Tomko returns to the Reds older, wiser and more flexible

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Brett Tomko has played many times for many teams against the Cincinnati Reds. But he always felt that when he played in Cincinnati that "he was coming home. It's where I have my roots."

That's because the Reds drafted Tomko back in 1995.  He was hurried to the majors to play for a bad team in 1997, and ended his time in a Reds uniform in the near-playoff season of 1999.

Then he was shipped to Seattle with a group of players in exchange for Ken Griffey Junior. This week he's come back.

Tomko has pitched for the Mariners, the Padres, the Cardinals, the Giants, the Dodgers, the Royals, the A's, the Yankees and the Rangers.

He's been with ten organizations and now "he's come full circle" to where he'd like to end his career. He was surprised to find a lot of the same organizational people, same clubhouse people and same public relations people who were here in 1999.

Tomko is 38 years old and has a pair of two-year-old twin boys back in California that he misses badly. So he knows he won't be in the game much longer. This might be his last shot.

He's carved together a long-lasting career, but he says he would like to go out with a championship. And he thinks he might have that opportunity with the Reds. He told management that he'll do whatever they want him to do.

" I'll start, swing, short, long, and if you send me to AAA, I'll be great insurance for you guys," Tomko said.

He came here as the kid, now he's the elder statesman.

"I used to make fun of a lot of the old guys," Tomko said. "I've become the guy I used to make fun of."

He has the advice and the stories about "back in the day." But he's okay with that role.  And he's comfortable with the uniform he's wearing again as he heads toward "the home stretch."