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 > May > 11 > Entry
Lost in New York
For a report on Seattle’s interest in Ken Griffey Jr., so much interest that one of the Mariners’ executives was in New York watching Griffey, check out the previous blog entitled: “Seattle checking out Griffey.”
For a report on the Cincinnati Reds weekend, “Lost in New York,” read on and weep.
They lost two of three to the Mets and the third game was most disconcerting. Johnny Cueto, 22, pitched to his age - again. And it is a concern. He is 2-4 with a 5.91 ERA and one wonders how much of spring training’s greatness was a mirage.
Maybe Cueto isn’t quite ready for Prime Time. He wasn’t ready for the bright lights on Broadway (or at least the dull old dirty lights of Shea Stadium - the dump that is about to become an official trash pile under a wrecker’s ball, although it already is a junkyard).
The Mets jumped on Cueto in the first inning with a barrage of line drives that screamed to the outfield with the same decibels as the planes that sometimes swoosh over Shea en route to LaGuardia.
Two doubles and a triple produced three runs and the Reds played the rest of the way as if they had one foot in the bus for the trip home. Of course, Oliver Perez was keeping the bus door shut.
He beat them for the ninth time in his career, striking out eight in only six innings. Perez is just like Houston’s Roy Oswalt. Both could sit cardboard cutouts of themselves on the mound and the cardboard would pitch a three-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts.
Manager Dusty Baker blamed Cueto’s ugliness on New York stage fright, but he was just as ugly in St. Louis, where there is no stage on which to get frightened. Baker and Cueto’s guru, Mario Soto, both agreed that Cueto’s problem Sunday was throwing pitches over the heart of the plate, or as broadcaster Jeff Brantley calls it, “Right down Broadway.”
Jeff Keppinger, who had five straight hits Sunday, added two more in his first at-bats Sunday, plus a walk, to give him eight straight appearances on base.
Then Wright State’s Joe Smith, one of the nicest kids to walk the streets of Flushing, struck out Keppinger with two on and two outs in the eighth.
Did I mention that this team carries home an odor similar to that which one smells upon walking inside Shea? And it has nothing to do with the stadium. Right now, this is a team of disparate parts. Nothing fits. Walt Jocketty has a ton of work to do.
While the Reds got to go home Sunday night, I get to spend the night here, so my recently found luggage can at least spend one night with me.
That, of course, depends on me finding the hotel. With my eye meds in my bag, I was seeing worse than normal (which is like a bat during the day) when I got off the subway Saturday night at midnight and wandered out an unfamiliar exit. Somehow I turned the wrong way and when I saw the Port Authority Bus terminal, a building I’d never seen in 36 years of coming to NY, I knew I was lost. And not in prime real estate, either.
I stubbornly refused to hail a cab, fearing I might be only a half-block away and would be mightily embarrassed. So I walked. And walked and walked and walked. For an hour. Finally I discovered 42nd and 9th and knew how to get to 45th and 7th from there.
If my plane makes it all the way to Dayton tomorrow and doesn’t turn back, as did my flight from Dayton to New York, I’ll be ecstatic to be back in Ohio. The worst part? We have to come back here in June to play the Yankees. I can hardly wait. I love self-flagellation.
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Comments
By Patbut
May 12, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this
Let’s see - Cueto can’t handle it anymore after his dazzling first couple of games - he started the season in Cincy which means he was better than Bailey - now everyone wants Bailey up to help - how is Bailey going to help this team when they can’t score and they are getting ready to get rid of Griffey and Dunn? Will it really help Bailey’s confidence to come up and get pounded? If I remember right, he couldn’t help the Reds win last year.By craig
May 12, 2008 3:41 PM | Link to this
after looking at some of the stats from louisville bats. can those guys do any worse then the product we see on the field at the manager league level. i realize that not all are major league talents, that being said, several are right handed and this team needs to correct the left hand bias they find themselves in. that being said bring up jay and play him every day, regardless of r/l pitchersBy Jack
May 12, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
Hal: Two things. Any changes forthcoming. They are bad, really bad. I cant imagine too many people will be going to the stadium to watch this mess. Second, would Seattle want to trade for Griffey prior to 600 or would the Reds rather wait until after the milestone?By Larry
May 11, 2008 9:07 PM | Link to this
I think you’ll like Yankee Stadium a little better. Just remember if you’re staying on the East Side, take the four and if you’re staying on the West Side, take the D.By Don L
May 11, 2008 8:37 PM | Link to this
Gratefully, I fell asleep watching todays game. Although I have it on Tivo I’m not even going to go back and watch it. I woke up just in time to see the batting out of order trick. Someone already beat me to the comment that Patterson is out-of-it even though he didn’t even get to swing at the ball. I used to umpire slow pitch softball and the home team was responsible for keeping score. Every now and then the batting out of order thing would happen and I swear it seemed to happen when the losing team was trying to avoid batting one of their weaker hitters.By rusty
May 11, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this
we as reds fans just need to come together at tom’s homegame with a chant WE WANT BRUCE WE WANT BRUCE WE WANT BRUCE you know jocketty will be there to hear it ill be at the game im going to try and get it going in the bottom of the first spread the wordBy Sigh Yung
May 11, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
The more I watch the failings of this team, the more I wonder if any of them are ready for prime time. They all have broken my heart at one time or another, in this still young season.