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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 > 04
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Fogg or Ramirez - Need you ask?
A decision that faced the Cincinnati Reds was decided by a strained right groin.
The decision? Josh Fogg or Ramon Ramirez?
Fogg is 2-7 with a 7.58 earned run average. It isn’t likely he’ll be with the Reds next season.
Ramirez is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two outstanding appearances in the last week, his first two major-league appearances. There is a chance Ramirez will be with the Reds next season.
Shouldn’t he be pitching instead of Fogg? The Reds didn’t see it that way Thursday and Fogg started — giving up five runs and four hits in three innings.
Then he trundled home from third base in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly and strained his right groin.
The soon-to-be 26 Ramirez, a righthander, replaced Fogg and pitched three perfect innings — nine up, nine gone — as the Reds worked their way methodically back into the game and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6, scoring three runs in the eighth.
It isn’t likely Fogg will make his next start, so Ramirez steps in, continuing his audition for next season and beyond.
“That’s why we put Ramirez into the game in that situation,” said manager Dusty Baker. “This was a potential start day for him. Fogg’s groin situation is a dangerous situation for a pitcher.
“The way the young man (Ramirez) has pitched he certainly earned the right to start,” Baker added. “The way the kid is throwing, how do you not consider giving him strong consideration.”
In his major-league debut, an emergency start last Saturday, he held the San Francisco Giants to three runs and five hits over seven innings and turned a 6-3 lead over to the bullpen, which promptly blew it up and Ramirez received no decision.
“My confidence was very high today and every time I pitch I try to be positive,” said Ramirez. “I’ll be ready any time they need me, in the bullpen or starting. I’m working hard and I’m ready for anything.
Said Baker of Ramirez’s day, “He threw great, just excellent. When you’re down 5-0, that’s what you want — a guy to come in a throw zeros. Stop the scoring, give us a chance to come back. Impressive. He doesn’t appear nervous, rattled or scared. And he throws strikes, including off-speed pitches for strikes, which is great for a young pitcher.”
After falling behind, 5-0, with Fogg on the mound, the Reds chipped away, or as Baker put it, “We slow-walked ‘em with a bunch of ones until we could get that crooked number (three in the eighth).”
The Reds scored one run in each inning from the second through the sixth to tie it, 5-5. And it was 6-6 in the eighth when the Reds filled the bases and Joey Votto poked a tie-breaking, game-winning single.
“He is a clutch RBI man and he is getting better, that’s what I like,” said Baker. “He is more confident and more comfortable.”
Said Votto, who also homered in the fifth and batted .382 in August and drove in 18 runs, “Just one of those stretches and I don’t know why. We’re trying to win as many games as we can to transfer into next year and I’m trying to do as well as I can and hope that transfers into next year as well.”
Votto had two hits, drove in two and scored one. Jay Bruce also homered, his 15th. Votto’s was his 17th and the Reds will be baseball’s only team with two rookies with 15 or more home runs.
Amazingly, the No. 9 spot in the batting order had four straight hits. Fogg singled in the third, Ramirez singled in the fourth, his first major-league hit, pinch-hitter Andy Phillips singled and scored a run in the sixth and pinch-hitter Corey Patterson beat out a bunt single in the eighth.
The victory enabled the Reds to avoid being swept and Baker said, “It was important because they were gaining on us, trying to get out of the cellar. Sure didn’t start out too good, down 5-0.
“What I like is that we executed — a number of bunts and some double plays,” said Baker. “We played a good game.”
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TweetJottings on a quiet day
IT IS SO QUIET in this ball park that I can hear myself think, and that’s scary. And the second scariest part is that it is the first inning and it is so quiet you can hear a pennant drop (for the eighth straight year). I heard a fan whispering sweet nothings into his girlfriend’s ear.
SOMEBODY LOOKED at the lineup cards of both team before Thursday’s Pirates-Reds game and said, “Looks like they could be the lineup cards for the first spring training game in 2009 between the Pirates and Reds (one of about nine each spring).”
Maybe the optimism for this year’s team came from the fact the Reds play the Pirates so many times in spring training.
WHEN A MAJOR League scout heard that manager Dusty Baker was upset that rookie Wilkin Castillo missed a hit-and-run sign during Wednesday’s game, the scout said: “Get used to it. I’m sure that wasn’t the first sign he missed and I KNOW it won’t be the last.”
SAW KENT MERCKER sitting in front of his locker after Wednesday’s game. Dang if I didn’t forget he is on this team.
Reminded me of when Will McEnaney pitched for the Reds. The Springfield native had an identical twin and once in awhile he would have his brother walk into the clubhouse, put on Will’s uniform and have him sit in front of his locker. Not one person ever caught on until Will owned up to it.
THEY TELL ME the three Reds-Cubs games this weekend are nearly sold out. Oh, my. Welcome to Wrigley Southeast. Here’s a suggestion: Have the Reds wear road gray and let the Cubs wear home white.
FOR THE LAST time, Corey Patterson is NOT engaged to Baker’s daughter. They aren’t even dating. They aren’t even talking on the telephone. Put that one to rest.
I’M THINKING about changing my name to Tres Uno (31 was my baseball uniform number most of the time). Actually, that byline would look pretty cool, wouldn’t it: By Tres Uno, Staff Writer. But I don’t think The Real Uno really fits.
INSTEAD OF introducing the starting lineups Thursday, they should have had the players go into the stands and introduce themselves to the few fans who wandered in. And the Reds could have made it Guaranteed Foul Ball Day for fans in the stands.
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