All Things Bubba

Acting on a tip posted by Lisa in the Meet Bubba Crosby comments, I dug up this article from the Houston Chronicle archives:

Crosby punching up his career

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It's from Christmas Day 2005, and is about Bubba working out during the off-season by boxing, and how he thinks it helps his baseball game.

Speaking of working out...Bubba apparently knows Reds teammate and fellow Houstonian Adam Dunn, and sometimes works out with him.

Reds outfielder Bubba Crosby lives about 30 minutes from Dunn and has seen Dunn play since his high school days. The two Texans got together a couple of times during the winter, including a hitting session with Jacoby.

"He's not a guy satisfied with hitting 40 home runs and hitting .230, .240," said Crosby. "When Brook came down to hit with us, (Dunn) seemed very responsive to what he was saying. There wasn't any arrogance or cockiness at all. He was very receptive to Brook's ideas. I think that's the first sign of a guy who isn't satisfied with the year he had last year."

Crosby also points out that even though Dunn is two homers shy of 200 for his career, he is just 27 years old, a fact that Narron noted as well.

A ton of stories about Josh Hamilton came out today. That's because he had a press conference yesterday. Reporters came from all over the country to hear about his off-the-field issues.

So will he make the 25-man roster? Some think the Reds will basically play with a 24-man team if that's what it takes to keep Hamilton. Others think he'll probably be returned to Tampa. Trent was very impressed with the way Hamilton hit the ball, and thinks he'll make the team. But he says he's in the minority; most of the other reporters don't think he'll stick.

Meanwhile, in Yankeeland, A-Rod admits his friendship with Jeter has cooled. (Now there's a late-breaking news bulletin.)

“The reality is there’s been a change in the relationship over 14 years and, hopefully, we can just put it behind us,” Rodriguez said. “You go from sleeping over at somebody’s house five days a week, and now you don’t sleep over. It’s just not that big of a deal.”

Reporters are of course having a field day, making fun of A-Rod using the term "sleep over." Which admittedly does sound like something an eight-year-old would do.

I think Celizic is right. Nobody cares about A-Rod's personal life. They just want him to hit the ball when it counts. A-Rod desperately wants people to like him. They will - his teammates, the fans, everyone - when he wins a championship for them.

And Bernie has turned down the Yanks' offer of a minor league contract. He is apparently not interested in playing for another team, either. He's going to wait and see if a guaranteed job with the Yankees opens up.