My Favorite Cinco de Mayo...Ever!

Honestly, aside from the little end-of-year party in my Junior High Spanish class, I never was one to get too excited about the Mexican victory over French forces back in 1862. The good folks of Arizona tend to be a bit more excited about it than the typical Ohioan, but it was not until this year that I was genuinely thrilled to see this day come.

Why? The Reds are coming to town, of course!! In what has become my favorite weekend of the year (though last year it was in July...), the Reds are in town to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks and hopefully beat them into submission. Last year I witnessed Griffey pass 1500 career RBI's (3 run homer to left) during a rare quality start from Ramon Ortiz, as well as an even better, though ultimately losing performance from Eric Milton two days later (Michael Gosling--yes, that Michael Gosling--shut out the Reds over 5 2/3 innings).

This weekend, my plan is to attend the Friday and Sunday games. That means that tonight I get to see Elizardo Ramirez take on the brilliant Brandon Webb, as well as Dave Williams take on El Duque. It also means that, unfortunately, I don't get to see Arroyo take on Vargas Saturday. Ah well. The D-backs are not a bad team by any means, but the Reds should be able to win the series. Elizardo has his work cut out for him tonight facing Webb, but the kid has impressed me thus far. Hopefully he can have a solid first inning for once and can continue to pitch well throughout the game. As long as he can keep us in the game and we can get to the D-backs bullpen, we should be ok.

If any of you are out at the ballgame tonight, feel free to look for me. I'll be the guy with the Reds hat and the scorecard. I'm buying tickets at the gate, so I have no idea where I'll be sitting yet.