opening Day sellout since 1993, announcing Friday that all tickets have been sold for the April 5 game against the San Francisco Giants.
Players interpreted this as a sign that fans have noticed the apparent improvements in the team's roster.
“That is absolutely awesome,” right fielder Dmitri Young said. “I remember with the team we had last year, we were kind of sold up the river. This year, we're putting a team out there that's going to win. It's nice that people are buying tickets already. They need to hurry up and buy the rest for the rest of the season so it'll look like St. Louis or Chicago every time we play.”
The Reds still have 2,000 standing-room-only tickets, which are being sold for $5 apiece Mondays through Fridays at Cinergy Field from 9a.m. to 5p.m. and at the Reds Dugout Store in the Westin Hotel downtown from 10a.m. to 5p.m. weekdays and Saturdays from 10a.m. to 4p.m. Standing-room tickets are not available through Ticketmaster.
FAMILY CONCERNS: Relief pitcher Danny Graves has more on his mind than retiring opposing hitters.
Graves' 70-year-old father, Jim, was diagnosed Tuesday with leukemia. The Reds allowed Graves to spend Wednesday and most of Thursday with his family in Brandon, Fla., about an hour's drive from Sarasota. Graves then met the team in Tampa and pitched a shutout eighth inning against the New York Yankees.
“My dad would want me to play baseball and not worry about him. That's just how he is,” Graves said. “If I could go back and tell him, "Dad, I didn't give up any runs,' that would get his spirits up. That's just how he is.”
Graves maintains hope that his father can recover soon.
“They've maybe caught it early enough to be able to get rid of it. Maybe,” he said. “The doctor's not guaranteeing it, but there is a chance.”
Graves, who struck out Chad Curtis with two on and two outs to end a Yankees' threat, said he wasn't distracted when he pitched.
“If my dad was in worse condition, I'd probably be a little bit distracted,” said Graves. “But knowing that he's in the hospital and has people to take care of him ... I have a job to do right now. He understands that, and he wants me to do this. He wants me to worry about this and not him.”
INJURY UPDATE: Young estimated that he'll return sometime next week from the strained tendon in his left knee that has sidelined him since Wednesday.
“I just have a little discomfort,” said Young, who received X-rays and a magnetic resonance imaging examination. “It wasn't anything excruciating, but I felt something.”
Catchers set to platoon
Opening Day sold out
Red Sox 6, Reds 5