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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > August
August 2008
Corey Patterson: right or wrong?
It took manager Dusty Baker a while to think about it, but on Sunday - the day after the event - he was ready to explain and defend, uh, Corey Patterson.
On Saturday night, with the Reds leading, 7-6, in the eighth inning, Patterson was on third and Ryan Hanigan was on first with one out.
Pinch-hitter Javier Valentin unloaded a bullet down the first base line. Giants first baseman Pablo Sandoval stopped the ball right at the bag. He immediately stepped on first for the put out on Valentin.
That, though, removed the force at second on Hanigan. Patterson started home from third, but hesitated. Had he sprinted from the crack of the bat he crossed home plate before Hanigan was tagged out at second, the run would have counted.
Instead, Sandoval threw to second and Hanigan was tagged out, the third out, before Patterson crossed home. No run.
After the game, Baker said he wasn’t watching Patterson but when it was explained that he had hesitated, or stopped, Baker criticized him.
On Sunday, he changed his mind and explained, without asking, “I thought about that afterwards. That wasn’t a bad play on Corey’s part. If that was an accomplished first baseman (Sandovar is a catcher), he would have tagged first and thrown home. Not thrown to second. That’s why Corey stopped. A more accomplished first baseman wouldn’t have gone for a double play the way he did, by throwing to second with a runner on third.
“As hard as Javier hit that ball? If her had stepped on first and threw home, Corey would have been out by a mile,” said Baker.
Uh, don’t know about that.
OK, here’s another one. When Sandoval stepped on first, removing the force at second, why didn’t Ryan Hanigan stop en route to second and get in a rundown, enabling Patterson to possibly score from third? Instead, Hanigan continued hard into second, without hesitating, and was tagged out.
What do you folks think? Is Dusty right? Is he protecting Patterson (I KNOW your answer to this one)?
Instead of getting picked off all the time and making baserunning gaffes, maybe Patterson, with his speed, should adapt the old Chris Sabo T-ball baserunning theory: run until you are out. Just keep running until somebody tags you out or you score.
SOME NEWS:
Wilkin Castillo is not a household name, but manager Dusty Baker thinks of him as several kitchen utensils rolled into one.
Castillo is a catcher by name, but also plays first baseball, second base, shortstop, third base, left field and right field — and wouldn’t it be easier to say he plays everything but pitcher and center field?
“He’s Eli Marrero, that’s who he is,” said Baker. Marrero played 10 years in the majors, mostly with the St. Louis Cardinals, and was a catcher/first baseman/outfielder.
Castillo, 24, was called up Sunday from Class AAA Louisville, where he has been since the Reds acquired him in the August 14 trade of Adam Dunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He combined to hit .248 at Class AAA Tucson and Louisville, but the big thing is that he caught 54 games, played 48 games at third, five games at second, six games at shorstop and eight games in left field.
“I had to have another player because I played a man short yesterday (Saturday) and I didn’t want to be another man short today (Sunday), especially for the outfield,” said Baker. “I was short Saturday.” To make room, pitcher Ramon Rameriz, who was outstanding in his major-league debut Saturday, was optioned to Class A Sarasota.
It it a procedural move, a paper shuffle. Ramirez didn’t actually go to Sarasota. The SaraReds season is over and Ramirez will return to the Reds roster Tuesday when it can be expanded from 25 to as many as 40.
ANOTHER PITCHER joins the Reds Tuesday when bullpenner Jared Burton returns from the disabled list, where he has resided since the week before the All-Star break.
He pitched an inning Thursday and an inning Saturday on rehab at Louisville and was back in the Reds’ clubhouse Sunday, ready to pitch.
“My command was better Saturday than Thursday, but there was some rust Thursday,” said Burton. On Saturday he walked one, but gave up no hits or runs. “It has been a long time and I’m anxious to get back and finish strong. I was having a good season and I’ve worked hard, now I want to get the rewards of that hard work the last month.”
Said Baker, “Jared was having a great year, almost an All-Star year, really.”
SECOND BASEMAN Brandon Phillips was given a rare day off Sunday, meaning with today’s off day he gets two straight days.
“Brandon hasn’t had a day off in I don’t know how long,” said Baker. “I believe he has played all but two games (133 of the first 137). I can see him slowing down a little bit. He’ll be ready Tuesday.”
An indicator that Phillips is tired is the fact he has been thrown out trying to steal in four of his last five attempts.
Jolbert Cabrera started at second and has now started eight games at shortstop, three in right field, four in left field, three at second base and two at third base. Another Eli Marrero?
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TweetAnother good change-up artist
Looks as if the Reds have another functional arm that knows how to throw change-ups that keep hitters off stride.
OK, OK, so it was the San Francisco Giants, the NL West version of the Cincinnati Reds. They have nearly identical records.
But 24-year-old rookie Ramon Ramirez was impressive - after his fifth pitch of the game to San Francisco leadoff hitter Randy Winn went spiraling into the stands for a leadoff home run.
Over seven innings, Ramirez gave up three runs and five hits, walked two and struck out six.
He is another Edinson Volquez and/or Johnny Cueto - except he is from Venezuela, not the Dominican Republic. And while Volquez and Cueto get their fastballs giddy-upping at 95 and 96, Ramirez only touches 91-92.
But he had the Giants swinging at the breeze.
He left with a 6-3 lead after seven, and said he could have gone eight, but manager Dusty Baker thought 98 pitches was enough and wanted him to leave on a positive note.
Bill Bray then gave up three straight hits, including Winn’s second homer of the game. Mike Lincoln came in and blew the save, giving up the tying run on Aaron Rowand’s home run.
And here’s one baseball rule that stinks like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. Lincoln blew the save, gave up the tying run. Yet when the Reds scored in the bottom of the eighth, that made Lincoln the winning pitcher. How bad does that smell? Rotten as Denmark, as they say - although I hear Denmark is a nice place to visit.
Anyway, the Ramirez kid looked good and deserves another shot. But if Johnny Cueto is ready by the time Friday rolls around, Ramirez will be back in Louisville trying to help the Bats win the playoffs.
Here’s what Ramirez said of his major-league debut:
Of his first batter hitting a home run: “I was feeling nervous and I was trying to calm down and make adjustments after that.
“I tried to relax and think about the way I was pitching in Louisville,” he added. And of his first taste of the majors, he added, “It was the best thing ever.”
At least we think that’s what he said. Like Cueto, he doesn’t speak English and his words were interpreted to us by Juan “Porky” Lopez.
I remember when Fernando Valenzuela first joined the Dodgers from Mexico and spoke no English. He would be asked a question and his answer would go on and on, like: Da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da. Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-day.”
And the interpreter would say, “He said, ‘I felt good.” Oh-kay. I took two years of Spanish in college, cut too many classes, so I have only myself to blame for needing an interpreter.
So what did Baker think of Ramirez?
“It was a very good seven innings, one of the better seven innings from somebody we called up and it might be the best,” Baker added. “He was calm and cool and you could tell he is a good athlete. He gave us what we needed.”
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TweetCueto close, Masset injured (slightly)
God bless Continental Airlines. It is so nice to find an airline that still cares, still gives service and doesn’t gouge.
Flew Continental from Houston to Dayton Friday, No extra charge for luggage. Left on time. They served ham sandwiches, drinks and plain M&Ms. No extra charge. Arrived early. My luggage was the SECOND off the carousel and the one wheel that United left on my luggage on the trip from Denver to Houston was still there.
One complaint. How about some peanut M&Ms? Just kidding. I managed to spill my Diet Coke all over my lap and the flight attendant was ready with mucho towels and a whole new can of Diet Coke.
Service. What a concept.
SOME NUGGETS:
Johnny Cueto played long toss before Saturday’s game and all went smoothly. The plan is for a couple of bullpen sessions to test his elbow, then a decision.
“He’s chomping at the bit,” said manager Dusty Baker. “If it wants to pitch and he is OK to pitch after the two bullpen sessions, why not let him pitch?”
I can think of quite a few reasons why not. He is 22. He has pitched 155 innings this year after 30-some in winter ball and after 20-some in spring training. He is approaching 200 innings, maybe already past it.
Now I check the standings and what do my wondrous eyes see? Twenty-seven games to go and 26 games out of first place. Why? What take a chance on a 22-year-old pitcher who has been exposed to enough big-leaague experience this year to know what it’s all about. He doesn’t need any more this year, does he?
TO MAKE ROOM for Saturday’s pitcher, rookie Ramon Ramirez, the Reds sent infielder Adam Rosales back to Louisville and Baker said, “He’s going back to help them win the playoffs, then come back to re-join us.”
Rosales says it is a win-win situation for him: “If I stayed here I’d be exposed to the big-league experience, the learning experience. That’s good. But I’m going where I get to play every day and hopefully I can help bring a ring back to the Cincinnati organization.”
Told that he had a great attitude, Rosales said, “Always, man. Always.”
RELIEF PITCHER Nick Masset was not available Friday or Saturday after he banged his pitching hand on something when he was involved in an accident.
It happened as he was driving home from the airport when the Reds returned from Houston Monday night and he was within 500 yards of his home.
“A young woman pulled out of the Kenwood Mall in front of me,” he said. “I was two minutes from home. Everybody is OK, but my car (Lincoln Mark LT) may be totaled. We probably won’t get the verdict until Tuesday when the insurance company gets to it. The front end is smashed really bad.”
Masset said he thinks his pitching hand is good enough that he plans to throw on the side Sunday, “And I may even be game ready. The man is just a little bumped up. My car? Much, much worse.”
Said Baker, “My mom always told me accidents happen within a mile of your house. I believe it. So the closer I get to home, the more careful I am and the slower I drive.”
Said one media comedian, “A friend of mine heard that most accidents happen within a mile of home, so he moved.”
The story, as I heard it, is that Chris Dickerson is a nephew of former NFL running back Eric Dickerson. Wrong. A myth.
“That got into some bio the first year of my career and it has never stopped,” said Dickerson. “We’re not related. I get asked all the time - when I sign autographs, by members of the other team. The legend continues.”
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TweetCease and desist - NOW!!!
This is going to be short and not so sweet.
I’m appalled and disturbed and angry.
You may have noticed I didn’t post Friday. I am seriously considering shutting this thing down. I was going to keep it going in the off-season, now I’m not sure.
I couldn’t believe it when I got back from Houston Friday and checked the blog.
Some of you are out of control. This is not a blog for politics, religion or ANYTHING other than baseball and the Reds (with some minor transgressions on my part about my travels and relationships - not political, not religious.
Yes, I read every comment on the blog. I don’t answer. They are your discussions. But I DO read them and what I saw Friday turned my stomach.
Matt, why did you bring religion to this blog? I haven’t said anything to you while you have hogged the blog and tried to be a policeman and criticized other people’s postings.
I respect your opinion and permit you to express it. But let other people express theirs, too, without telling them they are wrong or criticizing them.
The name-calling MUST stop. Please don’t make me go through the blog every day and delete postings. That’s too much work and I don’t have time.
It would be much easier to just shut it down. I hate to do that because tons of people read it and never comment. It is the same folks arguing back-and-forth.
Let’s be civilized and respect each other. Leave the politics and religion for blogs about politics and religion - so I don’t have to waste a post trying to keep the space a fun place to come. Some of you are chasing away readers.
Thanks and I look forward to returning to the days of intelligent postings and intelligent discussions.
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TweetAnother fast (losing) getaway
Came within one pitch of breaking my all-time record today during my second-inning appearance on the radio with Marty and The Cowboy.
Seven pitches. My record is six. As Marty was quick to point out - and I agree inherently - “We’re running out of things to talk about.”
Just glad we’re getting out of town. Hurricane Gustav could be heading this way. I’ve never been in a hurricane and would like that to remain something I’ve never done in my life.
While I was in McCoy’s Fine Cigars the other day, a TV guy came in and they regulars began hooting. Said one, “This is the guy who stood outside during our last hurricane giving a report from Galveston, hanging onto his hat with one hand and a telephone pole with the other. We felt sorry for him until right on camera behind our friend was a guy pedaling easily past on a bicycle.”
HAVE YOU noticed how when member of the Reds are in a slump, they hike their pants up to their knees so that lots of red sock shows? Edwin Encarnacion does it. Jay Bruce does it. Joey Votto does it. Jeff Keppinger wears his that way all the time.
As soon as they came out of the slump, down come the pants. And usually down come the averages again. If they think wearing their pants high gets them out of a slump, when it works why don’t they keep their pants up.
Just wondering - not much else to wonder about these days.
AN INTERESTING THOUGHT from Dusty Baker before today’s game. It was Baker’s thoughts on how important it was to win getaway games on the road - a getaway game being the last game of a series before a team gets out of town.
For the Reds on this three-city trip it was the difference between a 6-3 trip and a 3-6 trip. In each case - in Chicago, Denver and Houston - the Reds were 1-1 in the first two games, only to lose the third.
For the season, the Reds are 8-13 on getaway days.
“It was something I emphasized to the team during spring training,” said Baker. “winning on the last day prevents sweeps, put you in a sweep position, but most of the time it determines whether you win or lose a series.
“You figure you win all those getaway games and we have a winning trip,” Baker added. “It’s the toughest game to play, especially the last game of a trip. Guys think about going home, being on the road a long time (10 days this time). I guess what you have to do is pretend you’re not going home, especially in extra inning games like that 12-inning game we had in Denver on getway day.”
The Reds weren’t going home after that 4-3 loss, but they were going to Houston for an off day.
“I reminded some of the guys today that even though it was getaway day they needed to bear down,” Baker added. “If you win the majority of your getaway days I guarantee you you’d be in the hunt.”
An interesting theory.
His team, though, wasn’t buying much of it. They were facing Brandon Backe. On August 6, Backe gave up 11 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings to the Cubs. On August 16, Backe gave up 11 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Diamondbacks.
On August 28, he gave up zero earned run in xx innings to the Reds.
Of course, it doesn’t help the cause when your team is down, 2-0,. and you are on the first base with two outs in the sixth inning. You take your lead and after the pitch you walk slowly back to first base with your head down.
That’s when Houston catcher Humberto Quintero snapped a throw to first base that Chris Dickerson never saw coming as he walked back to first, eyes starting at the dirt. Out. Inning over.
And that’s one of the thousands of reasons the Reds are the Reds.
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TweetVotto loses, but loves the battle
The next time the Cincinnati Reds plays the Houston Astros, I am going to borrow Astros uniform No. 44, the one worn by Roy Oswalt. I am going to put it on and pitch for the Astros.
As long as the Reds believe I’m Oswalt, I know I’ll get them out with my 43 miles an hour cut fastball.
How can one pitcher be 22-1 for his career against one team? It defies logic. It defies reason. It defies the odds. It defies explanation.
Oswalt did it again Wednesday in Minute Maid Park, holding the Reds to one run and five hits over seven innings.
There was one confrontation between Oswalt and Joey Votto that defines baseball. The dullard would say it was a boring at-bat. Votto struck out. As Red Smith once wrote, “Baseball is dull only to dull people.”
If you are a baseball fan and didn’t enjoy watching that at-bat, then you aren’t a fan. You are a casual observer, and not a very good one.
Situation: Reds down, 2-1. Runner on third. Two outs. Votto vs. Oswalt. On the eighth pitch, Oswalt struck out Votto with a 97 miles an hour fastball, his highest velocity of the night.
The eight-pitch argument was pure testosterone, mano y mano. He was engaging and invigorating stuff. Oswalt stuck with his best, his fastball, dialing it up to 94 miles an hour, then 95 miles an hour (both fouled off), then blowing Votto away with a 97 miles an hour fastball.
Votto didn’t win that battle, but being the competitor he is, he enjoyed it, other than the result.
“I don’t think Roy cruises or anything, but he really showed me what he has on that at bat,” said Votto. “After the last pitch, he gave me a little stare and I kind of got goose bumps because I love competition. It was awesome, even though I lost.
“He has almost no fear and has really good stuff and that combination leads to a lot of success,” said Votto. “I wasn’t around for about 21 of those wins of his, but tonight he looked like one of the best pitchers in baseball.”
Now you know what I like Joey Votto so much. He struck - and certainly didn’t want to strike out - but he thrill in the competition and was appreciate of what occurred.
