How happy was Aaron Boone about the labor agreement reached Friday?. “Giddily happy,” he said.

        Boone, the Reds' third baseman and player representative, had agonized over the labor dispute, particularly as Friday's strike deadline neared.

        “The headache I've had for the last couple of days is finally gone,” he said. “Literally.”

        Boone went home from Cinergy Field after Thursday's game feeling optimistic - but not overly so -that a strike could be avoided.

        “I wouldn't say it got better,” he said. “There were ups and downs. When we set the (strike) date two weeks ago, you had moments when it looked really good. You had moments when it looked like doom.”

        The player representatives had a conference call with the players association brass at 11p.m. Thursday. The call was open to all players, and their participation rate showed they were becoming anxious.

        “A lot of guys who hadn't been on before were on it,” Boone said.

        Then Boone did something he hadn't done much lately: slept.

        “I actually slept pretty good,” he said. “The last couple of days, I've been waking up in the middle of the night. I was wondering why. Then it hit me: Whoa, that date. But last night was OK.”

        Boone refused to use the player rep role as an excuse for his recent play. He enterer Friday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers on an 0-for-17 skid and had eight hits in his last 59 (at-bats).

        “It's not as if I'm out there saying, "Oh Jeez, we've got a strike date,' ” he said. “I was a little stressed out and tired from the road trip. Everything affects you. But I don't think that was it.”

        The burden on Boone picked up substantially after the strike date was set. But he thinks the setting of that date was the key to settling.

        “No question,” he said. “It's funny how setting a date changes things. My dad used the analogy of playing chicken. We would have still been playing, but the road would have been a lot longer.”

        Boone plans to give up the player rep role the first chance he gets. But he's glad to have done it.

        “It's your career,” he said. “You want to be part of what happens for the next four years.”

        But, again, Boone was most happy just to have a deal done.

        “Hopefully this is a good deal not only for us but for baseball and the Reds,” Boone said. “I'm just really, really happy we got it done.”

Reds should benefit from deal Baseball deal has something for everyone DAUGHERTY: Free money should mean free agents Highlights of the labor deal Reds relieved to keep playing Twins saved; Expos to D.C.? Bows, barbs for Selig Deal lifts burden from Boone Brewers 9, Reds 4 Reds Box, Runs Reds Notebook: Glove earns Stinnett more time Brewers end strange day with high five Cardinals 6, Cubs 3 Astros 8, Dodgers 4 Royals 5, Mariners 1 Angels 6, Orioles 2 Athletics 4, Twins 2 Giants 7, Diamondbacks 6 Padres 2, Rockies 0

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