Blanks

Adam Dunn has not been hitting anything. He did help Doug Davis set a Milwaukee Brewers' team record for walks in a game. Dunn received four walks in a game where Davis gave out nine free passes.

Personally, I think Dunn has been thinking about his fielding too much. The Reds moved up the time on a few of their home games so instead of 1-2 innings with the sun in his eyes, Dunn now has 5-6.

He has three hits today as the game nears conclusion. Good to see the ball being hit. Dunn's walks are a tremendous asset, though, and a big factor why the Reds are doing so well right now. But it makes for an uneventful home run blog.

Drought

On Thursday Brandon Phillips hit a pair of home runs and Edwin Encarnacion added another as the Reds beat the Brewers 12-8. The Reds took Friday's game 3-1. Our hero was a combined 1 for 7 with two walks and four strikeouts.

Today the Reds face former Blue Jays pitcher Dave Bush. Hopefully Dunn will mishear the announcement as "Glendon Rusch".

Homers Brewing

Adam Dunn took his second straight 0 fer collar yesterday, being retired in three at bats but walking twice. The Reds travel to Milwaukee to begin a series with the Brewers today. Next to Wrigley Field, Dunn has hit the most road home runs (7) at Miller Park. He faces Tomo Ohka in the first game of the series. Dunn hit career #88 off of Ohka when Ohka was a member of the Montreal Expos. As a Brewer, Ohka served up career home runs #144 and #154. All three home runs came with no men on base.

Getting completely silly, Ohka is one of three pitchers whose last letter of his first name is the first letter of his last name that has surrendered home runs to Dunn (Brett Tomko and Al Leiter).

Home Run Kings

I was looking at Chris Shelton earlier, he of the humongous homer total of the Tigers and was surprised at some similarities in age.

Adam Dunn - born November 9, 1979
Chris Shelton - born June 26, 1980
Albert Pujols - born January 16, 1980

All three of these sluggers were born within seven months of each other. ESPN.com ran an article by a guy at Baseball Prospectus over the last two days listing the top fifty players based on projected future value. Shelton is unlisted. Dunn is #19 and Pujols is #1. Personally, I think they flipped Dunn and Pujols around. The paragraph on Dunn is critical of his appearance on the basepaths and in the field, undeservingly so. Dunn is an exceptional athlete and only looks clumsier than his fellow players because he dwarves them in size. So there.

Dunn drew a pair of walks last night as the Marlins defeated the Reds. The teams meet again in about fifteen minutes and at game time it is warm with a light breeze coming in from left. The Marlins ace Dontrelle Willis, #42 on the ESPN list, gets the start. Dunn has never homered off of Willis.

Aaron Harang starts for the Reds. Only Paul Wilson (15) has been on the mound more often at the time Dunn has homered than Harang (13).

That's all of them

Sure enough, Dunn homered off of Brian Moehler in the first inning. The game is still going on as of this writing but Dunn has been removed in a double switch. The Marlins were the only National League team that Dunn had not homered off of at home (treating the Nationals as the Expos). Dunn has now homered on three consecutive days. His personal best is four straight days, August 4-7, 2004.

The Reds take on the mighty Marlins again tomorrow. Jason Vargas is on the mound for the Fish. Not surprisingly, being as most of the Marlins have only played eleven games in the majors, Dunn has not had the opportunity to smack a dinger off of Vargas. The bad news for Vargas is that Dunn's favorite targets are named Jason (or Kevin or Glendon). He has hit six home runs apiece against guys with those first names. Lucky number seven should come tomorrow.

Back to back

As predicted earlier, Dunn did homer off of Mark Mulder. Austin Kearns homered immediately after him. Albert Pujols of the Cardinals had three home runs and so the Reds ended up losing.

Dunn's homer was the thirteenth time he was involved in back to back home runs, the fourth time with Austin Kearns. This includes the only time in Dunn's career where back to back to back home runs occurred. At the last regular season game at old Busch, Felipe Lopez homered followed by Dunn and Kearns.

Tomorrow the Reds return home to take on the Florida Marlins. Dunn has never homered at Great American Ballpark against the Marlins. Brian Moehler takes the mound for Florida. Moehler is struggling so far this year so Dunn has a good chance to put an end to this streak.

