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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 > October > 16
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Can the Reds be the 2009 Phillies?
There are defining moments in every baseball game, usually a defining moment.
As for the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night in the NLCS, it was the first batter of the game.
LA pitcher Chad Billingsley slipped two quick strikes past Jimmy Rollins. Then Rollins worked the count to 3-and-2 and on the eighth pitch of his at-bat he popped one into the right field seats.
It was Rollins who hit a leadoff home run in the final game of the NLDS when the Phillies eliminated the Milwaukee Brewers - and as Yogi Berra would say, “It was deja vu all over again.”
I turned to my dog, Barkley (Nadine was getting us ready for a trip to Cancun) and I said, “That’s it. Game over. Series over.”
And I was right.
Billingsley quickly crumbled and the Dodgers were bird seed in the left hand of Phillies starter Cole Hamels, a 24-year-old powder keg who was 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA in his two starts in the NLCS.
So the Phillies are in the World Series for the first time since 1993.
After the game, in the Phillies celebratory clubhouse, general manager Pat Gillick said something that showed complete class.
After the 2005 season, Ed Wade was fired as GM of the Phillies and three years later, Gillick stood in the clubhouse and on national television said, “A lot of the credit for this team must go to Ed Wade, who put most of it together.”
Is that class, or is that class?
It was Wade who was in charge when the Phillies signed players like Rollins and Hamels and Ryan Howard (three hits Wednesday) and Chase Utley and Shane Victorino.
For Gillick to aim credit at a GM fired three years ago showed not only a basket full of class, but supreme confidence in his own status.
OK, can the Cincinnati Reds be the 2009 version of the Phillies? Why not?
Can Edison Volquez be Cole Hamels? Why not?
Can Brandon Phillips be Chase Utley? Why not?
Can Joey Votto be Ryan Howard. Why not?
Can Jay Bruce be Shane Victorino. Why not?
Can Francisco Cordero be Brad Lidge? Why not?
Can Alex Gonzalez be Jimmy Rollins? Why not?
The Reds had their own Pat Burrell in Adam Dunn, but traded him. And the Phillies probably will lose Burrell, too. So both the Reds and Phillies will need a power-hitting righthanded bat in the lineup.
What the Reds don’t have is a catcher like Carlos Ruiz. Can Ryan Hanigan be that guy? Maybe. But most likely the Reds need a strong catcher.
Tell me. Am I being silly here. I mean I look at the Phillies and I look at the Reds and say, “Is there really that much difference?”
The Reds were 4-5 in their nine games last season against Philadelphia.
Maybe the Reds, absent from the NLCS since 1995, can get there in 2009.
Or am I dreaming?
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