Ads by Google No one was happier that Homer Bailey pitched well in his Major League debut than Darrell Smith. The Cincinnati resident had a considerable financial investment in Bailey even before he took the mound for the first time Friday night at Great American Ball Park. Smith, 25, was peddling copies of Bailey's 2004 rookie baseball card outside the park and had already sold 19 - at $10 a pop - a half an hour before the game Friday.
He also had eight autographed Bailey cards for sale on eBay, the online auction service, one of which he paid $220 for. He expected to move some of those if Bailey did well. The 21-year-old right-hander did his part in his debut, holding the Cleveland Indians - one of the highest scoring teams in baseball - to just two runs in five innings.
He also put fans in the seats in the doldrums of a disappointing season. Nearly 39,000, just 3,500 below capacity, turned out, although admittedly that was helped by Bronson Arroyo cap night, in which the Reds gave away hats with fake blonde hair sticking out the back. Hebron resident Dave Jones, 36, a season ticket holder, noticed he had more company than usual.
"There's more people here than I've seen in a while," Dave said. "I don't know if they're Indians fans, or here to see Homer." Older Reds fans started to applaud for Bailey, some of them standing, even before the announcer finished his introduction.
He got a big cheer when his second pitch went over for a strike, and an even bigger one when he struck out Grady Sizemore, the first batter he faced. The fans clapped in rhythm when Bailey got two quick strikes on another batter, and they breathed sighs of relief when Ken Griffey Jr. caught a shallow fly to right to get Bailey out of some first-inning trouble.
By the second inning, Bailey had already thrown 43 pitches, which Dave Jones said wasn't a good sign. When Bailey threw only 13 pitches in the next inning, it encouraged Jones. "That helps him stay in the game a little longer," he said.
"I've got a feeling when he gets to 100, he's done." When Bailey came to bat in the bottom of the third, he took some good cuts and let a high pitch go by for a ball. "Pretty good eye for a pitcher, too," said Connor Schweinfurth, 13, of North Bend, Ohio, as he watched the at-bat.
Bailey ran into trouble again in the bottom of the fifth, his last inning. The crowd rose to its feet when Bailey got two strikes on the last batter he faced. The fans applauded and cheered, and when he struck the batter out, they went crazy.
It was the biggest cheer that Rick Hess had heard all year, the Harrison, Ohio, resident said. Hess, 42, and his daughter made a special trip to the ballpark to see Bailey's debut. He could tell Bailey's adrenaline was flowing.
"Everything was fast, rush, rush," he said of Bailey's pitching. "He just needs to calm down. "I'll bet in his next start, he settles down and he'll be perfect," Hess said.
"He's going to be a phenomenon, in my opinion." Connor's father, Mark Schweinfurth, 50, liked Bailey's composure, as shown by the way he pitched himself out of a few jams. "You've got to like a 21-year-old who can bring a 95-mile-an-hour fastball to the ballpark every night," he said.
His showing gave Dayton, Ohio, resident Robert Reis, 37, hope for the Reds' future. He watched Bailey pitch his first A game in Dayton, and he came especially to see him pitch Friday. "It's a shame he couldn't go further in the game," he said.
Bailey left with a 3-2 lead and eventually got his first big league win.
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