By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHILADELPHIA - Citizens Bank Park is the 55th ballpark Joe Nuxhall has worked in as a player or broadcaster.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Monday's game

You got the idea Monday that Nuxhall would have been happy to be working in any ball yard. The fact he was working in the Philadelphia Phillies' new park was so much gravy.

Nuxhall was returning to work after his first weekend in semi-retirement.

So far, the easy life has been hard for Nuxhall.

"It was a really tough three days," he said. "I'm glad to get it out of the way. It was a little different after all these years."

Nuxhall will work about 80 games this year and then retire fully for the 2005 season.

Nuxhall went to Friday's game. He did his pregame show with Gary Burbank and stuck around for the game. He skipped Saturday's game. "My grandkids were in from Maine," he said. He showed up for Sunday's game in the sixth inning because he was traveling with the team to Philly.

Nuxhall is in his 60th year with the Reds. He has never come out and said he was forced to retire. But he gives the impression that he would have kept working indefinitely.

"You've got to weather the storm," he said.

Nuxhall was impressed with Citizens Bank Park. But it didn't knock the top choice off his list.

"I guess when you talk about ballparks, Wrigley Field still stands out. Of the new ones, I like ours and Pittsburgh's (PNC Park)," Nuxhall said.

Nuxhall will make it ballpark No. 56 when the Reds go to San Diego and play in new Petco Park in May.

He has worked in all the current parks except Camden Yards in Baltimore, Safeco Field in Seattle and the SkyDome in Toronto.

PHILLY ZOO: The visitors' bullpen at Citizens Bank Park gives fans up-close and personal contact with the other team.

"They're like three feet away," Reds reliever Danny Graves said. "They were screaming at us the whole game. It's cool as long as they don't get too personal."

The visitors' bullpen was supposed to be the home 'pen but they switched after the two exhibitions games with Cleveland.

"We felt like monkeys in the zoo," Reds reliever Todd Jones said.

BARRY'S BACK: Shortstop Barry Larkin was back in the lineup Monday after missing Sunday's game with tightness in his right forearm.

"It's fine," Larkin said.

Now, Larkin would like to get going at the plate.

Larkin entered Monday's game 2-for-17. He went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

"April swoon, here we go," he said.

April has always been Larkin's toughest month. His career batting average for the month is .271. It's .302 for May, .302 for June, .303 for July, .292 for August, and .301 for September.

Larkin hit .320 with two home runs and five RBI in 19 spring games.

"I've been hitting the ball on the button up here, too," he said. "I've had some line outs. I've hit the ball hard to the second baseman. I'm just having some buzzard luck."

RISP: Ryan Freel's RBI single in the second inning was the first hit by a Red other than D'Angelo Jimenez or Sean Casey with a runner in scoring position.

Casey was 3-for-7, and Jimenez was 2-for-3 before Freel's single. The rest of the club was 0-for-31.

Overall Monday, the Reds were 2-for-12, making them 7-for-53 (.132) for the year.

That's not usually the case with a team that's 5-2.