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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 > 10 > Entry
A lovely place for a ballgame
DO TOO many cheesesteaks in a four-day period cause bizarre dreams? During my Thursday night slumber, I had a talking javelina tell me, “Always take the home dog in the NFL.”
What? A prairie dog told me to ALWAYS take the visiting favorite and I know he’s nuts.
The Amtrak train ride from Philly to New York was glorious. For the 9:37 a.m. train, I left my hotel at 8:45 to 30th Street Station. Picked up my ticket. Still had a half an hour to kill - two Dunkin’ Donuts (glazed) and a cup of coffee.
No security lines. I didn’t have to take off my shoes, take off my belt, take my laptop out of my bag, have my suitcase screened after getting to the airport two hours early and still barely making my flight.
We were ushered down the steps at 9:30 to Track 2 and the train arrived promptly at 9:35 and was on the move again at 9:37. What? No waiting on the tarmac? And no seat belts. Doesn’t it frost your knickers when the flight attendance on a plane says, “When the seat belt light is not illuminated, the captain requests that you keep your seat belt on at all times.”
The ride was glorious. Far too short - about an hour and 10 minutes. After an hour on an airplane I’m squirming and muttering, “Just land this damn thing and let me off.”
When the train pulled into Penn Station I was sad. I wanted more. Those 70 minutes were the most relaxing I’ve had since I left Dayton last Monday. Penn State is at 7th and W. 32nd. I walked to my hotel at 7th and W. 45th. Blocks east and west in New York are very close together and the 13-block walk, threading through massive humanity while dragging my bag-on-wheels, wasn’t bad at all.
Oh, you are allowed to use cellphones and laptops on the train - ANY time you want, except on the Quiet Car. Yes, they have a Quiet Car. No cell phones and no talking above a whisper. Alas, no Smoking Car any more.
Love the new Citi Park, all $800 million of it. First of all, it is a closer walk from the subway stop than was Shea. And anything above a stinkhole with bleachers would be better than the sewage dump that was Shea.
Loved the line uttered by Newark Star-Ledger baseball writer Ed Price when I said what a nice park this is. Said Ed, “Yeah, it’s really nice - the second best new baseball park in New York.” He was, of course, talking about the new Yankee Stadium which cost about $600 gazillion.
Forttunaely, I found a media person coming in the front door when I arrived. Finding the pressbox would be a chore for Lewis & Clark. You turn left. You get on an elevator. You walk through a restaurant. You turn right up some steps. You walk down aa hall and turn left down some steps. There is a ‘Y’ in the hall and you take a right up some steps.
Before I learn this place, I’ll just leave bread crumbs.
Somebody asked David Weathers if he’ll miss Shea and he said, “Yeah, I’ll miss riding those rats with a saddle. Those rats were so big I saw them being hunted from a blind.”
IN MANAGER Dusty Baker’s office there are chairs with wheels on them and he said, “Good, if I don’t like a question I can roll you on out of here.”
Of Citi Field, he said, “I love going to new ballparks. Of all the new ones, I think I like Pittsburgh. This one (Citi) is different. Most new ones play small and are small. This one plays begger and has higher walls.”
FOR THE second straight night, Jay Bruce was not i the lineup, but Baker said he’ll be back in right field Saturday against lefthander Johan Santana, “Because lefthanders hit Santana better than righthanders.”
And he flip-flopped Willy Taveras and Chris Dickerson again - Dickerson leading off the Taveras batting second.
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By bigdoc
July 11, 2009 11:58 AM | Link to this
Hal, thanks for the travelogue. Clevelan/Cincy/Lexington/Chattanooga/Miami next!
By Tom
July 11, 2009 11:54 AM | Link to this
I’m sure Citi is a big upgrade on Shea, but you’ve still got the LaGuardia flight path overhead.
By Mark in Sun Valley
July 11, 2009 9:59 AM | Link to this
Right Jeff. After that hot start, Bruce has been well below average and very similar if not worse than Dunn (fewer walks). His K to AB ratio is right there with Adam. What amazes me is EVERYBODY who has watched more than 3 baseball games know what he needs to do (shorten his swing and take those outside pitches the other way, as he did in that first 2 weeks). I cannot imagine Jacoby does not see this as well. Most hitting and pitching coaches all teach the same things, it is the language and technique they use that differs. Judging by this team, Jacoby does not get through to these players. They simply HAVE to make a change if any of these guys are ever going to improve their approach at the plate.
By jeff
July 11, 2009 9:35 AM | Link to this
I agree with Mark, starting Bruce tonight is setting him up to fail. santana will eat bruce up with that change up. Until Bruce starts hitting the ball the other way he will not improve. The other bad thing is that he really struggles with the inside fastball too. Right now he is pretty easy to pitch and until he adjusts he will be no good. He says it is mental but this has been going on for over a year now. Take away that first two week ride he had last year and what has he done. 18 homers is great but we ran Dunn out of here because of that too. I personally think if he continues to struggle they should send him down to work on his swing, Bruce just doesnt seem hungry right now, he seems very relaxed and sometimes competition lights you up. Give credit to dickerson he struggled early and now has fought back to earn time and honestly he could be starting over Bruce easily
By Wizard
July 10, 2009 10:41 PM | Link to this
Great point Mark! I guess it was Y-city Jim who said, in so many words that Dusty doesn’t play the best cards that he has-I totally agree with that! In fact,I also think there is an awful lot that can be improved on this team, which would present them with a much better hand in the future:Examples-Teach Dickerson how to drag bunt; get better leads in order to steal/In fact, teach EVERYBODY how to bunt, and where to place the bunt/Keep both catchers for next year{but start Hanigan}Comparing this year’s catchers to last year’s is a huge improvement!Don’t weaken catching duo/teach how to slide in ST
By Mark in Sun Valley
July 10, 2009 10:19 PM | Link to this
what an outstanding game by Arroyo! And a good part of that credit I am sure he would share with Hanigan. A good catcher makes a pitcher better. Think anyone on the coaching staff will make that connection?
By Wizard
July 10, 2009 9:33 PM | Link to this
What kind of an attitude is that Steve M.? Ha,ha. Mark: Have you ever heard more manipulative BS in your entire life? I have a question for Dimwit Dusty-If Willy Patterson still can’t bunt{as exhibited tonight}and pops everything else up in the infield-why is he hitting second in the lineup? OK, here’s my second question, if this won’t be too taxing for you: Why is he playing?
By Mark in Sun Valley
July 10, 2009 6:25 PM | Link to this
So lefties hit Santana better? Maybe, but Bruce has a better chance of hitting the lottery than hitting any lefty right now. Always good to sit a kid a couple days and then put him in the best possible position to fail. I find myself cheering against my favorite team just so they can sink low enough to finally get rid of this joke of a manager.
By Steve M.
July 10, 2009 6:09 PM | Link to this
“too many cheesesteaks…” impossible. ;-) Thanks for the description of the train ride. It makes me want to figure out somewhere to go from Cincinnati on a train. Your prose put me in such a good mood I’m going to lay off Dusty for a day.