By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Reds pitcher Jimmy Haynes walks in the Great American Ball Park where he will be the starting pitcher today. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

Great American Ball Park has taken center stage for Opening Day 2003.

That's taken some attention away from the team the Reds will put on the field today when they open the new yard against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 4:10 p.m.

But the Reds know that the novelty of the new stadium will wear off quickly if they play like the Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers did after they opened stadiums in 2001.

"I think it's very important for us to play well," outfielder Adam Dunn said. "People are excited about the nice new stadium, but they don't want a mediocre team to go with it.

"I don't think we're going to be a mediocre team or I wouldn't make that statement. I think we can be good."

The Reds are generally getting picked to finish third or fourth in the National League Central. Most experts put the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros 1-2. The Chicago Cubs, based on their good young pitching and new manager Dusty Baker, are getting tabbed third a lot.

OPENING DAY

• Schedule of activities • Parade map and street closings • Get there early • Answers to other fan questions • Weather conditions and forecast • Complete Opening Day coverage

The Reds think the experts are wrong, of course.

"We've got a great club," first baseman Sean Casey said. "There are a lot of reasons we should win. The biggest is we've got a great club. There's not any reason we shouldn't win."

The Reds base that on a solid everyday lineup and deep pitching.

Pitching is the key to winning and the Reds are in a never-ending effort to upgrade their arms. They feel they have since last year. The best evidence? Two pitchers who started last season in the rotation - Chris Reitsma and Jose Acevedo - didn't make the team this year.

The bullpen added three veterans with quality arms - Felix Heredia, Kent Mercker and Josias Manzanillo - to make it as deep as any in the league.

The offense is where the Reds have the stars and big-money players.

But it was the offense that failed last year.

Danny Graves pitched a simulated game during practice Sunday at the Great American Ball Park. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

The Reds hit .231 with runners in scoring position, worst in the majors. They struck out a club-record 1,188 times.

"We've got enough pitching," Dunn said. "We've just got to hit the way we're capable of."

The lineup - Barry Larkin, Aaron Boone, Ken Griffey Jr., Austin Kearns, Dunn, Brandon Larson, Casey and Jason LaRue - is heavy on power. But it's light on high on-base percentage hitters and speed.

The Reds are also young. Dunn is 23, Kearns and Felipe Lopez, the top infield sub, are 22.

"We're very talented," Reds manager Bob Boone said. "We have a lot of potential. But we're young, really young. We don't have a lot of guys with track records. They're still learning the game. Dunn, Kearns and Lopez are all under 23. Most teams might have one guy that young."

There is a question about everyone of the starting eight. Can Griffey and Casey come back from injuries? Can Aaron Boone handle the move from third base to second? Can Larson hit big-league pitching? Can Larkin still play at 39? Was Dunn's second half slump a fluke? Can Kearns stay healthy? Is LaRue good enough defensively?

All those questions could be answered positively and the Reds could still have a bad year, because an injury to one of the starters would be devastating.

"We're as thin as tissue paper," Bob Boone.

The bench will consist of catcher Kelly Stinnett, infielder Lopez and outfielders Wily Mo Pena, Ruben Mateo and Reggie Taylor.

Stinnett is the only one of the five with more than 550 major league at-bats.

"Our starters have to come through," Boone said. "We're not going to win a lot of games with the bench late. If someone gets hurt, we're going to have a drop off."

If the Reds stay healthy and hit, they could be a team worthy of their new digs.

"If this offense clicks, I think we'll be fun to watch," Larson said. "I think it will. We've got a great chemistry here. We have fun win or lose. I think if you have fun, it usually leads to winning."

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E-mail jfaya@enquirer.com

Today's lineups

Reds

Player	Avg.	HR	RBI
SS Barry Larkin	.245	7	47
2B Aaron Boone	.241	26	87
CF Ken Griffey Jr.	.264	8	23
RF Austin Kearns	.315	13	56
LF Adam Dunn	.249	26	71
3B Brandon Larson	.275	4	13
1B Sean Casey	.261	6	42
C Jason LaRue	.249	12	52
P Jimmy Haynes	15-10	4.12	ERA

Pirates

Player	Avg.	HR	RBI
CF Kenny Lofton	.261	11	51
C Jason Kendall	.283	3	44
LF Brian Giles	.298	38	103
3B Aramis Ramirez	.234	18	71
1B Randall Simon	.301	19	82
RF Reggie Sanders	.250	23	85
SS Jack Wilson	.252	4	47
2B Pokey Reese	.264	4	50
P Kris Benson	9-6	4.70	ERA

Spring stats

Hitting

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SB	CS	SF	SH	HBP	SLG	AVG
Felipe Lopez	25	72	12	20	4	2	3	8	37	5	2	0	0	1	.514	.278
Adam Dunn	24	67	9	15	4	0	5	16	34	0	0	2	0	2	.507	.224
Ruben Mateo	24	66	7	12	0	0	1	2	15	0	0	0	0	3	.227	.182
Aaron Boone	23	64	14	15	6	1	4	9	35	2	0	1	1	1	.547	.234
Wily Mo Pena	25	64	8	19	5	1	3	8	35	2	1	0	0	3	.547	.297
Reggie Taylor	24	63	9	14	2	0	3	6	25	2	2	1	1	1	.397	.222
Sean Casey	20	63	4	14	2	0	0	7	16	0	1	0	0	0	.254	.222
Brandon Larson	17	58	5	15	4	0	2	9	25	1	0	0	0	1	.431	.259
Barry Larkin	21	53	8	16	3	0	0	1	19	2	0	0	1	3	.358	.302
Jason LaRue	22	49	10	14	3	0	4	10	29	0	0	1	0	2	.592	.286
Ken Griffey	20	49	11	18	6	0	6	18	42	1	0	0	0	0	.857	.367
Austin Kearns	13	38	4	7	2	0	2	6	15	0	1	0	0	2	.395	.184
Kelly Stinnett	19	35	4	6	2	0	2	7	14	0	0	1	0	1	.400	.171
* Juan Castro	11	23	3	7	1	1	0	3	10	0	0	0	0	0	.435	.304

