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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.

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September 2008

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Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > September > 05 > Entry

Bronson Arroyo: Sesenta y Uno

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 5, 2008, 11:15 PM

While thousands and thousands of Chicago Cubs fans found their way easily to Great American Ball Park, Cubs manager Lou Piniella had a near Gilligan’s Island type trip.

What figured to be a five-hour trip by car from Chicago to Cincinnati Saturday turned into an eight-hour tour of Ohio because Piniella and the driver, first base coach Matt Sinatro, got lost and had a See Ohio trip.

It was apropos. Piniella’s team has completely lost its way, losing to the Cincinnati Reds 10-2, the Cubs’ sixth straight loss.

Jay Bruce hit his first career grand slam and drove while Bronson Arroyo won his 14th game, 10th in his last 13 decisions.

And Arroyo, tearing a page from Chad Johnson — nee Ocho Cinco — unveiled his new name, which was on his back after the game: Sesenta y uno (61).

Before he did an interview, he laughingly said he wouldn’t answer to any other name and he had a right to do it, “Because my father is Cuban and I am Hispanic so I can do it for real.”

Arroyo said the idea came to him after watching TV all day, “And I’m at home watching that and I’m just dying. I said, ‘Man, he’s on every freaking talk show in America.”

Piniella’s mind is more cluttered over the barrage of losses and his errant automobile excursion was supposed to be therapeutic.

“I wanted to get my mind off baseball and I certainly did that,” said Piniella. “I was sleeping when we got lost and I probably shouldn’t have slept.”

His team is sleeping, too, and shouldn’t be, not with the Milwaukee Brewers yapping at its feet.

MapQuest sent Piniella and Sinatro across Interstate 80-90 and they should have turned south on I75 near Toledo, but breezed on past. MapQuest had them zeroed in on East Liverpool, near the Pennsylvania border.

“I lived in Ohio three years and never heard of East Liverpool, so I knew something was wrong,” said Piniella. They purchased a good old-fashioned road map and threaded their way down two-lane highways, “With lots of trucks,” until they found I-71 in Columbus.

Piniella and his starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, felt as if they were run over by an 18-wheeler not long after the game commenced.

Joey Votto hit a two-run homer with two outs in the first, his 18th homer, and drove in three runs, the Reds scored three on two hits in the second, then Bruce unloaded his 16th homer, a grand slam, in the fourth.

“That’s the first grand slam in my whole life,” said Bruce. “Never hit one. Ever. It’s a pretty good feeling. I’ve had a lot of firsts this year. It’s always fun to beat the Cubs. You get a little more in your tank when they come to town and you have all the Cub fans here. You notice the difference, so I have a good time doing it and I want to beat them every time.”

When Arroyo struck out the side on 10 pitches to start the game, it portended good things and they materialized as he gave up one run and four hits while walking two and striking out six for his 6 1/3 innings.

None of Chicago’s first three hits left the infield, but Arroyo walked Jim Edmonds to start the seventh and catcher Koyie Hill doubled him home. After Arroyo retired Kosuke Fukodome on his 122nd pitch, manager Dusty Baker came to get him.

“It’s nice to get some runs early against Lilly because he has always pitched tough against teams I played for,” said Arroyo.

And of striking out the side in the first on 10 pitches, he said, “There was some good energy in the crowd tonight and I pained some pitches that caught them off guard, as far as my pitch selection. And that set a good tone.”

Manager Dusty Baker, of course, loves beating his old team, especially with so much at stake for the Cubs.

“Arroyo is really on his game, has been on his game,” said Baker. “That was awesome the way he started. He really had it clicking. That’s a dynamic offensive team over there and Bruce’s grand slam gave us a lot of breathing room.”

Votto and Bruce both homered and both doubled and both scored two runs and Baker is thrilled with his two rookies.

“That’s a wonderful thing right there, especially when the guys get on ahead of them and they’ve been playing very well,” said Baker.

“That was a good one to win right there with all the Cubs fan here,” Baker added. “You want to take those fans out of the game early so they don’t excite their team. We did it early. It is fun to play this kind of series.”

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