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TweetBruce: Still a work in progress
Was sitting this afternoon in McCoy’s Fine Cigars (Mike McCoy, Proprietor, is not a relative and he won’t even give me a discount) and was doing an interview on my cellphone with a local radio station. Suddenly, the front door opened and a guy stormed in swearing at the top of his voice about some personal wrong doing.
Hopefully the station hasn’t been shut down by the FCC and hopefully I’ll be invited back. I told them it wasn’t me swearing, but I’m not certain they believe me. Probably figured I burned my finger lighting a Montecristo.
A VETERAN Houston writer took a look at Wednesday’s Cincinnati Reds lineup and asked with a wry smile, “Where’s Paul Householder and Tracy Jones and Duane Walker and Tom Lawless?” Ouch.
ADAM DUNN and Ken Griffey Jr. used to call it, “Getting called to the principal’s office.”
Jay Bruce was summoned to manager Dusty Baker’s office before tonight’s game. No hickory stick or paddle awaited, just a man-to-man people talk. Over the course of the last two games Bruce struck out seven times in a row.
“I appreciate Dusty doing that,” said Bruce. “That’s what he is there for and it is good that he is there for us. He’s been through it. He knows things.”
Baker said, “Jay is in Never-Never Land right now. He is between off-speed pitches and fastballs. The secret is to get back on the fastballs. He is so aggressive and I’d rather have that way than for him to be passive. It is focus and concentration. We want him to keep being aggressive, but be aggressive in the strike zone.”
Nobody knows it better than the 21-year-old Bruce.
“I’m learning,” he said. “The way I’ve been hitting lately is not acceptable by my standards because I expect a lot out of myself. No matter how old I am or am not or how long I’ve been here in the majors or not been here, I have a certain standard to perform. Lately I haven’t been doing it. And, yes, it’s embarrassing.
“But that’s the beauty of baseball,” he added. “Every day you start over. Make the best of it and learn from it. This is probably one of a million slumps I’ll go through and dealing with adversity is all part of it. That’s the positive side of it for me. Everybody struggles.”
Somebody suggested that maybe playing in Houston, his home, in front of family and friends, was too much pressure, but the first four strikeouts came Sunday in Denver and the next three came Tuesday in Houston.
Baker said he likes the fact that players leave scads of tickets and play in front of friends and relatives on the road and added, “I like that. Players know people want to see them play and usually they bear down and do better. All those people probably never saw Jay struggle as a kid.”
Said Bruce, “I know I have to be aggressive in the zone. These pitchers up here know right now that they don’t have to throw me a strike, so they won’t. Why should they? I wouldn’t either if I didn’t have to.
“This is all a learning process I need to shorten that process as quickly as I can,” he added. “I haven’t struck out seven times in my life, ever. In your whole life you are always experiencing first times and hopefully that’s the last time I experience that.
“But at this point I was going up there more trying not to strikeout than get a hit,” he said. “That’s a bad approach. That’s like playing not to lose rather than playing not to win.”
Count on this. Bruce soon will again come out smoking and some pitchers are going to pay. Knowing Bruce, if pressed, he’d promise that with a money-back guarantee.
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TweetThe Big A’s: Alonso, Arroyo
While the Cincinnati Reds were winning a meaningless August game under the roof of Minute Maid Park, shielded from the thick humidity outside, news was being made elsewhere.
In the stifling humidity of Sarasota, Fla., in front of a few dozen fans swatting mosquitos, Yonder Alonso made his professional debut, a double off the wall in Ed Smith Stadium in his first at-bat.
See, he can use a wooden bat. Is he ready for the majors? Probably not quite yet.
Soon, maybe? The Reds certainly could use some heavy weaponry, even though they performed a major accomplishment Tuesday night by beating the Houston Astros, 2-1.
This one was won because pitcher Bronson Arroyo cranked up a dandy, a five-hitter and the first complete game this year by a Reds pitcher — the Reds being the last team without a complete game.
And a home run by rookie catcher Ryan Hanigan provided the winning run.
Arroyo certainly knew that closer Francisco Cordero was not back from attending the birth of his child and pitched accordingly.
“Arroyo came in after the eighth inning and said, ‘Give me a chance,’” said manager Dusty Baker. “I said, ‘You got it.’ I haven’t had the opportunity all season to say that.”
Said Arroyo, “With Coco (Cordero) not around, well, if he’s here I’m sure Dusty let’s him have the ninth. If I got somebody got on, I’d hope he would come and get me.
But Arroyo pitched a quick 1-2-3, with Lance Berkman ended it with a deep fly to center — sort of apropos.
“It was nice to have Berkman up there and to get him because he has beaten me so many damn times,” said Arroyo, 0-3 against the Astros this year before Tuesday. “In this park, I’m up 3-1 and he hits a three-run jack or something.”
Baker was appreciative of what Arroyo did.
“Bronson was masterful,” Baker added. “To hold this team to one run in this park, that’s masterful.”
Was Arroyo and the starting staff aware that the Reds had no complete games?
“Oh, yeah. We were aware,” he said. “Even if you have an off year you usually sprinkle in a few here and there. I knew after last time when I went seven and he pulled me. We thought, ‘We might not ever get this thing.’ Now we got one, so we’re off the schneid for this season.”
Arroyo’s sinker had the Astros digging divots in the infield, leading to a pair of key double plays. In contract to Sunday’s five-error fiasco, the Reds were digging dirt to make plays on ground balls — two exceptional ones by third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, two by shortstop Jeff Keppinger, one by first baseman Joey Votto and one by second baseman Brandon Phillips.
“A lot of good defensive plays that won’t show up in the box score,” said Arroyo, cognizant of the team’s five errors Sunday in Colorado that showed up glaringly and in bold type in the box score. I had the sinker worker to get those ground balls and if a couple get through I probably don’t come close to finishing.”
Arroyo picked up a clue from home plate umpire Dana DeMuth when he batted in the third inning and DeMuth called him out on what Arroyo thought was a low pitch.
“He rang me up on balls I thought were really low,” said Arroyo. “So I went to the mound and test him out. He called those strikes, too, so I said, ‘Beautiful,’ and tried to stay way, way low with my pitches, down at the bottom of the zone, right at the knees. And those got me all those ground balls.”
So now the Reds are 2-8 this season against a team this is 15 games out of first place in the National League Central and an even .500 — even though the Reds act as if they are playing the Angels, leaders of the AL West by 16 games over second place Texas.
The winning blow was struck by rookie catcher Ryan Hanigan, an eighth-inning home run above the yellow line and off the viaduct in left field.
Still, the Reds struck out 12 times — and that’s 26 in two games. They had five hits, same as they had Sunday in Colorado.
Jay Bruce struck out three straight times, giving him seven straight strikeouts over two games before he grounded out in the ninth inning.
Yonder, where are you?
Nineteen of the Reds’ final 31 games are against four teams either leading their division (Chicago Cubs, Arizona) or within six games of the leader (Milwaukee, Florida) or is within 3 1/2 games of the wild card leader (St. Louis).
Houston is not one of them.
After his gem, Arroyo was more concerned about his hair and said as he came out of the showers, “These people don’t realize you can’t wash your hair with Pert-Plus. Your hair will fall out.”
Meanwhile two Reds farmhands from Class AAA Louisville and five from Class AA Chattanooga will play for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, whose pitching coach is Louisville’s Ted Power.
Outfielder Drew Stubbs and pitcher Charles Fisher are the representatives from Louisville, while pitchers Robert Manuel, Pedro Viola and Sean Henry, plus infielders Chris Valaika and Justin Turner are the Chattanooga representatives.
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TweetThe dog-savers: my heroes
I have two new heroes.
You probably don’t know Dave and Kate DiCenzo, unless you live in Canada and read some of Dave’s hockey reports for the Canadian Press.
He recently began work as a stringer for my paper, although I didn’t know that. Nor did I know he lives a mile from me. I didn’t know Dave or Kate - until today.
My 9-year-old miniature schnauzer, Barkley, went on his own - Barkley McCoy’s Big Adventure. Our cleaning lady decided to let him out before she left the house. When she went to get him, he was gone. She searched frantically.
Finally, she called my wife, Nadine, who was at school teaching. Nadine came home. She and my mother-in-law, Lucille Tomczak, and the cleaning lady scoured the neighborhood for an hour. No Barkley.
My wife returned home just in time to pick up a phone call. It was Kate DiCenzo. Barkley was with Kate and Dave. They’d read his license number and called the county dog folks, who gave them our number.
Only when Nadine went to pick him up and she mentioned my name did Kate and Dave reveal that he has just gone to work at the Dayton Daily News — unbeknownst to me.
All I know is that Barkley is one smart pooch — other than not being able to find his way home. He found a house where another sports writer lived and stood on their porch. Or maybe it was the fact Kate works for the Iams dog food company and Barkley was after a free sample.
Anyway, thanks Kate. Thanks Dave. Other than Nadine, Barkley is my best friend in the world and I would have been a total wreck if something happened to him.
DAVID WEATHERS yelled at me. Again. He likes to yell at me, I guess.
This time it was after I visited Ken Griffey Jr. for a story in Chicago. The White Sox-Mariners game was a mess, a 15-3 White Sox win. I mentioned, offhandedly, in my story, that watching the Mariners was like watching the Reds. Dreadful.
Well, two nights later the Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-5, after leading 8-0. Weathers himself gave up two of those five runs, but in the clubhouse after the game, Weathers yelled at me, “Hey, Hal. Did we look like the Mariners tonight?”
I said nothing, but I could have said, “Well, yeah, in the last three innings.”
A couple of years ago the bullpen was struggling and we were in Cleveland. After the bullpen blew up again I wrote, “This isn’t a bullpen, this is a pigpen.”
Weathers came into the clubhouse the next day waving the newspaper clippings and shouting, “So now we’re a pigpen, huh?”
One of Weathers’ best friends is fellow bullpenner Kent Mercker, but he came to my rescue and I am forever grateful. He said, “Hey, Stormy (Weathers), check the numbers. We are a pigpen right now. All I ask is that I get to be the Head Hog.”
After Weathers yelled at me in Denver, a couple of his teammates later apologized to me. For obvious reasons, they shall remain nameless, but one said, “Does he look at the standings? Has he watched us play?”
Strangely, I like David Weathers. He is a pro. He does anything the team asks him to do and more. He is a fun-loving guy and a good quote. He helps young players. He is good to have around - except when he is yelling at me.
I WAS ON Baseball Beat with Charlie Steiner on XM radio today and before our segment began, he played Eric Burdon’s song, “We gotta get out of this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do.”
Very funny, Charlie. Did you mean out of last place or did you mean I’ve gotta get out of this place of covering the Cincinnati Reds - the eighth straight losing season.
TODAY’S LINEUPS (If anybody cares)
No Corey Patterson.
Dickerson is leading off and playing CENTER FIELD. Jolbert Cabrera is in left field.
Dickerson, Keppinger, Phillips, Votto, Encarnacion, Bruce, Cabrera, Hanigan, Arroyo.
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TweetUnited we ‘don’t’ stand
I swear on the memories of Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker and both Wright brother that United Airlines looks for me.
Nobody could screw over one person more than United does me without trying.
Another travel day, another fiasco. When I landed in Houston I waited for my luggage. As always, it was one of the last pieces to arrive. And when it did, it came in two pieces. I checked it in one piece, I swear.
My bag came down the chute, followed closely by one wheel - off the bag, my bag they called “indestructible.” They don’t know United Airlines.
I picked up my 48-pound bag in one hand and the wheel in the other and trudged to the United Baggage office, where the lady in charge looked at my wheel and said, “Oh, my.”
Oh, my indeed.
“Oh,” she said sweetly. “We’re not responsible for wheels or handles.”
Wait a minute. I now pay $25 for you to haul my luggage so that some bozos can toss it around the tarmac like a Frisbee, but you’re not responsible when they turn it into a one-legged bag?
I feel singled out until other people tell me they endure the same thing time and again. A decision has been made. No more United. If I have to take a Greyhound, if I have to hitch-hike, if I have to walk (that’ll be tough, though, with a one-wheeled bag), no more United.
Isn’t is about time for one national airline? Even the government can’t screw it up the way United has for me this year.
There’s more. I get in a cab at the airport and the cabbie says, “Flat rate. It’s $47.50.” OK, I already know it’s like the distance from Panama to Chile from the George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport to downtown.
But then why did he drop the meter flag, too? When we got the hotel, the meter said $42.30. I was too bedraggled by this time to argue. I pulled my one-wheeled bag out of the trunk, paid the $47.50 and dragged me and my crippled bag to the hotel lobby.
No game tonight, just news on the pitching front from Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey.
Johnny Cueto, who left Sunday’s start after three innings, was diagnosed today by Dr. Tim Kremchek with a posterior strain on his right elbow, possibly due to hyperextension.
McCoy diagnosis: His elbow hurts.
Cueto won’t make his scheduled Saturday start at home against the Giants and Doc Hollywood (that’s Kremchek) will check him out again Friday.
And for those who thought Homer Bailey might come back to make that start, well, Kremchek gave the Reds a two-for-one when he checked on Bailey, too.
Kremchek said Bailey has a mild sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
McCoy diagnosis: His knee hurts.
Bailey won’t take his Thursday start for the Louisville Bats and will be re-checked by Kremchek at the end of the week.
Bailey has not won a game in 21 starts at Louisville and Cincinnati. Twenty-one. He hasn’t won since April 27.
That’s hard to do if you try to do it. Maybe he can get a job at United Airlines.
One trip highlight so far: Spotting Sandra Bullock at the team hotel in Denver. Assume she was there for Obama and not Bronson Arroyo.
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TweetThe atrocity at Coors Field
Losing the worst-played major-league baseball game in this millennium was bad enough, but the Cincinnati Reds lost more than that — pending a medical work-up today of pitcher Johnny Cueto.
The Reds lost an almost indescribable game to the Colorado Rockies, 4-3, in 12 innings, but the real news happened about 3 1/2 hours before Rockies utility infielder Omar Quintanilla hit a walk-off home run against Mike Lincoln.
That’s when Cueto walked into the dugout after the third inning and said his elbow hurt. He was immediately removed.
Some thought equal parts of thin air and thin defense put quick closure on Cueto’s start in Coors Field Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Reds, it was something more sinister that knocked him out — soreness in his triceps tendon.
Cueto, making his 27th start, returned to Cincinnati on owner Bob Castellini’s private jet for a full evaluation today, but early indications are that the 22-year-old rookie may be shut down for the season.
The 22-year-old Dominican didn’t give up a hit in his three innings, but he was forced to throw 74 pitches because his teammates made three errors in the first two innings and he walked three.
“He came in between innings and said he was developing some stiffness and soreness in the back of his elbow,” said trainer Mark Mann. “That’s right where the triceps tendon comes into the elbow. Johnny being as young as he is, at this point of the season, logging as many innings as he has (155), we want to err on the side of caution, take no chances.”
And there was another perplexing situation in the ninth inning with the Reds leading, 3-2. It was closer time, Francisco Cordero time.
Instead, David Weathers walked to the mound and gave up an unearned run that tied the game as the Reds made two errors. Weathers committed a balk to put the tying run at second, plus he gave up a walk and two hits.
“Cordero had to leave and go home due to a personal matter,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We hope he’ll be back with us in Houston.”
As far as the game goes, it was the Reds falling out of an ugly tree and hitting every branch on the way to the ground.
They made as many errors (five) as they had hits (five), they struck out 14 times. They walked nine Rockies, threw two wild pitches, committed a balk, perpetrated a passed ball and Corey Patterson made his daily baserunning blunder by getting picked off base.
The videotape is going to Cooperstown as one of the five worst professional baseball games ever played.
Colorado stranded 18 and was 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position. Sound familiar? One difference. The Rockies won.
The game details are right out of a Dean Koontz novel. Scary.
Colorado took a 1-0 lead in the first when the Reds made two errors. First baseman Joey Votto kicked a ground ball, then Cueto walked two to fill the bases. Garrett Atkins blooped one down the right field line and right field Jay Bruce ran a long, long way. But he didn’t need to dive and the ball skidded off his glove for an error a run.
The Reds tied it in the second on Votto’s double and a single by Edwin Encarnacion.
