DENVER — Ballplayers who spent free time browsing through shopping malls are now just as likely to browse the World Wide Web. The Reds, like much of the world, have become more Internet-savvy.

        At least half the players tote laptop computers on road trips. “I would imagine 75 percent of the team has laptops,” reliever Scott Sullivan said during Cincinnati's two-city, six-game journey that ends here today.

        Night games enable players to spend an hour or two in the late mornings and early afternoons, if they wish, to shop online, check e-mail or explore new Internet areas. Some players even get online after a game to help calm themselves.

        “There's a lot of times when I sign off and it'll say, "You've been online for 137 minutes,'” reliever Danny Graves said. “It just helps the time pass. It definitely is relaxing, as long as you have a fast computer. Because I've had slow computers before, and it drives you crazy.”

        Different Reds seek different destinations.

        Graves frequently checks out www.amazon.com. “The DVDs are unbelievable. They're usually a couple of dollars cheaper,” he said.

        Reliever Mark Wohlers searches www.priceline.com for bargains. “With my daughter flying up every homestand, I book most of her flights on the Internet,” he said.

        Reliever Dennys Reyes likes to read the Web edition of his hometown newspaper in Los Mochis, Sinola, Mexico. “You see everything,” he said.

        Batting coach Ken Griffey Sr. frequently visits etrade.com to check his investments. He proudly reported that he gained $250 on a particular stock the other day in a few short hours.

        A few Reds have been part of cyberspace themselves. Graves and center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. had Web sites on AthletesDirect before the company that ran it went out of business.

        Griffey Sr. still can be found promoting his baseball schools and speaking engagements on www.griffeyinternational.com. Griffey Sr. and fellow Reds coach Tom Hume write periodic columns on various subjects for www.baseballpressbox.com.

        The Internet has become a boon to players wishing to overcome the drawbacks of their itinerant lifestyle. Through e-mail, they still can keep in touch with friends and relatives.

        For example, Sullivan, who has two young children, has been shopping for a decent digital camera so he can take family snapshots to e-mail to relatives. “It'll keep us a little closer,” he said.

        Griffey Sr. has played Internet games such as Delta Force with his son, Craig, for years. Occasionally, the Griffeys will hold virtual family reunions on cyberspace that include Griffey Jr.

        “We all get on during the offseason,” Griffey Sr. said. “We'll get online at 7 or 8 o'clock at night and won't get off until 4 or 5 in the morning sometimes.”

        There is such a thing as too much contact, though. Third baseman Aaron Boone enjoys communicating with friends via e-mail and following the baseball progress of his brothers and former teammates on the Internet. But he gets annoyed when somebody sends him an “instant message” that's mostly pointless.

        “If you've got something to say, OK,” Boone said. “But while I'm doing something, don't instant-message me with a, "Hey, dude, what's up?'”

        If the Reds are any indication, the next player to join an online chat room will be the first. It makes sense that professional athletes accustomed to guarding their privacy wouldn't want to risk being intruded upon by strangers. None of the Reds interviewed for this article said they use assumed screen names, either.

        “Those chats are for ... different people,” Graves said. “It's for people who are online 24-7.”

        Said Wohlers, “Not that I'm old or anything, but I think chat rooms are for younger people, people in their teens. You really don't want people to know who the heck you are on the Internet, anyway.”

        Reds players say they don't use it to scout opponents — partly because such information isn't currently offered. The closest thing to online intelligence reports that players could use come from STATS Inc., which provides breakdowns on batter-pitcher matchups, a hitter's or pitcher's tendencies, and other data.

        “It's not as good as seeing the player or tapes of a game,” said Reds analyst and former major-league pitcher Chris Welsh. “But it's good complementary information.”

        The Internet has become a complementary part of a player's life, too. Surfing the Web won't entirely replace card-playing, mall-cruising, napping, carousing or any of baseball's other off-field road pastimes enjoyed by many. But it's entrenched in the big-league lifestyle.

        “To me, it keeps them out of trouble,” Griffey Sr. said. “They're in their rooms, keeping in touch with people. It's a good tool.”

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