Aruba, Venezuela, ooh I want to take ya (deep)

It doesn't matter where you're pitching or where you're from. Adam Dunn will eventually homer off you. Someone should nickname him "Death and taxes" for the inevitable certainty of his slamming home runs. Ken Keltner, Bill Madlock, Roy Smalley and Don Demeter are the latest to have their home run totals surpassed.

Dunn's blow off Aruba's (ninth country) Sidney Ponson at the new incarnation of Busch Stadium (stadium #25) came in the first inning with two outs.

Today's victim will be Mark Mulder, whom Dunn knocked out a pair of home runs off last season in Cincinnati in back-to-back innings.

Dunn has two career home runs on Easter Sunday. On April 20, 2003, Dunn in a game against the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings Montreal Expos at Hiram Bithorn stadium in Puerto Rico, homered against Luis Ayala. Versus the Pirates on April 11, 2004, Dunn put one in the Cincinnati bleachers off of Oliver Perez.

YucKKK

A hat trick of strikeouts contributed to a big 0 for night against the Cardinals last night for Dunn. Aaron Harang bested Chris Carpenter, singling in the only run as he and the surprising Cincinnati bullpen (the new Nasty Boys?) pitched a shutout.

This afternoon the Reds play the Cards again, as offseason acquisition Sidney Ponson take the hill. Dunn has never faced Ponson. The Aruban born Ponson could be the first player from Aruba to surrender a home run to Dunn. Dunn's home runs by pitcher's country of birth: (and if anyone has an idea how I can get rid of the blank gap from here to the table, please let me know)

Country	Number
United States	134
Dominican Republic	11
Venzuela	10
Mexico	4
England	1
Nicaragua	1
Puerto Rico	1
South Korea	1

#163

Dunn struck his 20th career first inning home run today against Carlos Zambrano. Dunn likes to smite homers early in the game. Of his 163 home runs, 66 (40.5%) have come in the first third of the game.

Tomorrow the Cubs travel to St. Louis for a night game against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals. Dunn has never homered off of Carpenter but he has nailed (Kerry) Wood. More exciting is Dunn's opportunity to hit a home run in his 25th ballpark. It would be apropos as Dunn homered in the last game played at the previous edition of Busch Stadium (against Matt Morris).

Slow start

I half-heartedly expected Dunn to hit a home run every day and so was disappointed when he faced Greg Maddux et al yesterday and failed to hit one out, resulting in no post yesterday evening.

But, despite my Dunnrealistic (thanks, Eric) expectation that he would hit homer after homer, I will continue to delude myself and think that there is an automatic readership that wants, nay NEEDS, to know more about Dunn and his home run accomplishments. So for you, dear readers, I will plod on.

Dunn faces Carlos Zambrano today and has three career home runs off him, all in April, including one this season, a solo shot on April 3rd. Last year's, on April 26th, was the only one Dunn has hit off of Zambrano at Wrigley. With an hour until game time there is currently a strong wind blowing out to right at Wrigley which should help to Dunn.

A Perfect Storm

Today Adam Dunn played in Wrigley Field, where he had hit the most home runs of any ballpark not in Cincinnati (13). Glendon Rusch was on the mound to start the game for the Cubs. Only Kerry Wood has surrendered more home runs (5) to Dunn over the years. By the conclusion of the game, Dunn had made Rusch his favorite pitcher to hit home runs off of with an even half dozen.

Dunn led off the second inning with a home run. In the fourth, after Rich Aurilia struck out, Dunn touched Rusch again for his fourth home run of the season.

With this pair of home runs, Dunn passed Gus Bell to become tenth all-time among Cincinnati Reds players in home runs. Dunn is ten home runs away from Wally Post in the ninth position.

Tomorrow Dunn faces Greg Maddux. Dunn has three of his 162 career home runs against Maddux. Career #73 came off Maddux on April 7th, 2004, a solo shot at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Eleven days later he hit #78 of Maddux, a three-run shot in the first at Wrigley. #116 was also in 2004, a two-run knock in the fifth at Wrigley, September 28.