Cueto left after three, replaced by Nick Massek, who pitched two scoreless innings while the Reds took a 3-1 lead, scoring one in the fifth on Paul Bako’s sacrifice fly and one in the sixth on Chris Dickerson’s third home run.
The Rockies pulled to within 3-2 in the seventh when Matt Holliday led with a single off Jeremy Affeldt, then stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch.
Then came Weathers in the ninth and Holliday reached on second baseman Brandon Phillips error on a ball that ticked off Weathers’ glove. Weathers was called for a balk, moving Holliday to second.
He scored on a single by Atkins on which Bruce was given an error on his throw home.
Meanwhile, the Reds didn’t score from the sixth inning on and managed only one hit, Encarnacion’s two-out single in the 11th.
“We gave ‘em the first three runs on errors and didn’t get a hit after the sixth inning,” said Baker. “Doing that and making five errors (season’s high) makes it awfully hard to win a game.
“We just can’t get the big hit with runners on base, especially with two outs,” he said. “It has been haunting us all year and we are just not a very good team at that part of the game.”
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TweetCueto: soreness in triceps tendon
Some thought equal parts of thin air and thin defense put quick closure on Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto’s start in Coors Field Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Reds, it was something more sinister that knocked him out of the game against the Colorado Rockies after only three innings — soreness in his triceps tendon.
Cueto, making his 27th start, returned to Cincinnati for a full evaluation today, but early indications are that the 22-year-old rookie may be shut down for the season.
The 22-year-old Dominican lasted didn’t give up a hit in his three innings, but he was forced to throw 74 pitches because his teammates made three errors in the first two innings and he walked three.
The score was 1-1 when Cueto left and Colorado’s run was unearned due to errors in the first inning by first baseman Joey Votto and right fielder Jay Bruce.
Cueto has thrown 155 innings this season after throwing 161 1/3 innings last year at Class A Sarasota, Class AA Chattanooga and Class AAA Louisville.
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TweetObama can have my room
Barack Obama checks into the hotel at which I’m staying in Denver today. Somebody said he was going to stay in a different hotel, but the suite was $3,000 a day and he can get one where I’m staying for $1,500.
Hey, I’m leaving Monday morning, Mr. Obama, and you can have my room for $159, but don’t turn around too quickly in the bathroom or you’ll break your nose either on the door or the mirror.
I’d call it a broom closet, but where would they put the brooms?
Anyway, when I return to the hotel after today’s game I’m told I’ll need my hotel key and identification to get inside and my bag will be searched. Hope they like baseball media guides, statistics, pens, white-out, a laptop computer and press credentials (I already took by Cuban cigars out of the bag).
When Reds media relations direction Rob Butcher walked into manager Dusty Baker’s office in his travel-dauy black suit, Baker said, “Butch, what do you have on your lapel?”
It was a gold Reds pin, but Baker laughed and said, “Thought for a minute you were Secret Service and that was a microphone in your lapel. That’s all we’ve seen for three days (due to the Democratic National Convention).
Baker had Jolbert Cabrera at shortstop Sunday and Jeff Keppinger in the dugout, “To give him a couple of days off.” The Reds are off Monday before ending the trip with three games in Houston, beginning Tuesday.
Keppinger has been hititng the ball hard lately, but right at people - something that frustrates hitters more than when they are making outs by striking out, popping up or hitting dribblers.
“The last couple of week has been rough on Kepp,” said Baker. “He was hitting the ball hard and ot getting hits, so he changed a few things and wasn’t hitting it hard. Now he’s back to hitting it hard but not getting hits and we have to convince him not change again.”
Joey Votto is on first - three hits in each of his last three games. He has 16 three-hit games, seven more than Chicago C Geovany Soto for most by a rookie. And he isn’t feeling the pressure of batting fourth.
Baker had him batting fourth his last two games and he had six hits and four RBIs.
“His focus and concentration is excellent, you can tell,” said Baker. “He is seeing the ball well. He is taking bad pitches and not missing good pitches. He is hitting it hard, really hard.
“He is a calm guy, a pretty determined rookie and probably competes as well as anybody. Every pitch,” said Baker.
Baker was asked if he’ll continue to pitch Edinson Volquez every five days as he pursuies a 20-win season and he said, “With the off day coming up (Monday), we’ll push him back for an extra day this time. Then we’ll see.”
Told that Volquez doesn’t like extra days of rest, Baker smiled and said, “He doesn’t know what he likes. He’s too young to know that. What’s in the long run is best for him. I have to give it to him, he has been working hard. If you can get that into them young and they have success with it, you don’t have to worry about instilling that in them in the future.
“Once they get it young, they get it and they have it,” Baker added. “Most guys don’t get it until they get older, especially if they have success without working hard.”
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TweetVolquez denied number 16
Dusty Baker calls it, “The Cy,” and everybody around baseball knows that can only be the Cy Young Award. And the Cincinnati Reds manager entertains long-shot hopes that Edinson Volquez is in the running for the National League Cy Young.
Volquez should have won his 16th game Saturday night in Coors Field, enhancing his credentials, but the bullpen did him wrong in a 7-6 Cincinnati defeat.
Instead, it was “The Sigh.”
He turned a 4-3 lead over to the bullpen, but Lincoln gave up three straight singles in the seventh and Nick Massek’s first pitch was drilled for a three-run double by Matt Holliday.
Volquez gave up three runs and six hits over six innings and with seven more starts is in position to become Cincinnati’s first 20-game winner since Danny Jackson won 23 in 1988, although a victory Saturday would have made it much easier.
“I’m trying to keep Volquez close to the ‘Cy,’ even though it’s an outside shot,” said Baker. “I want him to keep that ‘Cy’ in sight. He says it’s no big deal, but it’s a bid deal for me because it would be a big deal for him.”
It would be a monumental upset at this juncture because Arizona’s Brandon Webb is 19-4, while Tim Lincecum, also pitching for a bad team (San Francisco) is 14-3.
And Volquez’s opponent Saturday, Hamilton native Aaron Cook, is a candidate, too, with his 15-9 record.
As per usual, Paul Bako is caught as Baker continues to use the veteran catcher for Volquez and Johnny Cueto.
“Bako has been doing a good job with the kids and especially the way those kids have been throwing to him,” said Baker.
“And Cueto has been throwing outstanding, too, with Bako, so Bako will get tonight and tomorrow (with Cueto) and we’ll give the kid (rookie Ryan Hanigan) a couple in Houston.”
Bako did Volquez no favors in the second inning when the Reds led, 1-0. Colorado had runners on first and second with two outs. Cook stunned everybody by dropping a bunt up the third base line.
Bako pounced, but his throw was a cloud-scraper into right field and both runs scored for a 2-1 Colorado lead, which stretched to 3-1 in the third.
The Reds tied it in the fourth when Rockies manager Clint Hurdle permitted Cook to pitch to Jay Bruce with runners on second and third with one out — with Corey Patterson (.193) and Bako (.213) batting behind him.
Bruce singled for two runs, then the Reds took the lead in the sixth on three straight singles, including Joey Votto’s third hit, his third straight game with three hits.
Baker was asked if he liked what he has seen from Hanigan and he said, “Oh, yeah. He gives a good target, he is in the ballgame, he calls a real good game. And he studies, you know?” Last week, Baker affectionately called him, “A down-and-dude.”
Asked if Bako’s work with Volquez and Cueto made him a candidate to return next year, Baker said, “Yeah, I think so.
“Whoever our catcher is, especially if it is Hanigan, Bako would be like (Chicago’s) Henry Blanco. He’s made all the difference in the world helping (rookie) Geovany Soto. That’s down the line, so we’ll get that when we get there,” said Baker.
Volquez created his own mess in the fourth when he issued back-to-back walks before Cook’s two-run bunt. And Volquez needed 40 pitches to get through that inning, assuring himself of a short night.
When his count reached 103 after six innings it was shower time — with a 4-3 lead.
“That’s going to happen,” Volquez said of the bullpen meltdown. “I don’t get mad. They don’t want to give up runs.”
They gave up runs because neither Lincoln nor Massek could keep the ball down. Both were up in the zone.
“We just couldn’t keep the ball down,” said Baker. “Lincoln needed to get a double play, but couldn’t, and neither could Massek. He got it up, too. You can’t mess with Matt Holliday with the bases loaded. We’ve escaped it a couple of times, but sooner or later he is gonna get you.
“These guys can hit and they’re dangerous in this ball park,” Baker added. “You try to stay away from the big inning, but that’s what got us in the eighth (four runs).”
Baker wanted dearly to get Volquez that 16th win, but said, “It’s tough to throw 40 pitches in the second inning. That’s a lot and you know that is going to come back to get you.”
Volquez isn’t giving up on the magic 20, though.
“That would be great, to win 20 in my first full season,” he said. “It would be good for me and good for the team, too.”
Chris Dickerson homered in the seventh, cutting it to 7-5 and Bruce homered in the eighth, cutting it to 7-6.
And pinch-hitter Ryan Hannigan drew a one-out walk in the ninth to become the potential tying run, but lefthander Brian Fuentes struck out Dickerson and got Jeff Keppinger on a fielder’s choice grounder to short.
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TweetTakes and talks from Coors and LoDo
Coors Field and the team hotel are about seven blocks apart and after Friday night’s game I headed up 20th Street, looking for Lawrence Street, on which the hotel sits.
Perhaps because I was looking too intently at the short-skirted lasses on the sidewalks of LoDo (lower downtown bar and restaurant distict), crammed with people because of the Rockies-Reds game AND the Denver Broncos-Green Bay Packers game.
Anyway, I missed Lawrence. I walked about four more blocks before realizing my miscue, so I circled back - eight extra blocks. And if anybody tells you that Denver’s thin mile-high air doesn’t make a difference, well, ask my side (which ached) and my throat (which was gasping for air by the end of the trip).
When I got to the hotel, I plopped into a bench in front of the place, a spot reserved for we outcasts who smoke and lit a cigar. Next to me was George Frazier, former New York Yankees pitcher and now a Rockies broadcaster for Fox.
We spent an enjoyable hour talking baseball. Near the end, a young man, poorly dressed and reeking of John Barleycorn, stopped and pulled out an old battered deck of playing cards. He proceeded to entertain us with card tricks, talking with slurred words, but his sleight-of-hand was amazing.
He told us, “I’m practicing on you guys before I try to impress the girls.” He was impressive. Frazier gave him ten bucks and the guy staggered away happy.
He was probably a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which begins here Monday, although the city already is overstuffed. I’ve never seen so many black SUVs with dark-tinted windows.
Anyway, as I now sit in the pressbox before Saturday’s game, clouds are grey and it is drizzling. In the outlying counties, there are tornado watches. Not again?
Two or three years ago, we had to clear the pressbox and go underground in Coors because of a tornado watch. Nothing happened, but I never argue with a tornado.
Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was talkikng about the game and said, “Good pitching match-up, eh? I’m sure their kid, who has been very good (Edinson Volquez, 15-5) wants to do better than the last time and so does our Aaron Cook (Hamilton native).”
Volquez faced the Rockies in Cincinnati July 25 and was whipped, 7-2, giving up five runs and seven hits in four innings.
Cook? He faced Volquez that night and if does better, well, the Reds are in dire straits. He held the Reds to one run and five hits over eight innings in that 7-2 win. It was his 13th win while Volquez suffered his four loss (he had 12 wins at the time).
As per usual, Paul Bako is catching tonight as manager Dusty Baker continues to use the veteran catcher for Volquez and Johnny Cueto.
“Bako has been doing a good job with the kids and especially the way those kids have been throwing to Bako,” said Baker. “I like to keep Volquez close to that Cy (Cy Young Award), even though it’s an outside shot. Keep that ‘Cy’ in sight. He says it’s no big deal, but it’s a big deal for me - for him.
“And Cueto has been throwing outstanding, too, with Bako, so Bako will get tonight and tomorrow (with Cueto) and we’ll give the kid (rookie Ryan Hanigan) a couple in Houston.”
Baker paused and asked, “Who we getting in Houston?” When told that Roy Oswalt pitched a complete-game loss Friday, Baker began counting on his fingers. It was evident what he was doing and when he got to five and figured out it was Wednesday, he said, ‘Oh, no. Man. Oh, man.’”
That means Oswalt, 21-1 for his career against the Reds, faces them Wednesday.
Back to the catching, Baker was asked if he liked what he has seen from Hanigan and he said, “Oh, yeah. He gives a good target, he is in the ballgame, he calls a real good game. And he studies, you know?” Last week, Baker affectionately called him, “A down-and-dude.”
This next segment isn’t going to meet with the approval of a lot of Reds fans who have expressed displeasure with Bako and his impotent bat. Asked if Bako’s work with Volquez and Cueto made him a candidate to return next year, Baker said, “Yeah, I think so.
“Whoever our catcher is, especially if it is Hanigan, Bako would be like (Chicago’s) Henry Blanco. He’s made all the difference in the world helping (rookie) Geovany Soto. That’s down the line, so we’ll get that when we get there.”
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TweetEric Davis: a man’s man
Look for Eric Davis to become a full-time coach with the Reds, probably next year.
He was with the team in Chicago and was supposed to fly back to his California home after the Cubs series, but there he was sitting in a dressing stall Friday in Coors Field.
“They said my services are needed,” said Davis. “So I go where my services are needed.”
There is talk about Davis becoming a full-time coach and he said general manager Walt Jocketty told him he wants to talk to him soon, probably about a job.
“I’m open,” said Davis.
Pardon my prejudice, but I believe it would be an outstanding move - for several reasons. Not only was Davis an outstanding players, he is an outstanding person, probably my all-time favorite.
When my oldest son, Brian, went to spring training with me and Davis was with the team, he took the time to be nice to my son - talked baseball and life with him. As a result, when my grandson was born 18 years ago, he was named Eric - after Eric Davis. I couldn’t have been more pleased.
When I was voted into the Hall of Fame, the Louisville Slugger company made a large plaque for me to hang over my desk. A bat was included and they asked what player’s bat I wanted affixed to the plaque.
Easy one, there. Eric Davis. So his bat hangs in my home office where I can see it every time I sit down at my desk.
Eric Davis is special in many, many ways.
In my entire career, I wrote one column I wish I had never written. There was talk that the Reds might trade Davis to the Phillies, but I got wind that some people in Philadelphia’s front office were leery of Davis because they thought he might be using drugs.
I wrote that. Why? I have no idea. It was somebody talking out of the side of their mouth. No truth to it. Eric Davis NEVER did drugs.
He was angry. Very angry. Rightly so. He talked to me about it and I felt so sad sitting there watching him after I’d put it out to the world that somebody thought he was doing drugs.
And you know what? Eric Davis forgave me. Never brought up the subject again. And he said nothing but nice things about me in his book.
That’s a man. A man’s man.
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TweetAnother delightful travel day
This was another travel day so you KNOW what’s coming - another airline bitch-out.
Everything was fine from Chicago to Denver - even landed 15 minutes early. You know what that means, though. The plane’s gate was occupied so we had to sit out on the tarmac for 25 minutes until the other plane vacated our gate.
Why be early if you have to sit and sit and sit on a runway?
Then the fun part. Waited 20 minutes for my luggage. No luggage. After nearly all of it was gone, an agent walked to the carousel and said, “Some of your luggage came on an earlier flight. We had to lock it up because the FAA makes us do that.”
Couldn’t she have told us when we FIRST got there. Anyway, I went to her and said, “McCoy.” Said she, “Sorry, no McCoy.” Ten more minutes at the carousel and no luggage. Time to trudge to the lost luggage office.
I handed another woman my ticket and she scanned it and said, “Your luggage came on an earlier flight.” Said I, “That’s what the other women said, but she doesn’t have my name on her list.”
Back to the other woman. “Oh, yeah. Here is is. Your suitcase is right inside this rope.” Guess what I wanted to do with that rope. Thanks, United. Again. I mean, can’t my luggage at least travel on the same flight as I do?
The day got better, though. I went to Ted Turner’s restaurant for lunch and had my first bisonburger and buffalo chili. Really good. The meat is sweeter and leaner (less than 4 % fat) and tastier.
Loved it. Except when it was time to go to the ballpark, I felt more like wandering around on the prairie.
