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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 > 2009 > July > 09 > Entry
Reds have their phil of Philadelphia
For those who like to deal in rumors, rumors, rumors - check out the blog I posted before Thursday’s game. Should be right below this one.
It is probably better than reading about another shakedown by the Cincinnati Reds. The difference between a world championship team and an also-ran was glaring in this four-game series — three wins by the Philadelphia Phillies by 22-1, 3-2 and 9-6. The Reds won one, 4-3
Her’s the skinny - and it’s very skinny. The Reds are now in sole possession (that means all by themselves) in fifth place. They are ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are a half-game behind fourth-place Houston.
The Reds made more mistakes than a high school dropout doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on this night and what good is it to enumerate them.
The Reds led, 3-0. The Phillies tied it, 4-4. Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homer and they led, 6-4. The Phillies scored the next five.
The most telling thing is that the Reds scored six runs on eight hits against starter Jamie Moyer, then could get NOTHING against a has-been, Chan Ho Park — no runs, no hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
Now that’s embarrassing.
Loved what Phillips said about the Phillies: “Whenever they get runners on base, they turn into the Mighty Phillies or something. Man, they have a good offense.”
And manager Dusty Baker laid down a few things:
He chastised right fielder Chris Dickerson for being a spectator when he should have been backing up center fielder Willy Taveras. A ball hit by Chase Utley caromed away from Taveras several yards toward right field. No Dickerson. Inside the park home run.
He chastised pitcher Josh Roenicke for a late arrival covering first base on a possible double play, then missing the base with his foot on the throw. Instead of an inning-ending double play, a run scored on the play and three more followed.
It was ugly stuff - like the Reds fell out of an ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.
They have three more games before the All-Star break this weekend in New York. Things are slipping away. They are 4 1/2 games behind the division-leading Cardinals and looking over their shoulders as if to say, “Can the Pirates be far behind?”
So we abandon this city, where we have been for four days. I’m taking the Amtrak train to New York tomorrow morning and can’t wait. It is only an hour and 20 minutes and when you arrive you say, “Is that all there is? Can’t I stay on? I don’t want to get off?”
Maybe I’ll ride it on up to Boston — and see some better baseball.
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By Wizard
July 10, 2009 9:52 PM | Link to this
“As for Dusty not having the players, that is true. Still he doesn’t play the best cards in his hand”. I guess this is what I feel most strongly about. Great thought, Jim.
By Wizard
July 10, 2009 9:47 PM | Link to this
Lots of really good posts here. I can’t decide who has the best thoughts. A tip of the hat to you all! Well said.
By Mark in Sun Valley
July 10, 2009 7:05 PM | Link to this
Not having Votto for a month hurt, but seriously, the people who replaced EE and A-Gon have hit better than they did when they were in the line-up. Those injuries actually upgraded our offense. Giving Dusty credit for not pitching his closer and set-up men in a blowout is like giving him credit for dressing himself. This team is playing right to its potential. Honestly, after Votto and Phillips, the rest of our starters would not start on any other team in the league.
By Jack
July 10, 2009 6:10 PM | Link to this
Y-City, you just lost me. Cant take you seriously anywhere. Need an age minimum for the blog. No 12 year olds.
By Y-City Jim
July 10, 2009 5:58 PM | Link to this
I’ll take Votto over any other 1B including Pujols. As for Dusty not having the players, that is true. Still he doesn’t play the best cards in his hand. No one in their right mind expects the Reds to be world beaters but they are capable of playing better if you put the best players on the field. I also don’t want to hear Reds management yapping about defense when they don’t put the best defensive players on the field.
By Mike-Cinci
July 10, 2009 4:53 PM | Link to this
I agree with Wizard and several others that Taveras has been a bust. Dickerson should get more time in CF. That said the Reds still would not be a good team. Janish is a very good fielder but he can’t hit a lick. He is a role player as are Nix and Hairston. The Phillies have better players at every position vs. the Reds except catcher. Compare Ibanez, Victorino, Werth vs. Dickerson Taveras, Bruce(Nix/Gomes). As Hal would say this comparison is embarassing. Compare Howard vs, Votto, Utley vs. Phillips, Rollins vs. Gonzales/ Hairston/Janish, Feliz vs. Encarnacion. Only at catcher do the Reds have an edge. Half the Reds players should be a at Louisville. Blaming Dusty is not fair. He needs better players. Thinking this team can compete with Dickerson, Janish, Bruce, Hanigan, Gomes, Nix, Hairston, playing everyday borders on delusion. These guys are not good enough. Liking them as individuals does not mean we have to like them as everyday players. This team needs better talent. It’s just that simple.
