Saturday, July 13, 2002
Larson will start today
Reds notebook
By John Erardi, jerardi@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HOUSTON — Brandon Larson will get his first big-league start of the season today, when he takes over at third base for Aaron Boone, who will start at shortstop for a resting Barry Larkin.
It is a day game after a night game. Larson pinch hit Friday night in the top of the ninth and struck out against closer Billy Wagner as the Reds lost 6-3.
Larson had been traveling since 6 a.m. Thursday and didn't arrive at Minute Maid Park until 10:30 p.m.
“I got up at 5 a.m. Thursday in Oklahoma City (where the Triple-A All-Star game was played), went through Atlanta and then when I arrived in Rhode Island (Pawtucket, where he was rejoining the Reds' Triple-A Club, Louisville), they told us to turn around and go back. We (he and Raul Gonzalez) had to go back through Atlanta and on to Houston. We had several flight delays coming back.”
Worse, when they got a cab at the airport in Houston and tried to hustle to the ballpark in time to be available for the end of the game, the driver seemed to get lost on his way there.
“He wasn't driving like he knew the way,” Larson said. “We were listening to the game on the radio and kept telling the driver to push it, but it didn't work out.”
Maybe, a reporter told Larson, Astros closer Billy Wagner had paid off the cabbie to get lost. Wagner got the save Thursday night in a 4-3 Houston victory over the Reds. As it turns out, had Larson and Gonzalez made it to the ballpark in time, they both would have pinch hit in the ninth inning.
“They were scheduled to be here about 8 o'clock, but when I heard they were coming through Atlanta, I knew there was no chance,” said Reds manager Bob Boone, referring to the frequency of delays at that airport.
Larson and Gonzalez got to the clubhouse and were getting dressed when the game ended.
Larson, who had been having a great season in Triple-A (.340, 24 HR, 68 RBI and 20 doubles), had no great explanation for why he had rebounded after struggling there last year. Well, when was it he had laser surgery on his eyes?
“November,” he said. “Yeah, I know, somebody else had suggested that to me as the reason, too. I don't know. But yes, it seems to have helped me see the spin on the ball better. I can't say I'm seeing the ball itself any better, though. At least it doesn't seem like it.”
He said the laser surgery improved his vision from 20/20 in both eyes with contacts, to 20-15 in one eye and 20-12 in another.
“I can read farther down on the eye chart now, I know that,” he said, grinning.
DEALS: Manager Boone said Reds general manager Jim Bowden is still wearing out the phone lines trying to bolster the Reds' run at the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Two additional deals were made Friday, but neither was the kind expected to help the Reds immediately. The Reds acquired right-handed pitcher Jeff D'Amico from the Indians for a player to be named later. They signed D'Amico to a Triple-A contract. He had been pitching for Buffalo in Triple-A, where he was 4-7 with a 4.13 ERA and one save in 16 games, 15 of them starts. The Reds also acquired outfielder Gerald Williams and signed him to a Triple-A contract.
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Larson will start today
