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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > April > 29 > Entry
Brandon Phillips: the enigma
For those who are Brandon Phillips fans - and there should be legions because he is a multi-talented player who is a star headed for super stardom - this is not an anti-Phillips post.
I, too, am a Phillips admirer. The guy can play - hit, field, throw, run. What else is there?
His smile is dazzling and he loves the fans. He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink and that, too, is admirable.
If only he would lighten up with the media - and I don’t just mean me. He is currently on an anti-media sulk. After hitting two home runs in San Francisco Sunday, he refused to go on the Foxsports/Ohio post-game show with Jeff Picaro. He refused to talk to the San Francisco writers after the game and he refused to talk to me, telling me, “Stay out of my space.”
That’s fine. I’ll stay out of his space. I don’t need his quotes to write about him. And I won’t hold it against him. Some will.
I did that once and still can’t forgive myself. In 1980, I had an NL Cy Young Award ballot. Steve Carlton was 24-9 with the Phillies. He would not talk to the media at all, ever. But he received every Cy Young vote but one.
Mine.
And I did it only because he yelled at me once when I tried to interview him. He did the same with other writers, but they still voted for him. I should have. I didn’t. I voted for LA’s Jerry Reuss, who was 18-6 with a 2.51 ERA. I used the lame excuse, “Well, I saw him beat the Reds four times that year.”
I wouldn’t do that now, but some might. Some out-of-town writers might hold it against Phillips if he is rude with them or refuses interviews. And he is good enough that there might come a time when he gets MVP votes.
The writers in Cleveland warned me. “Phillips is great as long as things are going good, but he’ll turn on you, just wait,” one said. The guy was right.
What probably started this was a column last week by my talented cohort, Dayton Daily News columnist Tom Archdeacon. I wasn’t there when this happened, but I’m told when Archdeacon asked about his slump, Phillips said, “I’m not in any slump.” And he was rude to Arch.
OK, so 5 for 36 isn’t a slump? If it isn’t, what is it? I saw Phillips react the same way when another writer referred to Brandon’s troubles as, “A slump.”
When I tried to talk to him Sunday, after he yelled to get out of his space, he said nobody talks to him when he is going bad (So it’s not a slum, just “going bad”), they just write crap about him. Then they want to talk when he is going good.
He should be happy about that. If nobody talks to him when he is going bad he doesn’t have to answer questions about slumps. Most players prefer to talk just when they are going good.
We won’t get into his habit of standing at home plate and watching home runs, as he did after his second home run Sunday in San Francisco. It infuriated the Giants - which I found a bit amusing, because their former teammate, Barry Bonds, was a master of the Home Run Stare.
But it is going to get Phillips and his teammates thrown at.
As I said, I do NOT hold this against Phillips. I’ll respect his space and leave him alone and I won’t withhold any votes for awards. But the guy can be so engaging when he wants to be engaging. And he can be one big turnoff.
Permalink | Comments (18) | Post your comment | Categories: Brandon Phillips
Comments
By MonsterRick
April 30, 2008 6:53 AM | Link to this
Hey DonL, Dusty sent Freel and admitted it after the game so get your facts straight before your bash Freel….I agree he sometimes does some dumb things but this time wasn’t his fault.By Mike
April 29, 2008 10:21 PM | Link to this
Brandon is fan friendly and he deserves credit for that. He needs to understand the media does help him build a good image and increase his earnings. He will become more friendly to the media 4 years from now in the last year of his current multi-year deal. His agent will help him with that. Of course he may want to renegotiate before then and he will become media friendly sooner. In the end it is a money thing.By null
April 29, 2008 10:19 PM | Link to this
478 career doubles has nothing at all to do with last night, or tonight, or the future. He doesn’t hit or bunt enough to the left side when it would benefit his team!You are an idiot.By Kyle
April 29, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this
Reds Authority, this blog is the thoughts and meanderings of a mind that has forgotten more Reds baseball than you the AUTHORITY will ever know. Think of it as brainstorming. When you brainstorm, you don’t stop and critique each idea, that mutes the creative process. Hal, please don’t bother responding to these know-nothings. We’ll take care of it for you. You have more important things to do, and no, editing your blogs is not one of them.By null
April 29, 2008 7:19 PM | Link to this
What a jerk the last guy is. THIS IS A BLOG. IT IS NOT PUBLISHED IN THE PAPER. If there were errors on Hal’s stories, that would be one thing. Get a life and get off your high horse. (I hoepe tht I speelled everything write!!!)By Reds Authority
April 29, 2008 6:00 PM | Link to this
Hal, Some here have made valid points on the deteriorating quality of your posts and articles. It is not so much the substance of your material. Rather, it is the countless and increasing number of errors-of-fact and especially grammatical and spelling mistakes. I realize you lost a great deal of your visual acuity in the last few years and have difficulty even seeing the computer screen in front of your face, but PLEASE have someone at the Dayton Daily News PROOFREAD your work!By jimmytime
April 29, 2008 5:31 PM | Link to this
Well B.P. isnt the only one to snub Picaro. Jr. did the other night at G.A. ballpark. Maybe instead of 2nd guessing these guys after a 2-1 pitch in the bottom of the 5th. You should let them enjoy the moment. Maybe B.P. needed to vent. He tries so hard, and maybe puts to much preasure on himself to carry this team. We have enough Cinci players wanting to leave town. Lets do it to another.By Carolyn L.
