I know you all just can't get enough Starlin Castro.
With that, here are a few Castro links.
Paul Sullivan says Castro didn't believe his callup at first:
Castro's memorable day began at 7 a.m. when Tennessee manager Bill Dancy woke him up to give him the good news about his call-up.
"Are you serious?" Castro asked Dancy.
Gordon Wittenmyer quotes Jim Hendry on what moves like this can do for a team:
"I hope mentally it helps [the team]," general manager Jim Hendry said before the game. "Sometimes you make changes, and that happens."
Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago tells us where he got that hairstyle:
The baby-faced Castro has grown his hair out into a mini-Afro modeled after Tego Calderon, a hip-hop artist from Puerto Rico. He promised to cut it next week.
He listened as traveling secretary Jimmy Bank explained where to turn in taxi receipts and how meal money is distributed, details he will learn quick. He hopes his family will be able to visit Chicago soon from the Dominican Republic.
Bruce Miles on how he impressed his teammates:
[Carlos] Silva, too, was wowed by Castro.
"Amazing," he said. "Unbelievable. I was hitting behind him, and I was looking at everything he was doing. I was like, 'Wow.' Amazing. Good for him. I'm so happy for him. I think he's going to bring such good energy for the team."
Did you order your Castro jersey yet? Carrie Muskat says Starlin may need to borrow yours:
On Saturday, he may have to borrow a uniform. The lineup card, Castro's hat and his jersey were authenticated after the game and are expected to go to the Hall of Fame. But clubhouse manager Tim Hellman didn't bring that many extras on the road trip, so Castro might have to borrow someone's jersey.
Now, the hardest part: go out there tonight and try to follow his first-game performance with something even close to that good.
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Kosuke Fukudome and Alfonso Soriano both homered off Aaron Harang on April 10 at GABP; Harang threw seven innings and gave up three runs, which is his best start of the year, but the Cubs won when Jeff Baker homered off Arthur Rhodes in the 8th inning, the only game they won in that April series. Aramis Ramirez has four career HR off Harang -- it's way past time for A-Ram to get going. Maybe tonight will be the time.
Tom Gorzelanny threw a really nice game vs. the Reds on April 11, giving up only one unearned run. He got outpitched by Mike Leake, who made his ML debut that day, and the Cubs lost that game when John Grabow gave up a pair of runs. Gorz has thrown well in every start he's made -- even the one he had to leave early when a line drive hit his shoulder. Current Reds are hitting .176 (12-for-68) against him.
Today's game is again on CSN Chicago and on FSN Ohio. Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Reds site Red Reporter.
Tonight's first pitch thread will be up at 6 pm CDT (this time for sure -- apologies for yesterday, I got a little busy with all the Castro hoopla!), and the overflows will post at 7, 8 and 8:45 pm CDT.
Discuss amongst yourselves.