Pitching

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	HBP	BB	SO
Jimmy Anderson	2	3	4.06	7	5	0	0	1	31.0	40	16	14	4	0	5	16
Ryan Dempster	3	2	5.40	5	5	0	0	0	21.2	25	13	13	4	1	10	12
Danny Graves	0	1	5.12	5	5	0	0	0	19.1	33	11	11	2	0	2	6
Jimmy Haynes	1	1	3.86	5	5	0	0	0	18.2	21	8	8	1	0	6	10
Felix Heredia	0	0	3.29	12	0	0	0	0	13.2	12	6	5	1	1	5	8
Kent Mercker	1	0	4.73	13	0	0	0	2	13.1	15	7	7	4	1	6	10
Josias Manzanillo	0	1	0.75	11	0	0	0	1	12.0	4	1	1	0	0	5	12
Gabe White	0	0	2.45	10	0	0	0	0	11	12	3	3	1	1	2	8
John Riedling	1	1	6.10	10	0	0	0	1	10.1	8	8	7	3	0	9	10
Scott Williamson	0	0	6.30	10	0	0	0	0	10.0	11	7	7	4	0	5	10
Scott Sullivan	0	0	2.25	7	0	0	0	0	8.0	4	2	2	0	0	3	9
Paul Wilson	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
* Jose Rijo	0	0	5.40	2	0	0	0	0	5.0	5	3	3	2	0	1	5

*Disabled list

Series spotlight

Reds vs. Pirates

When: Today, 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, 7:10 p.m., Thursday, 12:35 p.m.

Where: Great American Ball Park.

TV: Fox Sports Net, ESPN (subject to blackout), Channel 12 today; Wednesday, Fox Sports Net.

Radio: WLW (700 AM).

Last year's records: Reds 78-84, third place in the National League Central. Pirates 72-89, fourth place in the NL Central.

The arms: Today - RHP Jimmy Haynes (15-10, 4.12 ERA last year) vs. RHP Kris Benson (9-6, 4.70); Wednesday - RHP Ryan Dempster (10-13, 5.38) vs. RHP Kip Wells (12-14, 3.58); Thursday - LHP Jimmy Anderson (8-13, 5.44) vs. RHP Josh Fogg (12-12, 4.35).

The bats: The Pirates added veterans Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton in an effort to beef up the offense. Brian Giles is one of the best hitters in the National League.

The rest: The Reds were 11-7 against the Pirates last year. The teams don't meet for another series until July.

Recent Lineups, Opening Day

2002

Todd Walker, second base

Barry Larkin, shortstop

Ken Griffey Jr., center field

Sean Casey, first base

Aaron Boone, third base

Adam Dunn, left field

Juan Encarnacion, right field

Jason LaRue, catcher

Joey Hamilton, pitcher

2001

Pokey Reese, second base

Barry Larkin, shortstop

Michael Tucker, center field

Dmitri Young, left field

Sean Casey, first base

Alex Ochoa, right field

Aaron Boone, third base

Jason LaRue, catcher

Pete Harnisch, pitcher

2000

Pokey Reese, second base

Barry Larkin, shortstop

Ken Griffey Jr., center field

Dante Bichette, right field

Dmitri Young, first base

Eddie Taubensee, catcher

Aaron Boone, third base

Michael Tucker, left field

Pete Harnisch, pitcher

Opening Day results

Since 1974, the Reds have a 20-8-1 record on Opening Day, including winning streaks of five (1974-78) and nine (1983-91) games. Overall, the Reds are 58-59-1 on Opening Day. Here's a look at the stretch since '74:

Year	Opponent	Score
2002	Chicago	W 5-4
2001	Atlanta	L 10-4
2000	Milwaukee	T 3-3
1999	San Francisco	L 11-8
1998	San Diego	L 10-2
1997	Colorado	W 11-4
1996	Montreal	W 4-1
1995	Chicago	L 1-7
1994	St. Louis	L 6-4
1993	Montreal	W 2-1
1992	San Diego	L 4-3
1991	Houston	W 6-2
1990	San Diego	W 2-1
1989	Los Angeles	W 6-4
1988	St. Louis	W 5-4
1987	Montreal	W 11-5
1986	Philadelphia	W 7-4
1985	Montreal	W 4-1
1984	New York	W 8-1
1983	Atlanta	W 5-4
1982	Chicago	L 3-2
1981	Philadelphia	W 3-2
1980	Atlanta	W 9-0
1979	San Francisco	L 11-5
1978	Houston	W 11-8
1977	San Diego	W 5-3
1976	Houston	W 11-5
1975	Los Angeles	W 2-1
1974	Atlanta	W 7-6

Season results

The Reds are looking for their first winning season since 2000. Here's a look at their results since their World Championship season of 1990:

Year	Record	Finish
2002	78-84	3rd
2001	66-96	5th
2000	85-77	2nd
1999	96-67	2nd
1998	77-85	4th
1997	76-86	3rd
1996	81-81	3rd
1995	85-59	1st
1994	66-48	1st
1993	73-89	5th
1992	90-72	2nd
1991	74-88	5th
1990	91-71	1st