C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

It’s a tradition unlike any other – the silver jacket.​

Augusta and the Masters may have their tradition of the green jacket, but that doesn’t quite have the shine of the silver jacket, the reward for the Reds relievers’ conditioning drills.

For several years, the Reds relievers have caught footballs as part of their conditioning. Each player has a small, plastic football and they run routes as strength and conditioning coach Sean Marohn throws it. It’s basically a way to break up the monotony of running sprints.

To break that tedium further, this year the Reds relievers have turned it into a contest. The rules are simple – try to catch each of the 10 throws with just one-hand. The player who makes the most one-handed catches (without trapping it against their body) wins. Body catches or drops, however, can be made-up by “pimping” a catch, such as a behind the back or some other type of flashy catch. Whoever ends with the most points, wins the jacket.

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The jacket is awarded in a ceremony, with the loser of the jacket placing it on the winner.

Blake Wood is the current holder of the jacket. He wears it proudly out to the team’s twice weekly conditioning drills.

On Tuesday, he proudly wore it out on the field to model it for photos.

“We're all competitive, that's why we're all here,” Wood said. “Everyone wants to win, at the end of the day, it's more fun than anything just to go out and try to catch the football and hopefully walk in with the clout of wearing the silver jacket. Let everyone else know who the best is.”

The jacket is a Starter brand and appears to be from either the late 80s or early 90s. It’s silver satin, has the Reds logo on the chest, red and white stripes around the arms and “CINCINNATI” stitched on the back. It’s a relic of a different time in fashion.

Storen said it originated in spring training when he and Feldman, in his words, “saw some hero in spring training rocking a really old school Starter jacket.”

The jacket they saw that day was red and sent the veteran duo to eBay to try to find one. Instead, Storen saw the silver version and fell in love.

“If we ever go into space, I don't ever have to buy a suit, that's one positive,” Storen said.

Storen loved it so much, he bought two. One as a gift for Feldman and the other became the coveted silver jacket.

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Feldman wore his jacket on MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” on Monday, drawing rave reviews from the show’s hosts, Chris Rose and Kevin Millar.

The other jacket has had four different owners so far. At this point, only Storen, Wood, Michael Lorenzen and Tony Cingrani have won the competition. On the conditioning days, the owner will parade around the clubhouse and the field like a prized rooster.

“It comes down to people performing under pressure, when the Silver Jacket is on the line, some guys step up and really shine,” Storen said. “It comes through. It literally shines, because of the jacket.”

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