Manager Dusty Baker altered his batting order for tonight’s game. He dropped Jay Bruce out of the No. 3 hole and is batting sixth. Brandon Phillips was moved from fourth to third and Joey Votto was moved to clean-up.
It wasn’t because a lefthander was pitching for the Rockies. The starter is righthander Livan Hernandez. We’ll get the explanation later from Baker.
And, yes, Corey Patterson is in the lineup. But lighten up, guys. Baker didn’t play him for a long, long time. And now that he is playing him, he isn’t batting leadoff. He is deep in the order. And he is playing out of necessity. Have you checked how many outfielders are on the roster?
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TweetArroyo has a battle plan
Back on the north side with the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs after a one-day side trip to U.S. Cellular Field and the Chicago White Sox-Seattle Mariners.
Which is best to watch a baseball game?
That’s like choosing a diamond or a zircon.
Wrigley Field is the gem and U.S. Cellular is, well, a functional baseball stadium. There is nothing like the ambience of Wrigley and the eclectic neighborhood. U.S. Cellular just sits there by itself just off an interstate.
And talk about a home run park? Talk about Great American Small Park. The Chisox should call their little playpen U.S. Sail-u-lar, because baseballs sail out of their. They hit four Wednesday, including one by Ken Griffey Jr. Seattle hit one.
The White Sox have hit 188 this year, 20 more than Philadelphia, the NL leader. The Sox do have some punch in their lineup, but the park helps.
While I was on the south-side, Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo cranked up a beaut, one runs and three hits over seven innings in a one-run win over the Cubbies.
And Arroyo has a plan on how to make the Reds competitive next year, plus he didn’t need to send a babbling letter that makes little sense.
Here’s his plan. And it ain’t half-bad.
“The pitching staff is solid enough to win plenty of ballgames,” he said. “We really need a starting catcher — unless they are going to go with Ryan Hanigan and I haven’t seen him enough. We need a solid guy you can run out there five days a week, a guy who can hit a little bit, a regular guy instead of dividing it up between a couple of guys.
“We’re going to need two other guys who can hit, probably outfielders,” Arroyo said. “Our infield is decently set if (shortstop) Alex Gonzalez comes back. So we need a couple of outfielders to replace those home runs we lost (Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr.).
“We just need a lineup, from top to bottom, that feels the same when we pitch against the other team’s lineup, so we don’t have as many weaks spots.” Arroyo added. “I mean, with the Cubs I’m facing a seven-hole hitter like Mark DeRosa, who hits .280. That’s the feeling we need to project to other teams.”
DeRosa had two of the three hits Arroyo gave up over seven innings Wednesday in a 2-1 win. And Hanigan was Arroyo’s catcher, contributing a double that led to the Reds tying the game, 1-1, in the sixth.
“We have enough right now in our starting staff and bullpen to win this division, for sure,” Arroyo said.
Maybe Arroyo should have written that letter that management sent to the fans a frew days ago. At least he has something to say that would give fans hope. And I don’t know this to be true, but my guess is that letter was not written by owner Bob Castellini and/or Walt Jocketty (although both signed it, so they must believe it). That letter had PR schmaltz and spin all over it.
ASIDE TO A couple of malcontent posters:
Yes, I wrote early this season that Griffey would not approve a trade and would be with the team the rest of the year. That’s what I was told by some front office types. Griffey wouldn’t address it early in the season. Rather than lie (“I never lie,” he told me Wednesday and he has never lied to me), he said nothing.
The trade was not pursued by the Reds. Chisox GM Kenny Williams approached Jocketty just before the trade deadline and the deal was made.
Then Griffey told me yesterday that he told Jocketty in April that he wouldn’t stand in the way of a trade. You report what you hear and know at the time it happens. I’m not privileged enough to sit in on all the private and inside meetings. I try to give you what I know at the time. If some of you want to blame me for wrong information (at the time I thought it correct), then fire away. Your hindsight is always 20/20.
AND FOR THOSE who accuse me of talking only to Dusty Baker and Griffey because most of the Quotes of the Day came from them, well, NOT TRUE. We talk to Dusty EVERY DAY before games as part of our regular beat-writer briefings.
And he nearly always has good things to say. Same with Griffey. He was always available and always quotable. Some of the other players sit in off-limit areas of the clubhouse, eating or playing cards or watching TV or playing video games.
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TweetA visit with Griffey
Call me a traitor and call me a turncoat, but I abandoned the Cincinnati Reds today. No trip to Wrigley. No Cubs-Reds game.
Instead of going north today, I went south to U.S. Cellular Field to see the Chicago White Sox.
Actually, I went to see Ken Griffey Jr.
We talked before Wednesday afternoon’s game. At the time, Griffey had nine hits for the White Sox, all singles. I told him, “Hit a home run. I didn’t come here to see any dinky singles.”
After another single in the first inning, Griffey came through. He crashed his first Chicago White Sox home run in the second. It was his 609th, tying Chicago legend (and now outcast) Sammy Sosa for fifth on the all-time list.
After an hour’s visit with Griffey, I watched the White Sox-Seattle Mariners game and thought I was at a Reds game when I saw the Mariners. Dreadful.
In the first inning, the first five White Sox got on base against Seattle knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, including a run-scoring single by Griffey. He has 10 hits with the Sox, all singles until the homer. The White Sox had six runs before Dickey got his second out.
And by the time I finished typing the previous paragraph, it became 8-0 in the second.
Before the game, Seattle’s Ichiro asked for a signed bat from Griffey, who eventually sent over about a half dozen to different Mariners.
Asked how many bats he has given away in his career, Griffey said, “Thousands. More than I’ve broken, that’s for sure.”
Griffey said when Ichiro first came to the U.S. on a tour, “He wanted to see me and he wanted to see Michael Jordan. I took him to a Benihana’s in Cincinnati because it had a Japanese chef who fixed him what he wanted.”
And how’s Griffey?
Content. Happy. Pleased. He is on a first-place team and there is no pressure for him to be Top Gun. He either plays center field, right field or designated hitter and bats sixth. On Wednesday, he originally was to play right field and bat sixth. But Jim Thome was scratched so Griffey was moved to DH and batted fourth.
Not much has changed. He is still a star attraction. The Chicago fans love him. He was interviewed three times in the course of an hour I spent with him.
A couple of noteworthy things he said:
The Reds traded Griffey just minutes before the July 31 non-waivers trade deadline and he said he was not only surprised, he said he told Walt Jocketty on the day he became general manager April 23 that he was available to move on.
“It was an informal meeting, just to say hello and congratulations,” said Griffey. “After I asked him if he was getting hazardous duty pay, I told him, ‘If you have something for me, can get something for me, I won’t hold you up. I know what you’re trying to do here.’
“I knew the situation, being in the last year of my contract, and everybody knew pretty much which way they were going to go,” he said.
Griffey knew the Reds would not pick up the option for 2009 on his contract and said, “If we had started off on fire, it would have been different. But we didn’t and the result is that I’m gone, Adam Dunn is gone and David Ross is gone.”
Griffey believes in what the Reds are doing and even sees possible success.
“The biggest thing is the attitude,” he said. “They’re so worried about just wanting to be competitive. They should be talking about winning. You have to want to win.
“That goes for everybody — front office to the players to the scouts to the fans to management,” he said. “When I came back after hitting my 600th home run, my reception was awesome. That should be for everybody, not just because somebody reached a milestone. The fans should put all their energy into supporting every at-bat. Everybody needs to pull together.”
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TweetDear Fans: Yada, yada, yada
It always boggles my mind when a baseball team sends a letter to its season-ticket holders - begging forgiveness or begging patience or just plain begging.
Cincinnati Reds ticket holders received this letter, signed by owner Bob Castellini and Walt Jocketty this week (my comments after you read the letter):
Dear Fans,
Thank you for your loyalty and support of the Cincinnati Reds. You are extremely vital to the success of the Reds, and it is important we share with you the thinking behind our recent personnel decisions.
Since taking ownership of this franchise, we have aggressively tried to improve our Major League roster for the purpose of restoring championship baseball to Cincinnati. We have sought and signed proven players. We have extended the contracts of select current players. We added Dusty Baker, a proven winning manager. And, we have capitalized on our burgeoning younger players like Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto.
We had high expectations for the 2008 season. Unfortunately the team has not played up to our expectations and we have sustained injuries to key players within our starting lineup and rotation.
We opted to trade Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn at this time because we believe it provided the best outcome for the long-term success of the organization. By executing these inevitable changes now, we secured more players as part of our focus towards building a deeper, stronger inventory of young talent.
We are pleased that the trades allow Griffey and Dunn the opportunity to play for teams in tight division races. Both Ken and Adam made significant contributions to the Reds and we are extremely proud and grateful they wore the Reds uniform.
While the run production generated by these two veterans will not be quickly replaced, we chose to endure the short-term ramifications for the sake of building a strong, competitive team for 2009 and many seasons to come.
The vast majority of our 50 draft picks were signed, culminating last week with first-rounder Yonder Alonso and a pair of talented pitchers. Our expanded scouting operations also signed Juan Duran from the Dominican Republic and Yorman Rodriguez from Venezuela, who are arguably the best amateur free agent position players from their respective countries.
As we near September, we will continue to provide valuable playing time to our young players and new acquisitions who we feel can become significant contributors at the Major League level. We ask your continued trust and patience as we build the roster that will get us back on top. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at the ballpark.
Sincerely, Bob Castellini, Walt Jocketty.
COMMENTS:
It’s a long letter that is short on substance. What’s the plan? Are they trying to win in 2009 or 2012 or the nth of never?
They talked about signing No. 1 draft pick Yonder Alonso. You won’t see him for three years, two at the closest. They talked about signing two 16-year-old kids. What are they, five years away?
They talked about signing 35 of 50 draft choices. If three make it to the majors they’ll be fortunate - and that’s years down the road, too.
They want your “trust and patience.” Trust? Patience? Reds fans have been trusting and patient ever since they were promised a winner when voters approved a new stadium. How’s that worked out? Eight years of losing.
They talked about signing selected players to extended contracts — Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Brandon Phillips. Hows that worked out?
They talk about trading Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, a move that they say sacrifices the short-term for the long-term. But they also talk about the trade benefiting the team in 2009. How is that going to work? The only player they obtained in those two trades who is a major-leaguer (for 2009) would be pitcher Micah Owings, and he hasn’t been very good lately.
They don’t talk about possibly signing big-ticket free agents or acquiring high-profile players in trades for 2009. The truth is that the Reds needed to draw 2.4 million this year to break even.
That isn’t going to happen. So where will they make up the shortfall? Most likely a reduced payroll.
Castellini and Jocketty are honorable men, hard-working guys with their hopes and dreams in the right place. But this letter that mostly talks around the issues probably won’t appease too many fans. In fact, alienation comes to mind.
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TweetSome memories from Sweet Lou
Was walking down a side street off Michigan Avenue shortly after noon Tuesday, about to turn into my hotel, when somebody yelled, “Hal, Hal!”
Looked up and strolling down the sidewalk was Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Amazingly, nobody recognized him, nobody stopped him for a chat or an autograph and nobody interrupted us as we stood on the sidewalk for five minutes talking baseball.
Sweet Lou. Love the guy. My all-time favorite out of the ga-zillion (actually 16) managers I’ve covered in Cincinnati in my 36 years.
Piniella, of course, was the last (1990) to take the team to a World Series championship.
And I know there are a lot of Cub-haters out there, but with the Reds wallowing in their own mediocrity, I’m rooting hard for the Cubs, just because of Lou.
I mean, the guy is so comfortable with himself he wasn’t afraid to ask a writer, me, when he took over the Reds, “Hal, what does this team need the most?”
I told him, “A leadoff hitter.”
Halfway through the season he came up to me and said, “You were absolutely right. That was our biggest need.” That’s when Piniella made Barry Larkin his leadoff hitter.
Piniella stories are legend - many of them well-known, including his base-tossing tirade in Cincinnati and his clubhouse wrestling match with Rob Dibble.
I was witness to them all, many of which I’ve already related in this space.
I’ve never known a man who hates to lose more than Piniella. Nobody likes to lose, but Lou takes every loss personally and it is as if there is a big ‘L’ emblazoned on his face after it happens.
In San Diego, the clubhouse guy used to have a large bucket big enough to ice down four or five bottles of beer for a manager’s post-game consumption, if he so wished.
One night after a tough loss, as the writers walked into his office, Lou was behind his desk with a sheepish grin and said, “Watch the ice, guys.”
He had kicked the bucket, so to speak, splattering ice all over his office floor, so much that it looked as if a hockey game was about to start.
Another time, for some reason somebody had put a huge plastic bubble (as big as a beach ball) full of gum balls in his office. He never took a single gum ball out of the container, just let it squat in his office.
Another tough loss. Another sly Piniella grin after the game, “Watch the gum balls, guys,” he said. The floor was covered with literally hundreds of gum balls, with a shattered plastic container strewn among the multi-colored gum balls.
I’ve told this one, but it is my favorite.
Dibble was his closer and there was a situation for him to close. Dibble didn’t close and when I asked Dibble why he said, “Go ask the manager.”
So I did. And Lou said, “He told me before the game his arm was a bit sore and he wasn’t available.”
So I returned to Dibble and told him what Piniella said and Dibble screamed, “The manager is a liar.”
So I trudged back into Lou’s office and said, “Your closer just called you a liar.”
Piniella flattened me against his office door and he sprinted to the clubhouse, jumped on Dibble and the fight was on. Pitcher Tim Belcher broke it up but he wasn’t gung-ho about it - either afraid to get hurt or happy that Piniella had the upper hand over Dibble.
Ah, sweet memories from Sweet Lou. If and when I do my book, there are a couple of X-rated stories I’ll include, one involving an interview with a guy from a Christian radio station in Cincinnati. It’s classic.
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TweetReduced to the role of ‘Spoiler’
As my grandson, Eric McCoy, and I walked across the Roberto Clemente Bridge that spans the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, right next to PNC Park, I spotted a young lady.
She was standing on the bridge railing, grasping tightly to one of the bridge cables.
“My gawd, she is going to jump,” I said to Eric. She was gorgeous, dressed in short tight white hot pants and a black tube top. Just as I was about to run and become a hero, Eric began laughing.
“Look, grandpa, there is a photographer taking her picture,” he said.
Obviously, it was some kind of photo shoot, perhaps for an advertisement for hot pants. And I, with my legal blindess, was going to save the young lass from a plunge into the drink.
I could just envision the next day’s headlines: “Model, baseball writer die in fall from Roberto Clemente Bridge.”
Just another story in the life of a traveling baseball writer. Never a dull moment.
Well, I shouldn’t say that. There are many dull moments when the team you cover is more than 20 games out of first place in mid-August. In fact, at this time of year I sometimes awake in my hotel room and quickly wonder, “Where am I? What city is this?” It’s true. Most hotel rooms look alike.
I mention this because tomorrow the Cincinnati Reds start on a nine-game 10-day trip to Chicago, Denver and Houston.
How does manager Dusty Baker keep things, uh, interesting?
Well, the first three games in Chicago mean something - to the Cubs. They are trying to hold off Milwaukee and maybe St. Louis. The Reds have 37 games remaining and 21 are against teams still in the playoff picture.
They have six against the Cubs, six against the Brewers, six against the Cardinals and three against the Diamondbacks.
What does that make the Reds? Spoilers, er, potential spoilers.
Baker plans to make it an issue with his team.
“This is very beneficial because we plan on being in that race next year,” said Baker. “The guys who have never been there think they know what it is all about or think they can handle it. But you don’t know until you get there.
“You get a taste of it and think, ‘This is what we want. This is what we need.’ It is a long road to get there, into a pennant race,” Baker added. “A lot of our young guys can get a taste of what that long and windy and up-and-down road is all about.”
OK, we’ll focus on that. Meanwhile I’ll try not to save anybody from jumping off the Sears Tower in Chicago, or off a Rocky Mountain cliff near Denver or jumping in front of that train that runs atop the viaduct inside Minute Maid Park in Houston.
In fact, I guess I should concentrate of keeping myself from stepping in front of a car - anywhere.
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TweetThe curse of the masks?
