Starters won't be babied early

Right-hander Rob Bell pitched three innings in Wednesday's 3-1 exhibition victory over Rollins College, a pace manager Bob Boone hopes the other starters can maintain — at least until pitching coach Don Gullett prescribes a greater workload.

“Donnie gets them ready faster than I ever did,” Boone said admiringly. “He's pretty comfortable with it.”

As the exhibition season officially opens with today's game against Cleveland in Winter Haven, Fla., starters will be allowed to throw about 45 pitches. This ideally gets a starter through three innings, though one or two rough stretches will shorten his stint. The starters' limit generally increases by five to 10 pitches each outing, leaving them ready to throw 80 to 100 pitches by Opening Day.

UP NEXT: Osvaldo Fernandez will start today's Grapefruit League opener against Cleveland. The Reds' projected starting lineup is expected to play. Former Red Dave Burba will start for Cleveland.

BIG GAME: It was a big day for Rollins College, where an overflow crowd of more than 2,000 came to watch the Reds.

Rollins players, nicknamed the Tars, ringed the batting cage as the Reds took batting practice. They whipped out cameras and videocassette recorders when Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Larkin and Deion Sanders took their swings. After the Reds finished hitting, Griffey, Larkin and Sanders posed for group photos with the Tars.

“Our season is so stressful,” said Bob Rikeman, Rollins' sixth-year coach whose team is 13-5. “We're a nationally ranked team (16th in the last NCAA Division II poll). We have a chance to be in the (Division II) World Series this year. We finally have a good club at our level. I want them to break away from that. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time. This is something they'll be able to tell their kids about 10, 20 years down the road. Myself included. It's a great experience for everybody.”

Reds general manager Jim Bowden, a Rollins alumnus who was responsible for organizing this game, threw one of eight ceremonial first pitches.

BY COINCIDENCE: Rikeman has helped conduct clinics for two years with the Griffey family's baseball school at the nearby Walt Disney Sports Complex.

“Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. and Craig (Ken Jr.'s brother) treat us really, really well,” Rikeman said.

Rikeman also recalled tutoring Bell at a pitching camp for kids in Newburg, N.Y. “I think it was 1991,” said Rikeman, a Chicago White Sox scout at the time.

ABOUT THE GAME: Chris Sexton rapped three hits and scored all of Cincinnati's runs. Sexton pinch ran for Larkin in the third inning and scored the game's first run on Griffey's single to left-center.

Non-roster outfielder Raul Gonzalez broke a 1-1 tie with a fifth-inning RBI single. Adam Dunn added an RBI single in the ninth.

Seven pitchers combined to issue zero walks and only three hits. That pleased Boone only slightly more than the chance to play the Reds' youngsters, such as top 2000 draftees David Espinosa, Dustin Moseley and Dane Sardinha, and minor-league-bound players.

“This was a great opportunity for them,” Boone said. “Without the split-squad games, they're not going to get much playing time.”

Cincinnati has three split-squad games in the next nine days, then none after that.

WHAT'S IN A NAME: Several well-wishers called Boone “Coach,” innocently forgetting he wasn't supervising a college team. Said Boone good-naturedly, “I worked my butt off to not be "Coach.'”

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