By Jack
July 10, 2009 4:43 PM | Link to this
“No one gives Dusty credit for winning the game on Tuesday by saving Weathers, Rhodes, and Cordero by not pitching them in Monday’s blowout. ” -Yes, because your normal 8-9th inning guys usually pitch in blowouts? Masset and Roenicke each only pitched an inning. I think Dusty would have been okay even if Janish didnt pitch. If you need positive things stated to you, listen to George Grande. If you want reality, listen to Marty and Hal. You sound like one of those guys who needs his son to get a trophy for finishing in 12th place.
By Wizard
July 10, 2009 4:03 PM | Link to this
Chicagoredsfan: It is the managerial mistakes Dusty has made after he lost players-and while he was losing them- that eliminates any talk of good managing for him. His continued playing of WT in centerfield is a big, big mistake. His refusal to at least split time at SS with Gonzo and Janish, when Gonzo was hitting .000, forever, is another example of poor managing! He let Janish sit soooo loooong; he forgot how to hit! To make that decision worse-Dimwit Dusty played Hairston at SS ahead of the excellent arm and glove of Janish-No matter how you look at that, it’s bad managing to weaken the middle of your defense, with such a bad decision. If Hairston takes 3 steps in either direction to field a ball, he has proven that he will screw that up. He is not a SS.Weak arm! Can only play third or, maybe second. 3rd is best, since most hits are right at him at third!Dusty could have made a number of more timely decisions, during the first half. He’s not being FORCED to play anyone! It doesn’t take a very intelligent person to see who should be playing, and where they should be playing-and Jocketty would qualify as intelligent enough to eat WT’s salary, if he sees a better prospect on his present roster!
By Blogcopwatcher
July 10, 2009 3:40 PM | Link to this
MEEE, Ross: You are still a fraud!
By ChicagoRedsFan
July 10, 2009 3:27 PM | Link to this
First, let’s put things into perspective. If someone told you at the end of Spring Training that on July 10th (84 games into the season) that the Reds would be 4 ˝ games out of first place, you would be ecstatic. Then let’s put reality on that fact, with their best player (Votto) missing 30 games, their starting SS has played in only 49/84 games, their starting 3b 26/84 games, and their best pitcher and only all-star (Volquez) from last year has missed half of his starts, you would all bet that the Reds would be at least 10 games out of first and had no chance of contending. Also, the teams #3 starter has underperformed all of our expectations. Arroyo has been awful with an ERA of 5.85 that is almost 1pt higher than their 5th starter Owning’s ERA of 4.96. The fact is Dusty Baker has done a very good job in managing a team that has lost some of its best players to injury for a vast amounts of time. No one gives Dusty credit for winning the game on Tuesday by saving Weathers, Rhodes, and Cordero by not pitching them in Monday’s blowout. Dusty did not chastise Dickerson and Roenicke he just pointed out the mistakes that they made. He needs to do that because they are young big league players that need to learn from their mistakes. I enjoy reading Hal and his blog because some of his posts are interesting and they tell great stories. But calling the Reds “an also-ran” is not a fair thing to say about them. Hal should be a little positive in the ways he describes things. Hal has been way to critical lately. Everyone thought that this year would be a transition year and that they needed a big power hitting bat to really complete. Guess what, they are still only that big power hitting right handed bat away from being in first place. Dusty is managing this team that has a payroll of over 60 million less than the payroll of Lou’s Cubs. Who has done a better managing job this year Dusty or Lou. I would say Dusty. We cannot blame Taveras on Dusty, Walt is the one who signed him to the big contract.
By Gary Maloy Jr.
July 10, 2009 3:17 PM | Link to this
“hasbeen” = has been better than he is today… When Joe Nuxhall was about to retire in the mid-to-late 60’s, he was a “hasbeen” better in the 50’s.
By Y-City Jim
July 10, 2009 1:54 PM | Link to this
Bruce’s numbers will match his MiLB numbers after a season or two. He hasn’t made the adjustments necessary yet but he will. Same holds true of all young MLBers, Look up any the stats on any successful player and you will find that their MiLB numbers predicted their MLB numbers. Janish hasn’t had enough MLB ABs to make those adjustments.