April 29, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this
Yea, that’s pretty funny. I think what he needs to do is tell the person signaling him to go take a dump for himself because he isn’t going to try to steal. Now he knows how we feel about those dumb instructions he is getting from the dugout.By Carolyn L.
April 29, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
Yea, that’s pretty funny. I think what he needs to do is tell the person signaling him to go take a dump for himseld because he isn’t going to try to steal. Now he know knows how we feel about those dumb instructions he getting from the dugout.By Carolyn L.
April 29, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
Yea, that’s pretty funny. I think what he needs to do is tell the person signaling him so go take a dump for himseld because he isn’t going to try to steal. Now he know knows how we feel about those dumb instructions he getting from the dugout.By Kyle
April 29, 2008 4:58 PM | Link to this
478 over his entire career to be exact, bobart. Thank you for making my point about the bullies that comment on blogs.By Steve
April 29, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this
Who cares? Seriously, I could care less whether BP talks to members of the media, or “offends” them by being curt. And what’s with the paragraph toward the end that starts “We won’t get into his habit…” and then proceeds to do exactly that. I really do love this column and these blog reports when they are about baseball. There is no one better than Hal McCoy when it comes to Reds insight and behind the scenes baseball news. But the media should remain neutral reporters of the game, not part of the story.By Mr. Redlegs
April 29, 2008 4:41 PM | Link to this
On Phillips, the real issue is: Why does he have rabbit ears over such small stuff? The player who worries so much about what’s written and what’s said is a player thinking of himself, and that’s where the tag of “selfish” got bandied about with Phillips last year. Maturity was not a part of his new contract, but it should be.By BoBart
April 29, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this
The point was, dummy—the double wasn’t, and isn’t, a certainty— like the bunt is! How many of those has he hit?By Kyle
April 29, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this
And such is the problem with people who comment on blogs. You know, when the team is stinking it up, by all means, let them have it. Point out the problems, and even offer your nearly worthless (in the grand scheme of things) solutions. But can you pessimists at least acknowledge that YOUR team is on a roll. Congratulate them. Lift them up. Are your lives so miserable that you have to do the same to others. Did you fail to notice that after faking the bunt, Griffey doubled down the line? Didn’t see anything about that in your comments. You people need to decide if you want to be Reds fans or Cubs fans, because right now, you sound more like Cubs fans.By Deaner
April 29, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the insight Hal. Interesting considering what the guy in Cleveland told you.By BoBart
April 29, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this
And Griffey—there is another who creates wonderment. Recently, he has faked bunting twice{but never did so}; at least once, when he could have easily moved a runner into scoring position at second base.Considering the numerous at bats where he amazingly keeps attempting to pull anything and everything—and generally hits it weakly on the ground—wouldn’t a certain base hit bunt, be ALWAYS preferable to an OUT, or even the possibility of an OUT? CERTAIN hit vs POSSIBLE OUT? He isn’t hitting homeruns; and generally isn’t inclined, or able, physically to stretch anything he does hit into extra base hits—so isn’t a certain bunt, down the third base line,{due to the shift he gets, because EVERYONE knows he wants to pull the baseball}the best thing he could do for the TEAM? Remember, he ISN’T hitting homeruns, even though that is what he is paid to do! See what you started BRANDON?By DonL
April 29, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
Well, lets talk about FREEL then, he’S aways fun to talk about. He also has less baseball sense than any player I ever knew. Example, your team is down 5 runs and you attemp to steal 2nd base. Doesn’t matter that its been raining for 2 hours and the infield is slow. Someone should remind Freel that he is also slower than he was before he ran into the right centerfield wall and got knocked on the head. Now I read where Freel is frustrated, really frustrated. Well, good now he knows how I feel about him.