Jay Bruce Todd Frazier Come Home

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Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier are back in the ballpark where their Major League careers started.

Bruce and Frazier are in the wrong dugout this time, the third base side dugout of the New York Mets.  Three hours before game time the pair sat in that third base dugout and talked about returning to their roots.

Bruce was the Reds' first pick in the 2005 draft, one year after Homer Bailey, who starts for the Reds in the homecoming game.

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The left-handed power hitting right fielder, played his first game as a Red on May 27, 2008.  He hit .249 with 233 home runs for the Reds until he was traded to the Mets for Max Wotell and Dilson Herrera on August 1, 2016.

"This is only my second time back," said Bruce, who returned late in the 2016 season after the trade.  He was traded from the Mets to Cleveland before New York visited Cincinnati last season. "This is different for me.  The last time I came here it was such a whirlwind.  I had a young baby.  This time it is a little more relaxed.  It is always great.  This will always feel like home for me, kinda where I grew up.  There are so many great memories.  It is great to see the city and how much it's growing.  So much is happening. It is very, very cool to see."

Frazier was the Reds second pick, the supplemental pick in the first round in 2007.  He was the 34th pick.  Devin Mesoraco was the 15th pick the same year.  Frazier played in his first game on May 23, 2011.

Frazier hit .257 in five seasons with the Reds with 108 home runs.  The Reds traded him in a three-way deal with the Dodgers and White Sox in December 2015.  Frazier went to the White Sox.  The Reds got Jose Peraza, Scott Schebler and Brandon Dixon from the Dodgers.  The Dodgers got three players from the White Sox.

"It feels great to be back here.  There are a lot of great memories here.  Me and Jay talked about this a lot for the last couple of months," Frazier said.  "We had a lot of fun here.  I haven't been here in three years that brings us to another great adventure.  I am glad to come back to play in front of these fans again.  I think about when we clinched in 2012.  I had my first walk off homer at this stadium.  Just meeting everybody here, giving hugs to reporter and stuff.  That shows how big of a family there is here."

Bruce had the pennant clinching home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on September 28, 2010 off Tim Byrdak of the Houston Astros.

"That still probably ranks at the top," Bruce said.  "Last year in Cleveland, I got to be a part of a very special time with the 22 straight wins. I got the walk off hit for win number 22 but it was so different for me too.  When I did this in 2010 I was still such a young kid.  I didn't know any better. I kind had a little bit more of a surprise. I hadn't been through much as a player in my career.  To feel like there will be a part of history here with the Reds, it is something I'll never forget."

The two Reds fan favorites who have moved on, not necessarily by choice, but as part of the business end of the Major Leagues.

"Look at Joey Votto right now.  He's been with the Reds for how many years, since 2007?  That's 11 years, now.  There are still a couple guys out there that have been with one team," Frazier said.  "I tell everybody out there, this is one of the worst businesses in the world.  You never know what's going to be tomorrow.  You just got to keep playing.  You keep focusing on the task at hand. That's what me a Jay's been doing our whole career."

Bruce has a couple more years in the game than Frazier but feels the same balance between a game and business.

"In this game, you don't really get to become close or get to know a ton of people very well," Bruce said.  "Since 2010 or 11 when Todd first came up, in spring training, even before he got to the Major Leagues, we spent so many meaningful years together.  I know him the best on this team.  That's a comfort not a lot of guys get."

"I am very, very comfortable here in Cincinnati, even though it is a little weird in this clubhouse," Bruce said.

Frazier, who is from Toms River, New Jersey, is close to home with the Mets.

"It's great," Frazier said.  "It's great for my family, especially.  It's only an hour commute for them. I get my son and daughter to swim lessons on time and then get ready for the game. I'm very fortunate to have that.  That went into a lot of things in the off season, figuring out where I really wanted to go. It was few and far between at the end of the day, the Mets really wanted me. It couldn't be a bette fit for me."