There are four empty dressing stalls in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse, two each once occupied by Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn.
Dunn, though, left something behind on a wall near his space - four black native African masks.
“They should take those down,” said free-lance writer Jeff Wallner. “They’re probably cursed.”
THE DISCUSSION in the Reds’ dugout early Sunday was about the comment Bengals’ wide receiver Chad Johnson made that he could beat Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Said pitching coach Dick Pole, “What’s Chad going to do, run alongside the pool? He still might not beat Phelps.”
DESPITE HIS team losing 17 of its previous 21, manager Dusty Baker was upbeat and optimistic Sunday morning.
“Over the course of the years, I was looking it up, and St. Louis and Houston have beaten up on the Reds,” said Baker. “That’s No. 1. That can’t happen, not in this division. I ain’t going for that. Me and Tony hook up pretty good. I think I’m ahead or we’re pretty close to even head-to-head.”
Baker said St. Louis-Houston domination over the past decade is going to change, among other things.
“It ain’t right that teams come in here, like Houston and these guys (St. Louis) and hit more home runs than us. I was warned about this place at this time of year but I hadn’t seen it until now. The ball is flying, I mean, that ball is flying.
“When a little guy like Skip Schumaker hits a ball to dead center like Albert Pujols, well, anything hit up in the air has a chance to go,” said Baker. “Whew. Man, the ball goes. You have to get sinkerball pitchers here and keep that ball down.”
“I’m more convinced now than ever that we’re going to figure this out,” he said, drumming his fingers on his desk. “I want Pete Rose to be wrong. I love Pete. He said good pitchers won’t come here and you can’t win in this ballpark because of the way the ball flies. I just want Pete to be wrong.”
There was a long pause and some chatter about other things, then as a point of emphasis as I walked out his office door, Baker said, “We’re going to get this together. I’m convinced of that. We’re going to do it.”
What he didn’t say was when. Or how. But you have to admire his optimism.
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TweetAlonso: more than $4.55 million
OK, so here’s the scoop, the breakdown of the contract the Cincinnati Reds gave No. 1 pick Yonder Alonso.
Mama, do let your babies grow up to be first basemen.
Alonso’s contract is worth a little more than $4.55 million, with incentives.
The breakdown:
He receives a $2 million signing bonus - $1.5 million now, $500,000 on June 15 of next year.
For the rest of this season, he gets $50,000 in salary. His salary then escalates to $400,000 next year, $500,000 in 2010, $600,000 in 2011 and $1 million in 2012. If he is arbitration eligible in 2012, that supersedes the $1 million.
In addition, for his last three college semesters, the Reds will contribute $78,000 - that’s $60,000 in tuition and $18,000 in books and board.
In addition, a trip for his immediate family will be paid for by the Reds for his first major-league game.
In addition, he gets $25,000 if he is Rookie of the Year, $100 if he is MVP and $100,000 if he is MVP of the World Series (for what team?).
Everything is guaranteed, he is on a major-league contract and he will be in big-league camp in spring training next spring and in 2010.
While Alonso said he was confident a deal would get done - it was cementt done he had his fall class scheduled to the University of Miami on a table to his left and a contract for the independent Long Island Ducks to his right. Just in case.
Alonso has been friends with A-Rod since they were in the Boys Club together when they were 9 and was taking advice from the New York Yankee superstar. In fact, A-Rod offered to let Alonso share an apartment in New York if he played for the Ducks.
Let’s see, $4.55 million from the Reds and a start at Class A Sarasota, or a chintzy check from the Ducks and a chance to get a glimpse of Madonna. Some choice.
Asked to describe himself as a player, Alonso said, “I have a lot of hunger, I’m a very passionate guy about baseball and I’m a winner.”
With that contract, he can wipe out the hunger part.
When the Reds drafted him in June, he said he was looking forward to meeting Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn.
Whoops. Now what?
“Well, I don’t want to see them, but I ‘m looking forward to seeing Jay Bruce and Joey Votto.”
One of the major issues in the deal is that Alonso wanted a major-league contract and to be placed on the 40-man roster.
“It was very important to me to be part of a major-league 40-man roster, to be part of the club,” he said.
Despite the class schedules and the independent contract as his fallbacks, Alonso said he spent Friday afternoon watching Al Pacino in ‘88 Minutes’ to take his mind off the clock ticking away his future.
“The movie was very funny and relaxing, but the day was very stressful,” Alonso added.
He said A-Rod advised him, “Stay relaxed and don’t panic. They’ll get something don’t. And even if they don’t, you’ll still be playing baseball. Hey, it’s an honor and a privilege to know him and to go to his home in the winter and hit in his batting cage.”
Somebody asked what was next - meaning what would he do in the next few days - and Alonso was taking the long-term approach when he said, “I’m going to hit line drives, drive in guys and make it to the big leagues as soon as possible.”
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TweetReds sign No. 5 pick
The Reds haven’t yet corraled their No. 1 pick, Yonder Alonso, but they haven’t been twiddling their fingers and sitting on their thumbs.
On Thursday they signed their No. 5 pick, Juan Carlos Sulbaran, a pitcher out of American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale. He was signed for $500,000.
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TweetCatcher acquired from D-Backs
A second player in the Adam Dunn deal has been identified — a catcher who isn’t a catcher.
Wilkin Castillo, just-turned-24, is listed as a catcher, but in recent times with Class AAA Tucson he has played shortstop, third base and left field.
In 104 games this season he hit .254 with six home runs and 47 RBIs for Tucson.
He joins pitcher Dallas Buck as announced acquisitions, with pitcher Micah Owings and his problems yet to be resolved.
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TweetDunn denies dollar demand
Adam Dunn is not a bit pleased that Bronson Arroyo told the Cincinnati writers that Dunn would be asking for $115 million to $125 million after the season.
And, in fact, he denies it.
“I don’t know where that number would come from,” said Dunn. “False information, that’s all I can say. That makes me look like a jackass. You never hear players talking about money. I don’t think about the offseason. Me and my agent don’t even talk about numbers.”
It came, of course, from Arroyo and Dunn is correct. Players don’t often talk money issues in the clubhouse. I’ve been around Dunn his entire career and not once has he lied to me or fudged on any question or answer.
If he says he never mentioned his asking price to be $115 million to $125 million, I believe him implicity.
And he said GM Walt Jocketty and his agent never discussed a contract, let alone any figured and he said he never told any teammates anything about what it would take to sign him.
THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS were not happy that pitcher Micah Owings’ name surfaced as one of the two players to be announced later as part of the Adam Dunn trade.
They wanted him to clear waivers before they told him he was part of the trade, but his name surfaced quickly.
Owings was supposed to pitch Wednesday for Class AAA Tucson, but was scratched with a shoulder problem. An injured player cannot be placed on waivers, so the Diamondbacks can’t put him there until he is healthy and it is expected the Reds will put him through a physical before he is accepted in the trade.
So have we another Gary Majewski thing on our hands? Majewski was hurt when the Reds acquired him two years ago from the Washington Nationals. The Reds filed a grievance with Major League Baseball but it was denied and nothing came of it.
And pay attention to this? Dallas Buck, the pitcher that has been announced as part of the trade for Dunn, had Tommy John surgery last year.
IT IS LOOKING more and more like No. 1 draft pick Yonder Alonso won’t sign with the Reds. They have until midnight Friday to sign him. If they don’t, he goes back into the draft pool for next year.
Alonso reportedly wants a $7 million deal and a major-league contract that would put him on the 40-man roster. The Reds are offering $2.5 million and no major-league contract - and that’s about as far apart as opposite ends of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
Alonso is threatening to return to the University of Miami for his senior year or to spend the rest of the summer and the first part of next year playing independent league baseball.
Alonso said the Reds knew what he wanted when they drafted him and wonder why they went ahead and did it if they thought it would come to this.
Sort of reminds me of 2001 when the Reds drafted pitcher Jeremy Sowers No. 1. Sowers made it clear he was going to attend Vanderbilt University and would not sign if drafted. The Reds had no money for a No. 1 draft pick that year so they drafted Sowers, knowing he wouldn’t sign.
Then they told fans, “Hey, we made a good pick, but he wouldn’t sign.”
Maybe that’s the case this year, too. Who knows? I do know that it was a strange pick, in that Joey Votty is a young first baseman and there are some first base prospects in the system and some scouts believe that Alonzo is, “a bad body type who can only play first base and can only hit. He does nothing else.”
It reminds some of the year the Reds drafted first baseman Simone Peters when they could have drafted Lance Berkman because they thought Peters would hit 50 homers a year. As one man said, “Peters never made it out of ‘A’ ball and Berkman is on his way to the Hall of Fame.”
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TweetWhy Fogg and not Bailey?
Let’s play Two Questions (Twenty Questions takes too long).
ONE — Why is Josh Fogg still in the pitching rotation of the Cincinnati Reds when it is vivid that the season has been officially declared irretrievable?
Fogg has the same chance of being in the Reds rotation in 2009 as Hillary Clinton has of living in the White House next year.
TWO — Why isn’t Homer Bailey back in the rotation? Right now, his 0-6 record means nothing as far as where the Reds are headed this year ,and even if he finished 0-12 shouldn’t he be wearing a Reds uniform to see if he’ll be part of next year’s rotation?
Nevertheless, there was Fogg Wednesday night in PNC Park, pitching a meaningless game between the two worst teams in the National League Central.
And there was Fogg giving up four runs in the fifth inning that led to the Reds’ 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, pushing the Reds 20 1/2 games out of first place, 2 1/2 behind the next-to-last Pirates.
Fogg? He is 2-5 with a 7.96 earned run average for his 11 starts and six relief appearances. This is looking at the future?
Meanwhile, Bailey works in Louisville, where he has nothing to prove or show, although he said before he left he was looking forward to pitching for the Bats because they are in first place, they are having fun and the morale is good.
Bailey also said before he departed for horse country, “I’m considering this season a washout. I’ll start all over next year.” What he should have said was he was considering the season up to that point a washed-out bridge and he was starting all over at that point.
Right now. With the Reds. Not the Bats.
THE REDS’ OFFENSE against left-hander Paul Maholm consisted of two solo home runs, one by Corey Patterson in the third inning on his 29th birthday that gave Fogg a 1-0 lead and one by Jay Bruce in the seventh that broke his 0 for 11 skid after he hit into double plays his first two times.
The 1-0 lead after Patterson’s home run lasted for four innings as Fogg held the Pirates to no runs and four hits.
Fogg was good up to then and, as he said, “Was. The key word, was.”
Brandon Moss doubled to lead the fifth and Jason Michaels homered to make it 2-1.
Then Fogg issued two walks and single to load the bases and Ryan Doumit unloaded with a two-run double that nearly was a grand slam.
“I wasn’t throwing as many strikes in the fifth, walked a couple of guys, but mostly I wasn’t making the pitches I needed to make,” said Fogg. “After Michaels’ home run, the rest of the inning got away from me.
“If I’m able to get the third inning before Doumit hit the double and we’re still a 2-1 ballgame, but I wasn’t able to finish off the inning,” he added.
With the way the Reds are going and with their future map outlined without Fogg (a nice guy), he shouldn’t be able to finish off the season, either.
“Those walks in the fifth (by Fogg) is what set it up for the big boys to come up in the fifth,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We know Fogg is going to give you six or six-and-a-fraction.
“He gave up the home run (Michaels) and that made it 2-1, no problem, but then he lost command of the strike zone and it turned into a big inning.”
The Reds did very little with Maholm, either — two runs and seven hits over eight innings.
“These guys can turn some double plays, too (Bruce hit into two and Jolbert Cabrera one). And their third baseman (Freddy Sanchez) made some outstanding plays on us. He saved the day for them,” Baker added. “The left side of their infield is really alert when Maholm pitches because he is throwing sinkers and change-ups.”
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TweetOf Owings, Korea, Dickerson
Somebody said to manager Dusty Baker, “So, you’re getting Micah Owings from Arizona in the Adam Dunn deal?”
Before he thought, Baker said, “Yeah.” Then, realizing this stuff hasn’t been announced yet, he added, “Really?”
But the flash in his eyes said it all.
Then he was told that there is a report that the Reds can’t get Owings right now — because he had to clear waivers and Washington general manager and former Reds GM Jim Bowden put in a claim for him.
That forced Arizona to withdraw Owings from waivers and now the Reds can’t get him until after the season.
“Bowden was just doing what he could to help his club,” said Baker, another smile on his face while responding to hearing about what Bowden allegedly did.
There is a report that Arizona has not yet placed Owings on waivers, so no team could have claimed and blocked any deal, but another source insists Owings was on waivers.
Baker said before Wednesday’s game, “There is some problem with the league concerning the Owings trade.”
Nevertheless, Owings is coming to the Reds at some point.
If Bowden or anybody else claimed Owings, they might have done the Reds a favor. If Owings arrived right away, the Reds might be tempted to use him. And he might not be usable right now.
After AAA Tucson on July 29. In his first two starts there, he was 0-2 over 11 innings with a 4.09 ERA.
The big thing, though, is that he was supposed to start tonight but was scratched due to shoulder discomfort.
Oh, boy.
SEVERAL REDS were watching the U.S.-South Korea Olympic Games baseball game in the pregame clubhouse, a game started by J.K. Bong for South Korea. Bong briefly pitched for the Reds and spent most of his time injured.
“Is this live?” asked Jerry Hairston Jr., looking at the TV.
“No, they all died,” said Francisco Cordero. Is that Dominican humor? Well, the U.S. team died, losing on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth.
And speaking of Korea, the Korean Professional League folded recently and two pitchers from the Reds system are back in the States. Tom Shearn, though, is pitching in the Minnesota system. Justin Lehr returned to Class AAA Louisville.
AFTER MAKING his major-league debut Tuesday in left field, batting leadoff, Chris Dickerson was on the bench Wednesday under the BPA — the Baker Protective Agency.
“Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (a left-hander) is really tough and Dickerson had a little problem with left-handers in the minors,” said Baker. “As I promised, I’m going to protect him, not ruin his confidence, protect his confidence by playing him where he has a better chance to succeed. He’ll be back in there Thursday against Ian Snell.”
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TweetOwings coming to Reds
One of the two other players coming to the Cincinnati Reds is DEFINITELY Micah Owings.
A source very close to the situation confirmed to me today that Owings is one of the players to be identified later from Arizona in the Adam Dunn trade.
The third-round pick of the Diamondbacks in 2008 was 8-8 with a 4.30 ERA in 27 starts last season, his rookie year, but has fallen on rough times this year — 6-9 in 18 starts with a .593 ERA.
Shades of Homer Bailey.
Owings also can swing the bat and the D-Backs many times used him a pinch-hitter and he many times helped himself with base hits.
THE REDS expunged their six-game losing streak Tuesday night. OK, OK, so it was Pittsburgh, but you have to start somewhere.
Micah Owings probably doesn’t want to hear this, but when Brandon Phillips homered in the first inning, it was the first time the Reds scored any runs in a first inning since Aug. 6 against Milwaukee.
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TweetDoes Dunn want $125 million?
So Adam Dunn wanted a $125 million contract? That’s what outspoken Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo said Dunn told his teammates before he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Wanted. That’s the key word. Wanted. Who out there will give him $125 million? Maybe somebody, but I don’t know who.
Arroyo said, “He made it clear to us in the clubhouse that his asking price was $120 million to $125 million. Do you think this franchise would pay that?”
No, I don’t. And as much as I like Adam Dunn, I don’t think he’ll get it. Maybe the Cincinnati Reds should have talked to him, see what it would have taken to sign him long-term.
What he said in the clubhouse and what he might accept could be mightily different. We’ll never know because Reds GM Walt Jocketty won’t talk contract during the season. It really would have been nice to see what Dunn would have taken to stay in Cincinnati.
I believe it is less than $125 million.
Earlier this year, Arroyo said that if the Reds traded him, they were giving up, throwing in the towel, not really wanting to win. Arroyo remains, but Ken Griffey Jr., Dunn and David Ross are gone.
Now how does Arroyo feel?
“The same. If they keep the pitchers they have now we’ll be all right,” Arroyo said. “I think they’ll go out and sign some hitters. If we didn’t have Dusty Baker as manager I might be concerned. But I’m not.”