By RC
July 10, 2009 12:40 PM | Link to this
A few things about last night’s debacle: The ball hit towards Phillips was an absolute rocket. I don’t think he was lazy on the play, I just think he didn’t have much time to react. But between that and the missed call at first, it’s not surprising Owings was a little peeved. Secondly, as someone who kind of sticks up for Ramon Hernandez around here, the lame backhanded effort at a ball in the dirt WITH THE BASES LOADED was very disappointing. Really, if the 1B ump makes the right call and Ramon blocks that ball, last night’s game could have had a very different outcome. And thirdly, Taveras was sold to us as an excellent defensive CF, and I bought into that for a while. But after half a season of watching him consistently get bad jumps and take bad lines out there, I ain’t buying it no more. Dickerson has much better instincts in CF (which he obviously doesn’t have in LF or RF - he does deserve a spanking for last night).
By meee
July 10, 2009 11:55 AM | Link to this
Y-City Jim, “As for Janish, if he played everyday he would post the equivalent of his minor league numbers” Huh? What makes you think the pitching in AAA is equivilant to the pitching in the ML? There is a huge difference. Ask Jay Bruce.
By John in Trotwood
July 10, 2009 11:48 AM | Link to this
Folks there is a solid right handed bat the Reds could get for almost nothing and he is Chris Heisey in Louisville. Lets call him up and put him in left field and mos Dickerson to center and get rid of Taveras. Lets give Bruce some shock treatment in Louisville.
By Y-City Jim
July 10, 2009 11:22 AM | Link to this
Make Dickerson the starting CF and Hanigan the starting C or pack your bags, Dusty. As for Janish, if he played everyday he would post the equivalent of his minor league numbers which paired with his defense makes him the best SS on the roster. He has only had 26 ABs (29 PA) in the last month.
By mike
July 10, 2009 11:01 AM | Link to this
Jack, You assume I didnt take into account all that you said, but I did. And the point still holds. Chan Ho Park, is not a hasbeen; he looked good, in that “smarts” replaced what he once had. We cant continue to assume that everytime we fail it’s cause we stink; sometimes credit is due where credit is due. But thanks for responding to my post. My policy, by the way, is to respond once to criticism. But not twice— we dont need this blog clogged with intramural back-and-forth. All best, Mike
By cobra1
July 10, 2009 10:20 AM | Link to this
I feel the starting pitching has been better than I thought it would be at the beginning of the season. But with Arroyo throwing batting practice and Volquez on the DL our rotation is merely average. Dusty needs to realize that Herrera had a lucky stretch earlier this season and he should not be pitching in games that the Reds have a chance of winning. As for Weathers he seems to be overworked. When our starters give up four runs in an inning Dusty should take them out of the game. I do not understand how he can leave pitchers in until they give up six + runs the game is essentially over. I think Tony Larusa could take our roster and be in first place.
By Jack
July 10, 2009 10:07 AM | Link to this
There was no way that the Reds were going to get great pitching all year from the starters, that is just fantasy. We are now starting to see what happens when you wear down the bullpen. Whats up with the hatred of Weathers. He has 13 Holds on the the year compared to 2-3 blown “saves.” He is certainly doing a better then average job. Love hearing the continued gripes about fundamentals from Dusty…yet, nothing changes, I wonder why?
By cobra1
July 10, 2009 10:04 AM | Link to this
Dusty needs to play the right players. I understand the injury bug hit earlier in the season but their is no excuse to not be starting Dickerson everyday in center and Hannigan at catcher. We should get a new manager over the all-star break. Go Reds
By Nick W
July 10, 2009 9:55 AM | Link to this
The reds have been depending on their pitching all year. It is the reason that they stayed around .500 for the first half. Now our starters are not staying in the games as long and thats putting more pressure on the bullpen. And its not just weathers who is struggling, rhodes had some really bad games in a row and herrera is giving up a lot of hits recentely. We all no that our offense is not going to win us many games. I dont know if our pitching staff is just going through a bad stretch of games or that this is how they really pitch and they were just playing above there game earlier. I hope it is the first one but i think it is really the second.
