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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 > September > 03
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes
Elimination Day was inevitable, a foregone conclusion for the Cincinnati Reds, and it came on a hot steamy September 3 night in Great American Ball Park.
A 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates officially eliminated the Reds from the National League Central title race, but unofficially they eliminated themselves in early May when they first hit double figures in the games behind column.
Of more immediate significance, Edinson Volquez did not get his 17th win, turning over a 4-4 tie after seven. But Jeremy Affeldt and Mike Lincoln gave up two runs in the eighth to leave Volquez at 16-5.
Manager Dusty Baker was mightily disturbed after the game over a missed hit-and-run sign that ended up in a double play and a wild pick-off throw that led to a tie-breaking run.
“Mistakes, man. We just have to quit making mistakes,” he said. “You especially can’t make ‘em in one-run games.”
Volquez pitched well enough to be 17-5, but it wasn’t to be after he gave up four runs, six hits, one intentional walk and struck out a career-best 13.
Volquez was at his Eliot Ness best for three innings — untouchable (nine up, nine down). He needed only 35 pitches for those three innings.
Then he singled in the bottom of the third and ran the bases and, as he said, “That’s never usually a good thing for me.”
The economy and efficiency evaporated in the fourth when he needed 27 pitches for that one inning, giving up two runs on three doubles.
The Reds tied it in the fourth with two runs, all the action coming with two outs and nobody on. Joey Votto homered, then Edwin Encarnacion walked, took third on Jay Bruce’s double and scored on a passed ball.
Chris Dickerson’s sixth home run in his 19th major-league game with two outs in the fifth gave the Reds a 3-2 lead. It was a 425-foot drive the opposite way, to left center, and Baker said, “
Pittsburgh retrieved the lead, 4-3, in the sixth when the first four reached base, including run-scoring singles by Ryan Doumit and Adam LaRoche, ending LaRoche’s 0 for 16 slide.
The Reds tied it, 4-4, in the sixth when Votto tripled to the right field corner and scored on Encarnacion’s single over third base.
Affeldt replaced Volquez in the eighth and the Reds resumed their sloppy ways.
Nate McLoth singled and then came the errant pick-off throw. Affeldt’s attempt eluded first baseman Votto and Baker said, “That ball was just air mailed (with not enough postage, obviously).” McLoth ended up on third and scored on another Adam LaRoche single.
“Mike Lincoln made two great pitches on LaRoche, then hung a slider,” said Baker. “Another mistake.”
Andy LaRoche then poked a one-out single for the 6-4 margin.
The Reds scored once in the eighth on pinch-hitter Ryan Hanigan’s bases loaded walk, cutting it to 6-5, but pinch-hitter Andy Phillips struck out.
And there were two incidents in the seventh — a positive one for the Reds and a negative one.
Pinch-hitter Wilkin Castillo led the inning with a single. With one out, the hit-and-run sign was flashed. Castillo missed it and Jeff Keppinger hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
“Young guys coming up (Castillo) have to learn and get the signs,” said Baker. “We were happy for him getting his first major-league hit, but then he missed the hit-and-run sign.
“Keppinger hit that ball right where he was supposed to, right at the second baseman,” said Baker.
But Castillo wasn’t running on the pitch, so the second baseman didn’t rush to cover second. Instead he fielded Keppinger’s ball and started the inning-ending double play, “When we should have had first and third with one out. That was big.”
As ever, Volquez was smiling and upbeat after the game, claiming that 20 victories was not on his mind.
“If I win two of the next five or if I get 18 or 19 wins, I’ll be happy,” hew said. “This is my first year and that’s pretty good. That would be great.”
Volquez said he was ready to go back out for the eighth inning, when the Pirates scored their two winning runs off Affeldt and Lincoln, but they stopped him.
“I was ready and I was feeling good, but I had 117 pitches and they said that was enough,” said Volquez.
“He had 107 after six and normally that would have been enough,” said Baker. “But we let him go out for the seventh to give him a chance to win his 17th.”
And, yes, the Pirates came to town with a 10-game losing streak before decking the Reds two nights in a row.
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TweetIs all this a big joke?
And the travel complications continue - even at home.
Poor Larry Glass, my driver for home games, is as reliable as the morning rooster, usually early, never late. And never a problem.
Except Wednesday. He pulled into my driverway in his truck, accidentally kicked something under his dashboard and the truck quit. Refused to start. Larry called his son, Brian, who works at the paper, and he brought his car and Larry drove me to the park in that car.
I was an hour late, but I caught a break. I didn’t miss manager Dusty Baker’s pre-game media briefing. It was Team Photo Day (the snapping thereof), so he didn’t meet with us until after that.
Now there is a team photo that all Reds fans should want. Three years from now, they can check it out and say, “Who’s this? Who’s that? Who’s this? Who’s that?”
Said team equipment/clubhouse manager Rick Stowe, tongue deeply imbedded in his cheek: “My best team photo ever. Been in ‘em since 1983. My best ever.”
So what’s happening on the team front?
If the Reds lose tonight to the Pirates, or if the Cubs beat the Astros tonight, it’s all over. The Reds will be done - mathematically eliminated from winning the NL Central. On September 3. Thirteen years without a division title, eight years without a winning record.
Remember, though. Be patient. Be very patient. They Reds are not going to lose any more. Who said that? And scanning the empty seats at game time reminds me of a story Bill Veeck once told about when he owned the old St. Louis Browns in the American League. A fan called and asked him, “What times does the game start tonight?” His answer: “What time can you be here?”
SAW CLOTHES in Ken Griffey Jr.’s old locker, the first time anything has been there since he was traded July 31. Was he back? Naw, it’s occupied by rookie Wilkin Castillo. Kinda strange, though. There are many, many empty lockers.
But what the heck? Pitcher Ramon Ramirez is dressing in Adam Dunn’s old spot, complete with the black African masks hanging on the wall.
WE ALL KNOW Edinson Volquez was after his 17th victory Wednesday on a march toward 20. How about this? Aaron Harang is 4-15. With the possibility of five more starts, if he loses the first four, would Baker permit Harang to lose 20?
“I’d try not to let that happen,” said Baker. “But I’d leave it up to him. He’s had a tough enough year. Hey, Steve Carlton lost 20 games in a year and he’s in the Hall of Fame.”
And you know what worries me most? Getting home tonight?
Comedian Mike Birbiglia is going to be in Dayton at the Victoria theatre Thursday September 18. He has invited me to be his guest and I’m going to be there. Birbiglia, not knowing my eye condition, made fun of me at the New York Baseball Writers dinniner in 2003. And he has used the incident in his show, including a show on Comedy Central.
We’ve e-mailed back-and-forth. Looking forward to it. If you’re not busy that night, he’s a funn guy - even though at the New York Baseball Writers dinner I got up and said about him, “Some baseball writers can’t write and some comedians can’t tell jokes.”
He can tell ‘em.
HEY, DONB51. Never once, not once, did I EVER call Adam Dunn a superstar. Or even a star. Not once. I always made fun of his defense - and to his face, too. I said he worked hard on it and did get better, but I NEVER said he was good defensively or that he was a superstar.
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I did say he was valuable offensively and I stick to those words. The Reds will not find a replacment who can hit 40 homers, drive in 100, score 100 and, yes, walk 100. I don’t care how the team is structured, his 100 walks help lead to his 100 runs and last time I check scoring runs was the object of this game.
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