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TweetDunn cared and Dunn worked
It was Sunday, long after the Cincinnati Reds lost their sixth straight game, long after they lost for the 14th time in 16 games.
Most of the players were dressed and gone, fleeing the scene of the carnage.
There were, though, five players gathered in a corner discussing the mess the team made this year, the embarrassment of losing, what it would take to improve the stifling situation.
The players were: Paul Bako, Jerry Hairston, Josh Fogg, Jolbert Cabrera and …
And … Adam Dunn.
Yes, Adam Dunn. So many fans misread Dunn. They thought him lazy. Have you ever tried moving 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds of muscle and bone? Ain’t easy, pal.
We know he was a defensive liability. We know he struck out too much. But to label him as a guy who didn’t care was unfair just because of his easy-going demeanor.
Nobody was more embarrassed than Dunn when he botched or bungled a play. Nobody was more embarrassed than Dunn when he struck out with two on and two out in a one-run game.
He said it, admitted it. He told the media he was awful at times. In 36 years of covering the Reds, I never met a more honest or self-deprecating guy. He never made excuses. He took the blame, sometimes blame he didn’t deserve.
So it wasn’t surprising that Dunn was one of the players holding a post-game koffee klatch to discuss the many woes of the team.
And the next day Dunn was gone. Traded to become the biggest snake in Arizona.
My take? Big mistake. He won’t be replaced. Ever. To me, his home runs, his RBIs, his on-base percentage, his walks and his fearsome presence overrode his defensive deficiencies and his strikeouts.
And I’m weary of hearing people say, “They never won with him and Griffey in the eight years they were here.” No, they didn’t. And they didn’t win with anybody else, either. Blaming Dunn and Griffey is absurd. Blame management for not surrounding two superb players with quality pitching and quality defense.
Now they’re gone, the team moves on. Question? Does it move up or does it move down? It appears it will be down before it’s up and it is going to take years to start the upward trend.
Said manager Dusty Baker, who had two superstars when he took the Reds job and now has none (maybe a couple in the making), tries to put the positive spin on it by saying, “This is our new beginning and there is always a period of adjustment. Trades like that change the dynamics of the team and it takes a while.”
A long, long, long, long while at the pace the Reds move.
Jay Bruce knows that more than anybody. Dunn and Griffey were his two best friends on the team.
When he arrived in the visiting clubhouse in Pittsburgh’s PNC Park Tuesday and walked to his locker, he was unaware that he was using the locker Dunn used during his Pittsburgh visits.
“Really? All right. Didn’t know that,” said Bruce. “Pure coincidence.” But there was a stack of color actions photos of Dunn on Bruce’s shelf and that was no coincidence.
“He gave ‘em to me and I just decided to bring ‘em,” said Bruce. “I’m absolutely going to miss Dunn, even more so than Griffey. We had a relationship before I got to the big leagues — working out together in Texas during the offseason.”
Working out? With Dunn? Fans thought Dunn, the big oaf, never worked out, never worked hard. “He worked his tail off,” said Bruce.
“We’re still going to be friends, but this place is a lot different now,” Bruce added. He could have added, “A lot, lot, lot, lot, lot different.”
“We’re moving forward and we have to accept it for what it is and the way it is,” Bruce said. “You can’t give up just because people are gone. You have to move forward. Nothing stops for anyone in this game. The show must go on.”
Did he mean sideshow?
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TweetBaker sad to see Dunn go
As Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker said: “There is baseball and there is baseball business.”
And the Reds made a business decision today when they traded Adam Dunn to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three minor-league prospects.
Instead of waiting for Dunn to test free agency after this season, the Reds dealt him today.
“This way we at least get more than some unproven draft picks,” said Baker. If another team signed Dunn as a free agent, they would owe the Reds two first-round draft picks.
And what does Baker think about the trade?
“I’m a little sad right now,” he said Monday afternoon. “I’m more a hello man and a welcome man than a good-bye man. And to me Adam Dunn was more a person than a player.”
So the Reds have dealt two-thirds of the outfield with which they began the season and their two top power hitters — plus the two oldest in service on the team.
Ken Griffey Jr. arrived in 2000 and Dunn’s first year was 2001. The Reds never had a winning season with both of them in the lineup. Their last winning season was in 2000, Griffey’s first year, when they went 85-77.
“Griffey and Dunn - two peas in a pod as far as their friendship,” said Baker. “I asked Dunn not long ago if he was OK (after the Griffey trade) and he said, ‘Yes,’ but that’s what he would say anyway. I could see he was down.”
Baker said the Dunn deal was similar to the Griffey deal in that it materialized and happened quickly. There had been talks with Arizona before the trade deadline, but nothing happened.
To do a deal after the trade deadline, a player must be put on waivers, which Dunn was. The Diamondbacks claimed Dunn, so the Reds talks began again with the D-Backs and a deal was struck. If the D-Backs didn’t want to deal, the Reds could have withdrawn the waivers and kept Dunn.
General manager Walt Jocketty is in the Dominican Republic and called Baker this afternoon to tell him the deal was done.
So how do you replace a yearly output of 40 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 100 walks?
“Whew,” said Baker. “You don’t. But you know Dunn is a free agent after the season and can sign with any team. He is free to talk to anybody. Who knows?”
And for now?
“Right now I haven’t even thought about it,” said Baker. “I don’t know immediately. And in the future. We have to see who’s available?”
The Reds haven’t replaced Dunn on the 40-man roster and it is a sound bet that outfielder Chris Dickerson will be called up from Class AAA Louisville.
“Dunn is just like Griffey - he gained a whole bunch of games in the standings and first place (Griffey went to the White Sox, who were 1 1/2 games up in the standings and the D-Backs lead the NL West).”
The Los Angeles Dodgers, pursuing the D-Backs, acquired Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox. This was Arizona’s counter-move.
When it was mentioned that Reds fans might be rooting for a White Sox-Diamondbacks World Series, Baker said, “That wouldn’t be a bad World Series. I’d pull for that.”
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TweetDunn dealt to Diamondbacks
And now it is a full-fledged purge. First Ken Griffey Jr., now Adam Dunn.
The Cincinnati Reds traded their power-hitting left fielder this afternoon to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three prospects — Class A pitcher Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.
It is not a shock. Not even stunning.
The Reds were faced with trying to sign Dunn to a long-term contract before the season ended — and general manager Walt Jocketty does not do contracts during the season — or face losing him to free agency.
Dunn has made recent comments that while he would have liked to stay in Cincinnati, he also was looking forward to testing the free-agent market. If the Reds had lost Dunn to free agency, they would have received two first-round picks from the signing team as compensation.
Is what the Reds get now better than two first-round picks? That remains to be seen.
Dunn is tied for the major-league lead in home runs with 32, but has been in one of his batting funks lately - no home runs since Griffey was traded 10 games ago, during which time the Reds were 1-9.
They have lost 14 of their last 16 and are buried in the National League Central basement, so Jocketty obviously has determined it is time to remake the Reds in his image.
For Dunn, the Reds receive pitcher Dallas Buck and two players to be named later.
Buck spilled the beans on the trade shortly after he received a call from Arizona farm director A.J. Hinch, telling him he had been traded for Dunn. Buck was traveling with the Class A Visalia Oaks and was on a bus to San Jose, Calif., when Hinch called him and he told teammates of the trade en route.
“It was kind of funny,” Buck told ESPN, “because I was rumored to be in a deal for [Mark] Teixeira, so when I just told them they all thought I was messing with them.”
Buck, 24, was 1-4 with a 3.94 ERA in nine games and eight starts with Class A South Bend. He was promoted to High Class A Visalia and made one appearance, pitching five shutout innings Thursday against San Jose. He will be assigned to Class A Sarasota.
Buck was selected by Arizona in the third round of the 2006 first-year player draft. He attended Oregon State University, where he was a member of the 2006 NCAA national championship team. He made his professional debut last season by going 4-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 16 starts with Visalia.
Dunn batted .233 with 32 home runs and 74 RBIs in 114 games this year with the Reds. The Reds have not announced who will replace Dunn on the 25-man roster.
Jocketty was on his way to the Dominican Republic immediately after the trade and could not be reached for comment.
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TweetHarang-a-bang-bang-bang
Before Aaron Harang threw his first pitch, a scout asked, “Why are they pitching him after only one rehab start in Louisville? Have they looked at the standings? Do they want to ruin the guy? Bad idea.”
As it turned out, it was about as bad of an idea as the Edsel. In fact, Harang looked like an Edsel Citation with that sour lemon grille (ask your grandpa). He gave up five runs in the first inning before some fans tipped the ushers on the way to their seats.
You do tip the ushers, right?
In four innings, Harang gave up eight earned runs, the most in his career and nine hits.
As another scout said, “This is real ugly.” That’s the nicest thing I heard about the 13-4 leg-breaking the Astros handed the Cincinnothing Reds - their sixth straight loss, their ninth loss in 10 games since they traded Ken Griffey Jr., their 14th loss in 16 games and they are 1-7 against the Astros this year.
Gary Majewski was in the spirit this day - in that the Reds gave away stuffed dogs to the fans (fill in your own canine comment). Majewski faced seven batters and retired one in the eighth inning, giving up five runs.
As one press box occupant said when Houston scored its 13th run, “A Baker’s dozen.”
How bad is it? After games these days you could spray the post-game clubhouse with an Uzi and not hit a player. There are more places for players to hide in the Reds clubhouse than in a Colombian jungle and who can blame these guys for hiding their heads?
What else can we talk about?
Well, Mr. Redlegs was sitting mid-game in the media dining room, head off, enjoying a soft drink.
“Hey, Hal McCoy,” he said.
“Man, you’ve gone and lost your head,” I said. Well, what else do you say to a mascot with his head off when the game on the field is boredom personified?
When I returned to my seat and wasn’t paying attention (who can pay attention to this?) Houston’s Lance Berkman fouled one into the press box. It hit just to my right, chipping wood on the frame in front of my working space, and bouncing past.
Please hit me. Please. Put me on the DL. I’ve had enough. UNCLE!
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TweetRoss gone: Changes have begun
The clubhouse-cleansing has begun by the Cincinnati Reds and general manager Walt Jocketty.
Catcher David Ross was designated for assignment Sunday and catcher Ryan Hanigan was not only called up from Class AAA Louisville, he was in Sunday’s lineup.
REACTION: Should have been done a long time ago. Ross has been awful for all of last year and most of this year.
“It’s time to find out,” said manager Dusty Baker. “If Hanigan is part of our future, we need to find out right now if he is a No. 1 or is he a back-up or what is he?”
As expected, pitcher Homer Bailey was optioned back to Louisville to make room for Sunday’s starter, Aaron Harang.
Asked if he was bummed about going back to Louisville, Bailey said without pause, “It’s not the big leagues, but honestly I’m looking forward to it. They are seven or eight games up and in a playoff race. When I was down there before the guys were winning and there is good morale.
“Hopefully, I can help those guys win,” Bailey added. “I hope I can’t screw ‘em up too bad. I don’t know if they really want me. I haven’t had a win since April. Maybe they’ll say, ‘Hey, no, we don’t want Homer.’ They might send me to ‘A’ ball and I hope they’re in contention.”
REACTION: Bailey said this all with good humor, but the one part that caught my attention was the “good morale” comment. Obviously, morale isn’t good on a last place team retreating faster than the Italian army.
Is there more to come? Somebody asked manager Dusty Baker about outfielder Chris Dickerson.
“Dickerson has had one of his better offensive years and is getting better offensively. What’s he hitting, about .280?” said Baker. “He still has some things to learn and work to do, but I have my eye on him. I go through the reports.”
Baker said there were waivers on Ross, but no teams claimed him, but there were some teams interested in him.
“Right now, we’re not headed north, we’re headed south,” said Baker. “There are things now we have to find out about some other guys. I have nothing bad to say about Ross, it just that Hanigan has a chance to be in our future.”
While some of the players are acting and playing as if the season is over, Baker sees it differently.
“That’s the problem I saw when I got here,” he said. “We have a dozen free agents. When the season gets late, if you are in the hunt through October, then it can be a motivator. If you are not in the hunt you see a lot more, ‘I have to look out for myself’ type of thing.
“I didn’t say I’m seeing it here, but I’ve seen it happen. Human nature. Makes sense,” he said.
“When you are 18 games out, it’s tough to say, ‘I’m going to get that runner over from second to third with nobody out by giving myself up,’ ” Baker added. “It is a lot easier when you are winning at this time of year.
“Winning takes care of a lot of stuff, including my sleep pattern,” he said. “The next six weeks count a lot. Like my schoolteacher mom always said, ‘Those last two weeks before the grades come out are important.’ We’re looking at who still wants to win right now. That’s big. If you want to win right now under these circumstances then how much better are you going to be in better circumstances?”
WHEN THE REDS announced their roster moves, Houston manager Cecil Cooper said, “I’ll take Homer Bailey. I’ll take Matt Belisle, where’s he? (Class AAA Louisville). I’ll take Ryan Freel, where’s he (disabled list)?”
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TweetA faithful mother-in-law
My mother-in-law, Lucille Tomczak, is in her 80’s and a huge fan of the Cincinnati Reds. Huge? She’s devout. Never misses a televised game.
How many of you watched the Reds Friday night instead of the opening festivities of the Olympic Games? She did.
And she didn’t give Francisco Cordero a gold medal.
JOEY VOTTO won’t be around for the next few days. He left the team and is on bereavement leave for reasons he prefers not to be publicized. We’ll honor that wish.
The Reds called up Adam Rosales from Louisville to take his place and removed pitcher Marcus McBeth from the 40-man roster, designating him for assignment.
“We’re hoping he gets here tonight,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Louisville is home and traffic shouldn’t be bad driving up.”
Wanna bet? There is an Indy car race at Kentucky Speedway and traffic on I-71 snarls around the track on race day.
It’s like manager Dusty Baker says, “When things go bad, whatever can go bad will go bad.” Rosales’ car probably will overheat.
If Rosales doesn’t make it by game time, Baker will be two players down. Jerry Hairston Jr. isn’t on the DL but he can’t play. So without Rosales the Reds will be facing the Houston Astros with 23 players.
And what can you do about it?
“You just deal with it,” said Baker with a shrug as he glanced at his office TV, which was televising the Little League World Series.
“Most fun I ever had in baseball,” said Baker, pointing to the screen. “I did the Little League World Series for ESPN last year. Man, that was fun. Those kids can play and they show exuberance.”
(We’ll pause here while you insert your own caustic comment on a team that can play and shows exuberance.)
Speaking of Hairston, Baker said he won’t play tonight or tomorrow, “But decision time is near. We’re hopeful he can play Tuesday in Pittsburgh. That’s decision time.” If not, Hairston probably will land back on the DL, but Baker said Hairston appears to be getting closer every day.
Speaking of exuberance, I told Jay Bruce today that fans appreciate the way he and Joey Votto play hard every day, try hard every day, despite their location in the standings.
“That’s how I play, how I was taught, how I learned - the only way I know how,” said Bruce. “It’s all about playing the game the right way, no matter how bad it is and how bad it looks or how much you struggle as a team.”
Bruce has a promise for frustrated fans who have born witness to eight years of miserable, lousy, frustratingly bad baseball.
“Not only me and Joey Votto, but the whole team is going to be fun to watch for a long time and in the near future,” he said. “This team is going to be fun to watch play. I know fans are tired of hearing it, but just be patient a little while longer.
“We have all the pieces here, we just have to put it together,” he said. “I understand the fans. That’s fans for you. But we can’t, as a team, can’t worry about that because we have to take care of our business. This is a baseball town that has been spoiled in the past. We’re not going to be the Big Red Machine or anything, but this team is going to be fun to watch for a very long time.”
Remember, that comes from a 22-year-old kid who has just arrived and hasn’t suffered the incredibly bad baseball this town has endured. He wants to be right. He thinks he’ll be right.
But fans who have heard nothing but lip service for a long, long time wonder one thing: “Are we having fun yet? No. When does the fun begin?”
My mother-in-law wants to know, too.
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TweetVolquez learned the hard way
As expected, Aaron Harang will pitch Sunday against the Houston Astros and Edinson Volquez gets two extra days of rest due to Monday’s off day.
