On the Deck

Spent some time at Daiquiri Deck last night with the night game and all. Never know who you'll run into. Ran into a group of guys from Elder. They, of course, were much younger than me. To Doug, fan of the blog, here's your shout-put.

"Aren't you friends with Mr. Driehaus?," one of them said. "He was my science teacher."

"Yes," I said. "And thanks for making me feel a little older."

Ran into Austin Kearns as I was leaving. The Nats had an off day, so he made the trip over to visit some buddies. He still has a place in Sarasota. He looked good -- thinner than last year. He was, of course, wearing a UK hat. Kearns was a scribe favorite for three reasons: 1) good or bad, he was at his locker and willing to talk after game; 2) he liked to chat up writers on various sports topics; and 3) he returned offseason phone calls.

He said he was happy, doing well with the Nationals.

We talked a bit about the Reds. He said something that made me think. "You guys are covering the biggest story of spring training." He was talking about Josh Hamilton. Being around the club on daily basis, you tend to forget on big the Hamilton story looks from afar.

I did an interview with ESPN Radio early Tuesday evening, and one of the hosts said the same.

But, for the record, I planned on writing about Hamilton for tomorrow's paper before talking to Kearns or ESPN guys.