Jose Rijo cooks at a condo he shares with fellow Dominican players. (Michael E. Keating photos) | ZOOM |

        SARASOTA, Fla. — Jose Rijo has chicken on one burner, rice on another and beans on another. Rijo has five hungry mouths to feed.

        Rijo is cooking for his spring training condo-mates — Wilton Guerrero, Luis Pineda and Ruben Mateo — as well as guests Wily Mo Pena and Cesar King. The night before Rijo spent $900 on groceries.

        The food is restaurant quality. Rijo learned to cook Dominican delicacies via long-distance phone calls to his mother, while he was a teen-ager in the New York Yankees organization. The Dominican players would be surviving on fast food and frozen American dishes if not for Chef Rijo.

        “For us, he is like a father,” Pineda said.

        The players even call him “Papa Grande” — Big Daddy in Spanish.

Rjo talks on the phone as Cesar King, Wily Mo Pena and Wilton Guerrero eat his cooking. | ZOOM |

        Whether Rijo makes the Reds or not, he will have made a huge contribution to this team. The Reds have 15 Latin players in camp. Rijo has been invaluable in teaching them what it is like to be a professional baseball player in the United States — on and off the field.

        “He takes care of us,” Pineda said. “He cooks for us, takes us shopping. He teaches us what to do on the street: How to respect people.”

        The Reds are pleased. “The biggest help young Latin players get is from experienced players,” assistant general manager Doc Rodgers said. “Players like Rijo have been through it. He's very experienced in life and baseball.”

        Rijo was late in reporting for camp because he was helping Pineda and Juan Encarnacion through the visa process.

Guerrero naps while Ruben Mateo talks on the phone and Pena looks over a Reds schedule. | ZOOM |

        The condo — Rijo pays the rent, the others pick up the grocery bill — is a gathering place for the Dominican players.

        “We spend a lot of time talking,” Rijo said. “We talk about off-the-field things. I try to be a good influence. These guys need a good role model, someone to show them how to do the right things.”

        Four players share the two-bedroom condo.

        “That's Dominican style,” Rijo said. “We're used to it.”

        As many as nine or 10 of the Hispanic players in camp could make the big club. In Rijo's heyday as a player — the early 90s — that wasn't the case.

        “It was me and Mariano Duncan,” he said.

        The Reds have re-entered the Latin market. They began signing talent in 1996 after international scouting was put back in the budget. They've also added quite a few Latin players through trades.

        The adjustment can be difficult. Ranier Olmedo, the 20-year-old shortstop who has wowed people in camp, studies English every night.

        “I watch TV, movies, videos and try to learn,” he said.

        That's where a player like Rijo is invaluable. Rijo is closest with the young players from the Dominican, but Friday he included all the Hispanic players on an outing.

        Rijo rented a van and took all everyone to Tampa to a Spanish restaurant and a show.

        “It was good to be together,” he said. “We talked all the way.”

        The Dominican players and Rijo spent a lot of the winter together working out at Rijo's baseball academy in the D.R. That's where the learning process begins.

        All the top players who are from the southern part of the country — Rijo is from San Cristobal — flocked there. Big leaguers Vladimir Guerrero, Raul Mondesi and Miguel Tejada are among those who worked out. Wilton Guerrero, Pena, Pineda, Mateo and Jackson Melian spent part of the winter there.

        The Reds' minor leaguers who trained at Rijo's camp would play against the major leaguers.

        “That's where it starts,” Rijo said. "They learn from the major leaguers there.”

        And the lessons continue here.

Reds' 'batter's eye' suite hopes to be a hit with fans 'Papa Grande' Jose Rijo knows best Opening Day on Channel 9 Reds notebook Royals 16, Reds 6; Pirates 7, Reds 1 Baseball notebook

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