By AP-FORIDA
July 10, 2009 8:52 AM | Link to this
As for Phillips,imo, he sees the writing on the wall about paying for Baker as do others, but BP shows more with body language. Does anybody ese feel the free-falling? I think BP does.
By just the facts
July 10, 2009 8:52 AM | Link to this
Just the facts. The season has just started. The Reds are in 5th and are going to try and hold off the Buccos. What an exciting next few months of baseball. Just the facts Janish is at .234 and sinking. It was documented this guy would be at .210 if he played more. Jocketty has done nothing to help this team/coaching staff. They do not want Cardinal rejects like Rolen. He stays hurt and you cant count on him. Arroyo asnd Weathers are two of the MAIN reasons this team will finish in cellar.
By Jack
July 10, 2009 8:45 AM | Link to this
“has been,” as he was once good, now he does not have it anymore and should not be making the reds look silly. Not a hard one there Mike.
By Mike
July 10, 2009 3:48 AM | Link to this
Hal, I think your characterization of Chan Ho Park as a “hasbeen” is a bit unfair. His lifetime record to date is 120-94 (4.39). Compare that with our favored son Joe Nuxhall’s lifetime record of 130-109 (3.80). They’re similar and Joe certainly wasnt a hasbeen.
By girlolina
July 10, 2009 2:40 AM | Link to this
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By Ctime
July 10, 2009 2:18 AM | Link to this
Could someone tell me what is up with Brandon Philips? He just doesn’t seem to be there at all defensively. He has this I don’t care look on his face whenever they pan to him after a play. He also gives this disapproving look anytime one of his teammates screws up. I’m afraid he has gotten to cool for his own good and may turn into OchoCinco at this rate. Ever since he didn’t look for the take sign he has been like this.
By Wizard
July 10, 2009 1:33 AM | Link to this
Well said, Y-City Jim! It is amazing how Dusty sees the game of baseball; generally, I just listen in amazement.Your comments were right on target. This man said nothing to Willy Taveras, when he was making errors in CF-that, would have made Dusty look bad-since most in the universe, wanted Dickerson to be the CFer. Dusty Baker’s thinking takes all the fun out of rooting for my favorite team-because he has been wrong on so many fronts:Hanigan/Dickerson/Janish/Bruce/Hairston. Corey Patterson played CF all last year-demonstrating a poor ability to hit. Willy T. Is doing the same this year. Corey and Willy will end up in the same waste can-by the end of this year-So why is Chris Dickerson being wasted? Why is his future not more important to this organization? He’s an athlete! He should not be playing Left and right field-he should be playing CF ONLY, and EVERY GAME! Play Taveras elsewhere; or better yet-sit him down!Chris D. is better in ALL areas of play; but he can’t be expected to improve, when getting jerked around by Baker, with inconsistant opportunities to perform. What Baker has done this year to several players, is next to criminal. He grudgingly played them! When Gonzo failed,Janish should have played sooner; when Hanigan has proven himself over and over-he got more and more bench time, not reward for his fine play.The ONLY reason he got any playing time, was because Baker was FORCED to play him when Votto left. I think the reason so many of us dislike Baker is his arrogant stubborness. It’s maddening. I’ll be leaving now. I’m tired of watching my team play with one hand tied behind their backs!
By jb
July 10, 2009 1:22 AM | Link to this
I agree Jim,not once has Baker called out Weathers,or any of the “older guys”.The WHOLE team is sucking now,not just the “young guys”.Hal,i really hope you have great train ride Friday,your the best.
By Mutaman
July 10, 2009 12:13 AM | Link to this
Hal, with all due respect, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who arrived in NYC and said “Is that all there is”?
By Y-City Jim
July 10, 2009 12:13 AM | Link to this
How about chastising his son, Willy T. for misplaying the ball in the first place? That is the second time this week that he has misplayed a ball hit over his head by going to the wall only to have it carom away from him. How about chastising his other son, Ramon H., for what should have been scored a passed ball? If this team is going to be about speed, defense, and pitching then put the best defensive players on the field. That means Dickerson in CF and Hanigan at C. Also how about chastising Brandon P. for yet another lackadaisical play? There was lots of blame to go around but Dusty only singled out certain whipping boys.
By SI and Ritter
July 10, 2009 12:09 AM | Link to this
Hal enjoy your Amtrak trip. I am taking the Amtrak to Boston,,,in late October from southern Mississippi. See you next week in Tunica.