While it is OK with Volquez, to a point, he is not happy that people keep saying he is tired because he pitched in winter ball.
“I pitched eight innings of winter ball,” he said. “How can that make me tired? I pitched more innings in spring training.”
Volquez also is keeping Johnny Cueto on a positive level, despite the fact Cueto was 0-3 in his last five starts before facing the Astros Friday.
“He’s lucky,” said Volquez. “He’s 7-11 in his first year. I was 1-11 when I started - 0-6 my first year and 1-5 to start my second year.”
Of his extra days off, Volquez said, “I threw a bullpen today and felt really good. I’m ready to pitch. But I told Dusty Baker that it’s OK (the extra days). It just gives me two extra days to work.”
So how did he keep his confidence above the water table? How does a guy like Homer Bailey, 0-6 this year, keep from climbing atop the Roebling Bridge?
“I had a lot of old guys next to me, like Vicente Padilla and Francisco Cordero (in Texas),” said Volquez. “They kept telling me, ‘You know you can pitch in the big leagues, just keep working.’ That’s what I kept in my mind, even when I was 1-11. Keep confident. I knew I could sometime have a year like this year.”
Said Baker, “Volquez is very upset that people think he’s tired. Actually, sometimes you just go through stretches - I mean like Bronson Arroyo. For a while it looked like Bronson couldn’t beat anybody. Now look at him (a winner in six of his last seven start). It’s hard to go a whole year and just be great. I haven’t seen many. When you do, that’s a Cy Young year.
“Does it make it any easier? No. But you’re going to go through it,” Baker added.
And then there is the case of Bailey - about the same age now as when Volquez went 1-11.
“Correrct, exactly,” said Baker. “Then Dick Pole assured Bailey about how Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine started in their first years. They were terrible - bad records. And they’re headed for the Hall.”
And what does Baker tell Bailey?
“No. 1, he has to believe in himself,” said Baker. “No. 2, that’s why I left him in there in his last start, to give him an opportunity to win. Whenever I can give a kid a chance to win early in a game, I’m going to give it to him. That’s part of the building of a pitcher.
“And most of the time you learn more from losses than wins,” Baker added. “You learn more about yourself, learn more about the opposition, more about the importance of every pitch and how to win. That’s a tough lesson sometime.”
Bailey’s learning curve should be very high, although it is a tough, tough lesson. But he can ask Volquez how to be a survivor.
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TweetA view from the outside
A man I have known a long time, a scout for years and years who has watched the Cincinnati Reds, asked me a question before Thursday’s game:
“Have you ever seen a Reds team so lifeless, so dead, so disinterested?”
I answered honestly: “Never. This team looks like nine mannequins, nine fire hydrants, nine pine trees at Christmas time, nine que-tips in a stand-up box.
It’s the old which comes first, the chicken or the egg? In this case, which comes first, the losing or the lethargy? The lethargy or the losing? When you lose 11 of 13, you not only look bad, you ARE bad.
Actually, these days the Reds play like chickens with egg on their faces.
The long-time observer said, “I saw Homer Bailey three years ago and thought good things about him. Iee him now and there is no fire, no consistency and no sense of confidence. He used to have the hammer - a big, breaking curve. That’s gone. The last time he pitched he threw it for one strike. One.”
Another guy in the know, from out of town, said he couldn’t believe the abuse Adam Dunn gets. He hears it when he sits in the stands.
“Now that Ken Griffey Jr. is gone, if they let him go those same people are going to whine about it,” he said. “They better keep him. They need his power and they need him because they have so many young players.”
And another wrinkled his nose when Brandon Phillips was mentioned.
“Nice talent, but I can’t stand the guy. Don’t like his attitude. He does things to make the other team mad. And I couldn’t believe the stuff he said last week about wanting to be the face of the team, the captain, the leader. Very next game he didn’t run out a ground ball. Some leader.”
And so it goes with the intreprid warriors on the banks of the Ohio.
A defeat Thursday was a given. Roy Oswalt. 20-1 before the night began and 21-1 after. The Reds can’t beat him when he is ordinary, and he is ordinary this year and was very ordinary tonight. The Reds got nine hits off him in seven innings, but one run.
What the heck is it, anyway?
The question of the night: How did he lose the one game?
Asked how one pitcher can be 21-1 against his team, manager Dusty Baker said with a shrug, “A 5-0 lead doesn’t hurt? Psychologically, he knows he can beat us, psychologically his team knows it and, probably, psychologically our team knows it. Plus a lot of great pitching and a lot of luck.
Mostly great pitching, but on this night he was eminently beatable.
It isn’t only Oswalt Syndrome that infects this Reds team — losers in 11 of their last 13, 12 games under .500 and 17 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs.
Although rookie Jay Bruce doubled in the sixth, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, he went 1 for 5, dropped a fly ball for an error and inadmisably tried to go from second to third on a ground ball and was thrown out.
“A tough night for Jay,” said Baker. “A tough night once in the field and a tough night once on the bases. Call it youthful exuberance and he was as upset as anybody. He knew he made a mistake and you won’t see him make it any time in the future because he is a smart ballplayer. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.”
Oswalt usually downplays his mastery over the Reds, perhaps fearing he’ll jinx it, but did issue an indictment with the Reds are often charged.
“I threw a lot of pitches in the first inning, but when we scored a lot of runs it seemed they began swinging early in the count,” he said.
Gee whiz. Where have we heard that one before? Oh, about every night.
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TweetHey, it’s not my fault
Took two days off, didn’t go near the ballpark, only glanced now and then at the TV screen during the games.
Same results. So I know it isn’t my fault.
There was a time during the Bob Boone Era that it seemed every time I took a day off the Reds won. So you know I didn’t take many games off.
As you might expect, things are pretty quiet in manager Dusty Baker’s pre-game office. A lot of silence, a lot of nervous shifting of feet. Not a whole lot to talk about.
And then there was spectre of facing Houston’s Roy Oswalt. How can one pitcher be 20-1 against a team, as Oswalt is against the Reds?
“A lot of good pitching and a lot of good luck,” said Baker. Mostly good pitching.
You know how Lance Berkman kills the Reds and how he has 42 career home runs agains them in only 414 at-bats and a .336 batting average? Well, Berkman has not hit a home run this year since June 30.
Josh Fogg, we pity ye. Berkman might hit three tonight.
With the team 17 games out of first place and only 47 games remain, it really doesn’t matter, but both Jerry Hairston Jr. and Aaron Harang are close to returning.
Hairston tested his hamstring early Thursday, running the bases. Then he insulted Joey Votto.
“If I’m a first baseman, I play tonight,” he said. “If I’m a big ol’ guy playing first base, I play. But I’m a little guy playing center field and I have to run a lot.”
Hairston is shooting for a couple of days more, but Baker says, “There is the Hairston Plan and there is our plan. We’ll see.”
Because the Reds are 17 games out of first place with only 47 to go, it really doesn’t mean that much. But Baker knows the Reds are 28-18 when Hairston starts, “And we want to win as many games as we can.”
There is still talk of finishing above .500, finishing 82-80. Yeah, right. To do that, the Reds would have to go 30-17 the rest of the way.
Yeah, right. And I’m pitching tomorrow.
Good story.
Jolbert Cabrera batted leadoff and played shortstop Wednesday. His brother, Orlando Cabrera, bats leadoff and plays shortstop nearly every day for Chicago.
“That’s the first time we both batted leadoff and played shortstop on the same day in the majors,” said Jolbert. “And I got him, by far.” Jolbert went 2 for 4 with a double, “And he went 1 for 4, with no errors, as usual. The kid is good.”
Aaron Harang threw in the bullpen today and wants to make his next start for the Reds instead of for Louisville, “But I know I need to build up my pitch count. Not pitching is driving me bonkers.”
The reason Baker woiuld like Harang to make his next start for the Reds is so they could back up Edinson Volquez, “Give him an extra day of rest.”
Not that any of this matters in the big picture, right?
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TweetIs it towel-tossing time yet?
What should the Cincinnati Reds do? Is it towel-tossing time? Should they keep trying to win games or should they experiment with lineups and positions?
Maybe they should try Brandon Phillips at shortstop? Maybe they should try Joey Votto in left field? Maybe they should transfer the franchise to Nashville or Spokane? You know, a fresh start?
I’m kidding, I’m kidding.
They are sputtering on three cylinders, spinning their wheels in the muck, their tongues hanging as they chase Pittsburgh and Houston in the National League Central.
Never mind Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Louis. Those three teams are distant cousins in faraway domains.
That doesn’t faze Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker, doesn’t make him want to give up the ghost of 2008 and think about 2009.
“Never quit. Never say die. Never,” he said before Monday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Despite losing eight of the previous nine that included three straight to the pathetic Washington Nationals, the Reds showed some spunk by stopping the Brewers, 6-3, behind Bronson Arroyo’s pitching and hitting.
Arroyo held the second-place Brewers to one run and four hits over six innings and drove in the game’s first runs with a two-run double in the fourth.
Asked if it isn’t about time to think about next year and tinker with things, Baker said, “Not for me. Most of the guys who are pretty close to being major-league players are here already and have been most of the year. It isn’t like we have 10 prospects at Triple-A who are ready to take a job up here.
“I always want to win, no matter who I put out there,” he added. “It has been only a few seasons that I went into September and it didn’t mean anything,” Baker added. “And it’s only August.
“In our division, a lot can turn around in a hurry,” he added. “If you get hot, man, I’ve seen it. People think I’m the eternal optimist, but I can be that because I’ve seen that and done that.
“You try to finish as high as you can finish,” he said. “These are primo times for somebody. When you are playing inside your division the last two months as much as we are, well, it might as well be us.”
That is talk from high in a steeple, an unlikely scenario, but for one night the Reds seemed interested and dedicated to winning a game.
“It has been a struggle,” he said. “But you keep fighting and you keep struggling. You don’t look back. You look forward. Keep the spirits high.”
Looking only one day back, the Reds are now 1-0.
Jeff Keppinger opened the bottom of the first with a walk, but the Reds didn’t have another base runner until Jolbert Cabrera broke up Manny Parra’s no-hit thoughts with a one-out single in the fifth.
Parra then walked Jay Bruce and David Ross to fill the bases and Arroyo banged a two-run double into the left field corner. Joey Votto pulled a two-run single to right and Parra’s no-hitter was now a 4-0 Reds’ lead.
Arroyo has four hits in his last six at-bats and said with a smile, “I came in on an off day with one of my buddies and I changed my stance a little bit hitting in the cage, messing around. I was joking around and I said I was going to try it and it has been working.
“It’s always luck when we (pitchers) get hits, but I’m feeling good at the plate,” he said. “I’m crouching a little more and widened my stance to see if I could stay back on breaking stuff.”
Spoken like a true Pete Rose.
Arroyo was nicked for a run in the sixth, but Bruce got two back in the bottom half.
Dropped to seventh in the order to protect him from the lefthanded Parra, Bruce drove his 10th homer the opposite way over the left field wall for a 6-1 lead.
“When you are lefthanded and hit a home run to left field off a lefthander, that means you’re staying on the pitch, not pulling off,” said Baker. “He hit a tough pitch.”
Bruce smiled when it was mentioned he was dropped from third to seventh on this night because Parra might have been too tough.
“Dusty has no evidence as to why he shouldn’t do that, but I know that I’ll have no problems with lefties soon enough,” he said. “You have to respect his decision. It’s logical for right now until I show him otherwise. I will. It’s just a matter of time.”
After Parra left the game in the seventh, he and his first baseman, Prince Fielder, engaged in a brief dugout shoving match when Parra was walking toward the tunnel to leave and Fielder didn’t like Parra leaving the scene.
“That’s our first win since Ken Griffey Jr. was traded and it is always a shock to a team when a guy who has been here a long time gets traded,” said Baker.
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TweetDon’t feed your suitcase
As a service to travelers, I have a warning. Your suitcase can grow in height. Really.
When I left Dayton for Washington on Airtran, my suitcase was fine. Passed muster and inspection.
Then this morning, the Airtran agent in Baltimore says, “That’s an extra $29.” I checked the scale and it said 47.5 pounds - well under the 50-pound limit.
“What for?” I asked.
“Your bag is oversized, two inches too tall,” she said.
So my bag grew two inches in three days in Washington. Amazing. I didn’t argue. I paid my $29.
While the Reds were on the road, a columnist wrote that the trouble with the Reds is the leather chairs and couches in the clubhouse and they should be removed and replaced with upright chairs.
That raised the dander of clubhouse Rick Stowe.
“Let’s see, Tampa Bay has couches in the clubhouse,” he said. “Milwaukee has couches in the clubhouse. The Chicago Cubs have recliner chairs all over the clubhouse. So I guess if you are in first place you can have couches and recliners. But if you’re in last place, you can’t have them?”
It does seem a bit ludicrous. I mean, I can’t recall the last time I saw a couch hit a home run or get picked off second base.
HOMER BAILEY still can’t get over his appearance two starts ago against Colorado when he gave up 15 hits - 14 singles one double and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
“Fourteen singles,” said Bailey. “Seems like if anybody can do that, I can. Dick Pole (pitching coach) told me he has been in the game 40 years and never saw anything like that. I said I’ve been in the game four years and never saw anything like that.”
Speaking of couches, they didn’t take one out of Dusty Baker’s office, they put a new one in, “And I didn’t ask for it,” he said. “But (GM) Walt Jocketty likes it.”
About that time Baker spotted two quarters between the cushions, pocketed them and said, “Thanks, Walt. When I was a kid, my dad had a recliner and every time he got up and left the room I ran to it and dug out all the change.”
WHO DO YOU think should have been NL Player of the Month for July? Adam Dunn hit .310 with 12 homers and 26 RBIs. Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun hit .366 with nine homers and 23 RBIs.
Yeah, Braun won. Not only that, Milwaukee pitcher CC Sabathia was named NL Pitcher of the Month, “And the Brewers didn’t get him until July 5,” said Milwaukee writer Tom Haudricourt. But he was 5-0 for the Brewers.
A break for the Reds? During these three games against the Brewers they face neither Sabathia nor Ben Sheets. Of course, they face Dave Bush (5-9, 4.69) Tuesday and they’ll probably make him look like Walter Johnson.
WITH LEFT-HANDER Manny Parra (9-4, 3.93) on the mound Monday, Baker had an interesting lineup — Edwin Encarnacion batting third, Jolbert Cabrera playing right and batting sixth and Jay Bruce back in center field and batting seventh.
“This kid is tough, tough on left-handers, a tough little pitcher,” Baker said of Parra. “Young and good. And he isn’t far from where I’m from, just down the street actually.
“Trying to get some right-handers in there,” Baker added. “Bruce is going to hit third most of the time and third against some lefties, but I thought it would be better to put Eddie third against this kid, especially the way Eddie hits lefties.”
Is Bruce a No. 3 now or a No. 3 later?
“Depends on how he handles it and I think he can handle it big-time,” said Baker. “It’s now or later, but you have to find out sometime. You protect him sometimes against some lefties, like this guy.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check my laptop computer bag to make sure it isn’t growing.
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Tweet‘Players Only’ meeting a dud
A players-only meeting a couple of hours before the game certainly wasn’t to discuss how best to divide playoff money shares.
The Cincinnati Reds are going nowhere but to golf courses, fishing ponds and hunting fields when the regular season ends.
But give them an ‘A’ for at least trying to talk out their troubles, an in-house clear-the-air chat that came after they lost two straight to the Washington Nationals, who had lost nine straight.
Didn’t work. The Reds were as awful as usual and lost their third straight to the Nationals, 4-2, and have lost eight of their last nine.
More gore? Over their last 12 games against below .500 teams they are 3-9. They’ve had losing records in 21 of their last 24 trips. They are 10 games under .500 for the first time this season. They are a season-worst 16 games out of first place.
In short, they are deader than Abner Doubleday.
Manager Dusty Baker was correct when he said what is discussed must be transferred to the playing field.
It wasn’t on this day.
The Nationals scored four runs in the first, a couple of extra scoring when Adam Dunn permitted a base hit to skip past him to the wall. And Brandon Phillips was picked off second base with the team four runs down with one out and two on. Later he hit into a double play with two on and none out.
Said Dunn, “It wasn’t so much a meeting as an open forum. And everybody had in-put. Things not needed to be accomplished got accomplished. It isn’t like we’re not playing hard. We’re playing hard but just not getting it done. Trying hard doesn’t get it done, apparently. It’s all about production and we’re not doing it.
“We’re beating ourselves,” added Dunn. “They’re making every single play in the field and we’re making none. Like today. First inning. The ball is hit at me and I should at least knock it down and I can’t even do that.”
And the meeting/open forum?
Baker is not big on meetings, but gave his permission.
“As long as they ask permission, which they did, it’s fine with me,” said Baker. “We used to do that in LA, except we didn’t ask. We just kicked Tommy Lasorda out.
“Can’t tell you who, but a couple of ‘em came in and asked if it was OK and I said yes,” Baker said.
Baker, though, says not much happens after these meetings.
“I think we overmeet as a society,” said Baker. “My opinion. You can talk, but you have to follow through in your talking and put it into action. I’ve done motivational speaking and the first thing I tell them is, ‘I can only motivate you for a little while. Motivation comes from within, but one thing I can do is light your pilot light so it burns inside you.’”
Baker said former San Francisco manager Roger Craig once told him, “Don’t let them have a Players Only meeting because it looks as if you’ve lost the team. I love Roger Craig, but I never believed that. Thanks for the advice. If you feel secure in yourself, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Baker agrees that if a manager says no to a Players Only meeting, then the manager feels threatened.
“I had a meeting Friday after Ken Griffey Jr. was traded,” said Baker. “After my meetings, I always ask if anybody has anything to say and invariably nobody does. I hope that’s not the case in the players meeting - I hope they all have something to say.
“We have so many young guys on our team and they need to hear from some of the older players - like I used to hear from Hank Aaron and like when I was with the Dodgers they used to hear from Davy Lopes, Reggie Smith and me,” Baker said.
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TweetAs ugly as ugly can be
Any of the Cincinnati Reds who did anything interesting before Saturday’s game - like Aaron Harang going to The Spy Museum - well, they should have stayed there and not come to Nationals Park Saturday night.
It was awful and ugly and, well, embarrassing.
I mean, there is a reason Washington pitcher Jason Bergmann lugged an 1-8 record to the mound in Nationals Park to face the Cincinnati Reds Saturday night.
And the Reds exposed him - five runs in the second inning. When they chased him off the mound after six, they owned a four-run lead.
From the time Reds scored five in the second until the end the scored one more run and two more hits (both by Corey Patterson) and the bullpen suffered a nuclear meltdown during a 10-6 defeat.
It was the Reds’ eighth loss in nine games and second straight to the Nationals, losers of nine straight before the Reds rolled into town.
The Reds made three errors and two helped account for four runs and a Gary Majewski wild pitch permitted another to score.
“Every day, we’re making errors, and making them at the wrong time,” said manager Dusty Baker.
The turning-point error was made by second baseman Brandon Phillips in the seventh, a potential inning-ending double play that instead bounced off his writer, permitting the tying run to score and and two more scored after that.
“A double play ball and we thought we were out of the inning,” said Baker. “Brandon is usually as sure-handed as heck. There is none better than Brandon. It shocked us all. That opened the gates. Boy, that was a terrible game, an ugly game we played.”
Some of Phillips’ teammates probably weren’t as shocked as Baker, because before Friday’s first game Phillips warned his teammates that the infield was soft and fast.
“Elijah Dukes hit the ball hard and it just ate me up,” said Phillips. “It hit the grass and skipped on me off my wrist. I told everybody before Friday’s game, ‘Guys, you’re going to make errors on this field. You have to read the ball good off the bat because the field is bouncy and fast.’
“Things happen,” Phillips added. “You can’t catch ‘em all and you learn from your mistakes.”
For baseball purists, the early going was abysmal. For the Reds, the late going was abysmal.
The Nationals put five of their first six batters on base in the first inning against Josh Fogg and he was fortunate to give up only two runs. After Austin Kearns and Jesus Flores poked run-scoring singles with one out, Fogg coaxed an inning-ending double play out of Alberto Gonzalez.
The Reds didn’t mess around in the second after Bergmann walked Edwin Encarnacion.
Before the carnage ended, Joey Votto had a three-run double and Jay Bruce had a two-run homer to give the Reds a 5-2 lead.
Two bunts netted the Reds a run in the sixth. Patterson bunted hard to Bergmann, but second baseman Emilio Bonifacio was late covering first and Bergmann’s throw ended up in right field and Patterson ended up at third.
With Patterson running on the pitch, a suicide squeeze, Paul Bako dropped a run-scoring bunt to make it 6-2.
After that, it was as if the Nationals were playing the game by themselves.
Things tensed in the sixth after a one-out double by Gonzalez. Bill Bray, who hadn’t pitched in the previous five games, replaced Fogg and after he retired one batter he gave up a pinch-hit home run to Ronnie Belliard, cutting the lead to 6-4.
Mike Lincoln hadn’t given up a run in 19 innings when he replaced Bray in the seventh, but when the fog lifted four runs had been charged to his name and the Reds trailed, 8-6.
“Lincoln has been pitching great and the balls got through,” said Baker. “He made a real good pitch on Austin Kearns but he got it through the infield. That could have been a double play. Any one of several could have been a double play, but they found the holes.”
Some strange things happened, including the rare error by Phillips. After his error made it 6-6, Washington pinch-hitter Pete Orr, who had 18 major-league RBIs in his 398 major-league at-bats, poked a two-run single to left for an 8-6 Nationals lead.
“This is the big leagues and no matter who it is you just can’t let ‘em back in the door,” said Baker.
Lastings Milledge homered off Gary Majewski to start the eighth. Austin Kearns ripped his third hit and it skipped past Bruce in right for an error and Kearns landed on third, scoring on Majewski’s wild pitch to make it 10-6 on the scoreboard and a 10 on the ugly meter.
“We’re probably last in defense in the league right now,” said Baker. “That goes with being in last place in the standings. That just puts too much pressure on your pitchers.”
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TweetGriffey thanks Reds fans
Two days after his trade to the Chicago White Sox, Ken Griffey Jr. sent a message back to Cincinnati through his Cincinnati-based agent, Brian Goldberg.
The message was all-encompassing in expressing his appreciation for his nine years with the Reds. And he also apologized for his actions and words expressed last Saturday toward broadcaster Jeff Brantley after he homered and made a throat-cutting gesture toward the broadcast booth.
The message:
“I would like to thank the Cincinnati Reds organization for allowing me to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing for my hometown team. I will always value the lasting friendships I have with the Lindner, Castellini and Williams families.
“While my nine seasons there were filled with personal highlights — like hitting my 400th, 500th and 600th home runs in a Reds uniform — and the negatives of having to fight through too many injuries, my biggest regret is that we were not able to win a world championship while I was there.
“I also would like to thank my many teammates, managers, coaches and Reds employees for their help and support and to acknowledge the many friendly relationships I had with most of the members of the local media. I will miss the banter.
“Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank Reds fans for their support. I really do understand that the overwhelming majority of fans wanted so badly for me to succeed. Additionally, I would like to sincerely apologize to those fans offended by my wrongful actions last Saturday night. It was an overreaction on my part to what I felt was a series of public inaccurate and unfair remarks about me.”
“I wish nothing but success for the Reds both on and off the field.”
Sincerely, Ken Griffey Jr.
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TweetAnother accidental tourist
After watching the Cincinnati Reds implode in front of baseball’s worst team, the Washington Nationals, Friday night, I went to Shelley’s Back Room.
It isn’t somebody’s den or a tawdry, bawdy bar, it is a cigar bar, the only public place in Washington where you can smoke. T’was fun, even the $11 Gloria Cubana that usually costs $5.50.
And with Nadine on the trip, I had to do my husbandly tourist duties Saturday morning-afternoon. She has a pedometer, so I know I walked more than six miles.
We walked from the Mayflower-Renaissance Hotel to the Lincoln Memorial, plus 58 steps up to where Honest Abe is seated. We walked to the Vietnam War Memorial. We walked to the Korean War Memorial. We walked the length of the Reflecting Pool to the World War II Memorial and the Washington Monument.
Then we cabbed it to the Newseum, where I bougth two t-shirts on which is written, “Trust Me, I’m a Reporter,” and, “Not Tonight, Darling, I’m on Deadline.” The players particularly like to snicker at the first one.
The day’s only real problem was dodging the goose poop on the sidewalks.
I was particularly impressed with the Korean War Memorial, which has a field of statues of combat soldiers, poised for battle in their ponchos with rifles in their arms and ghoslty war stares on their faces. Gives you the shudders.
The huge World War II Memorial is extremely impressive and we caught a glimpse of Bob Dole, wearing a black suit in the oppressive heat, posing for pictures.
Great lunch, too, at the Elephant & Castle restaurant. Probably had one of the best burgers ever.
Ran into Dusty Baker in front of the hotel and introduced him to Nadine and my 26-year-old nuclear engineer step-son, Chad. Said Baker to Chad, “Big boy. Can you pitch?” Well, he did pitch some at Chaminade-Julienne High School and he couldn’t do any worse than poor Homer Bailey has done in his last two starts.
Then it was subway time to the ballpark: red line two stops, transfer to the green line, fourth stop, Navy Yard, and a four-block walk to the new Nationals ballpark.
Nice park. Sort of like Great American Ball park. Nice, in an OK sort of way, but nothing special, nothing spectacular, nothing memorable.
Baker had the lineup ready at 2:30. Jerry Hairston Jr. was not in it - he was limping badly in the outfield Friday chasing fly balls. Corey Patterson was in center field, but at least he wasn’t batting leadoff.
Jeff Keppinger was batting leadoff, followed by Joey Votto, Jay Bruce (third again), Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn, Edwin Encarnacion, Patterson, Paul Bako and Josh Fogg.
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TweetWhat happened to Homer?
Just when it appears that Homer Bailey found a personality, he misplaced his talent.
On Wednesday night in Houston, he was standing stark naked by his locker right next to Adam Dunn’s. Dunn hit two homers that night and a TV camerman switched on his lights.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” said Bailey. “Let me put on my pants. I don’t want to end up on some video or on YouTube.”
On Friday afternoon, I was sitting in the hotel lobby when a pert young lady walked by, a real head-turned. So I turned my head. Natural, right.
Bailey was walking the other way and saw me and said with a big smile, “What are you looking at?” As if he didn’t know.
Not exactly back-slappers or gut-splitters, but it shows a personality that didn’t exist outwardly last year. Progress.
If he could only show that on the mound, but right now he is regressing. What to do? What to do?
After giving up five runs (four earned) and 15 hits in his previous start against Colorado in 4 2/3 innings, he last only two innings Friday, giving up five runs and seven hits in only two innings.
And this was against the Washington Nationals, a team that had lost nine straight and were 21 games out of first place.
Back in the days of Vaudeville (even before MY time), the Washington Senators were bad, bad, bad and the on-stage gag was: “Washington: First in war, first in peace and last in the American League.”
Only the league and the nickname has changed: “Washington: First in war, first in peace and last in the National League (39-70).
And Bailey can’t get past the second inning, is now 0-5 and is probably Louisville-bound. Again.
New arrival Nick Massek replaced Bailey, one of the two players the Chicago White Sox pushed on the Reds for Ken Griffey Jr. He has been a starter, but his job description has been relief pitcher lately.
That could change. Quickly. He pitched three innings and gave up no runs and one hit. Coiuld he start in Bailey’s place next time through the rotation? Well, he needs stretched out. He was mostly pitching one and two innings in relief for the White Sox.
For his part, Bailey remains upbeat and mentally defiant.
“I was putting it on the tee for them,” he said. “I’m sure there were some good things to take from this and I know there is a whole lot of bad things - including the line score.
“What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, unless they cut your arms off,” said Bailey, flexing both arms. “They’re still attached. You know what? I’ll wake up tomorrow, get in here, bust my butt and keep pushing forward, one way or another. I don’t give a damn. I’m not going to let a couple of bad outings knock me down. I’m going forward no matter what it takes.”
Said manager Dusty Baker, “He is not hitting the corners. He is over the heart of the plate. Those are low percentage spots if you are going to get hitters out at the big-league level. A lot of those balls were down the heart of the plate and they got a lot of hits again in a short period of time.
“They tell he is great in the bullpen and hitting his spots, but he has trouble to transferring it from the bullpen to the mound. I don’t know what that is. A lot of time it is mental when you have it down there and when the game starts you don’t have it.”
Uh, yeah. Ken Griffey Jr. was 2 for 3 with two RBIs in his White Sox debut.
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TweetIt’s time for Bruce, Phillips
The view from the new Nationals Stadium press box is so high it seems as if we’re looking down on the Washington Monument. The Capitol Building dome is easily seen beyond left field from up here — as is Virginia, Maryland and parts of Kansas.
As the Reds open a three-game series tonight, it is the dawn of a new era in Cincinnati Reds baseball, or as manager Dusty Baker called it, “End of the Ken Griffey Jr. Era and the start of the post-Ken Griffey Jr. Era.
“He was one of the finest guys I’ve ever been around, one of the finest superstars I’ve been around,” said Baker. “It’ll be different without him, but it is an opportunity for him — he sure picked up a bunch of games in the standings (with the Chicago White Sox) and creates opportunity for somebody else here.”
Before he got into the future, Baker planned a pre-game clubhouse meeting to talk to the team about the Griffey trade, to let them know how it came down and the ramifications.
As for opportunity for other players, one right now Is Jay Bruce.
To start the post-Griffey era, Baker has installed Jay Bruce into Griffey’s No. 3 spot in the batting order and Griffey’s spot in right field. The No. 3 spot fits him like an old chewed-up slipper, but right field is more like a catcher’s mitt.
Is this for the long haul?
“I don’t know,” said Baker. “We still have to win ballgames. I’m going to give him time. We’ll see. I talked to him about hitting third, about what I required a third hitter to do. Without taking away his aggressiveness, I’d like him to be a little more selective at the plate. Pick his pitch.
“He has batted third most of his life and now we’ll see,” Baker added. “We want the guys in the three, four, five spots to drive in runs as well as score runs. Cut down on the strikeouts. We talked about the more accomplished hitters he could be become — like Carlos Lee to drive in runs and just an outstanding hitter like Lance Berkman.”
Bruce said he is ready, willing and hopes he is able.
“I’ve hit two games No. 3 in the big leagues, but no matter what, it is where I’m used to hitting,” said Bruce. “With Ken here, there was no question who was hitting third and I don’t make out the lineup. I’m just ready to play every day. I will say, I’m used to it and that’s where I’ve hit.
“Leading off was certainly a little different for me,” Bruce added. “I made the best of it, but hopefully this will let me get a little more comfortable and back to normal. Dusty told me I need to focus on quality at-bats and swinging at good pitches. Sometimes I don’t give myself a chance and it’ll come with experience.
“I’m ready for everything that’s coming,” Bruce added. “It is going to be different now that Ken’s gone. It’s a new era. He was the franchise since 2000 and now he’s gone and we’re starting a new time with the Reds. And I’m ready for that.”
What Bruce doesn’t prefer is his switch from center field to right field and said, “I’m more comfortable in center than right, but the plan from the beginning was for me to play right and I welcome that.”
Now that Griffey is gone, who becomes The Face of the Reds? Brandon Phillips said some day he would like to be the face of the Reds and, in fact, said he would like to be what Barry Larkin once was, “The captain. Wear that ‘C’ he wore. But I think they lost that particular ‘C’, ” Phillips said with a laugh.
As for the Face of the Reds, Phillips said that’s up to the organization who they promote, who they push, who they put on billboards, who they put on the cover of the Rolling Stone.
“And you guys, the media, have a lot to do with it,” he said. “You come up with Bruce Almighty and that catches on for Jay Bruce. Whatever you want and whatever the organization wants.
“But I think it is about time for me to step up and fill those shoes that Griffey left, do even better than I’ve done,” Phillips added. “With Griffey gone, it is time for the team to step up and do what we have to do. I’m sad he’s gone. He helped me, made me what I am. Before he left, he told me, ‘Be yourself.’ And that’s what I’m going to do.”
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