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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 37th 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.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > October > 07 > Entry
Tracy can talk the paint off the wall
Pardon my non-objectivity, but I’m pulling for the Colorado Rockies to win it all this October for one reason and one reason only.
Jim Tracy.
Tracy is one of the many big ones the Cincinnati Reds let get away. In the early 1990s, he was manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts, Cincinnati’s Class AA Southern League affiliate. Later he was the Reds’ minor league field coordinator.
Shortly after Jim Bowden became general manager of the Reds, Tracy left the organization. A wise professional move.
TRACY WAS Colorado’s bench coach early this year and when the Rockies started the season 18-28, manager Clint Hurdle was fired and Tracy replaced him.
The Rockies were 14½ games out of first place, at the bottom of the NL West. After Tracy took over, the Rockies went 74-42 and won the NL wild card, putting neck-squeezing pressure on the Los Angeles Dodgers and nearly winning the division.
I have a Manager of the Year vote and I voted for Tracy. Who else?
THERE IS A strange parallel working here. In 2003, former Cincinnati Reds manager Jack McKeon was in the front office with the Florida Marlins. They started the season 16-22 and McKeon was asked to take over.
The Marlins went 75-49 and won the NL wild card. Then they beat the New York Yankees in the World Series and McKeon was named Manager of the Year. So we have two former Reds employees who were let go and took over dormant teams early in a season and won the Manager of the Year award. Yeah, I know, Tracy hasn’t won it yet, but if he doesn’t they should toss the trophy over the Hoover Dam and never award it again.
Tracy is a native of Hamilton, a baseball and football star. He was offered a football scholarship to Xavier, but before he could play his first down the school dropped intercollegiate football.
So Tracy went to Marietta College and became an All-American outfielder, launching his baseball career. Tracy probably thanks Xavier every day of his life for dropping football.
If there is a more personable man in the game, I never ran across him. He’ll talk to anybody at any time and if there is nobody to talk to he’ll talk to a picture on his office wall. Ask him for a drink of water and he gives you Niagara Falls.
And don’t call him Jim. All his friends call him Tracy or Trace.
Tracy’s first big-league managerial job with with the Dodgers and later managed the dead-end Pittsburgh Pirates, and if you can be an optimist managing that team you can be an optimist standing on a fault line during an earthquake. Tracy always thought the Pirates were going to win.
ONE SPRING DAY during spring training, the Reds were playing the Pirates in Bradenton, Fla. I walked up to the batting cage, just to say hello. A half an hour later Tracy was still talking to me while his team took batting practice and most of it was not about baseball.
Oh, he did predict his Pirates would win the division. They finished last.
When the Rockies came to Cincinnati this year, he had a press conference in the dugout. When it was over he asked me to stay, even though it was a busy day. The Rockies had just acquired pitcher Joe Beimel and Tracy was awaiting his arrival and working on revamping his bullpen.
But he chatted with me for a long time, once again mostly non-baseball stuff.
Tracy is close friends with former Reds pitching coach Don Gullett and former Reds coach Jim Lett. During the winter, the three go deer hunting and Tracy loves to tell deer-hunting stories.
IT WOULD NOT surprise me next year if Gullett becomes Tracy’s pitching coach and Lett becomes one of his coaches. Lett was a coach for Tracy when he managed Pittsburgh and also when he managed the Los Angeles Dodgers. And Gullett wants to get back into the game.
So, pardon me, but go Rox. It’s personal.
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Comments
By The Professor
October 12, 2009 10:24 PM | Link to this
It looks like the Reds aren’t the only pros who run the bases poorly. I’ve seen it often during these playoffs. Fundamentals are lacking on many teams.
By HuberTucky
October 9, 2009 1:56 AM | Link to this
Right when I moved from Dayton to Colorado the Rockies canned hurdle and Tracy’s Rockies took off. It was a pleasure to be able to see well-managed games here versus what was taking place in Cincy under Dopey Baker. Lucky lucky me for moving when I did. Look where baker’s team end sup and look where the Rocks are! Check both team record at the end of April versus end of season. Baker must go if the Reds are to move forward. And put Willy T and Jacoby under Dopey’s arms on his way out. P.S. Anyone who suggest that McCoy never cared about the reds winning or not is an a*s. You can tell from the passion of his writing style that he ALWAYS cared. That was such a cheap shot from a very jealous NON-HOF candidate Tom Jones in the St Pete Times, attacking a HOF guy on his way into retirement. Pathetic. Hey Tom Jones, what’s new, pussycat?
By Mike-Cinci
October 8, 2009 4:32 PM | Link to this
As I recall when Gullett was let go by the Reds as pitching coach most everyone thought a change was needed. Losing does that to folks. Gullett was not the problem. The talent he worked with toward the end of his tenure with the Reds was not very good. Earlier he got a lot more out of some average pitchers than anyone expected.
By birdie
October 8, 2009 4:26 PM | Link to this
Hal, this does not relate to your story but I wondered if you know what the status is of Josh Hamilton. He hardly played at all the last few weeks of the season.Hope he is not in rehab!
By Chris Blake
October 8, 2009 10:59 AM | Link to this
Tracy first managerial job was with the Dodgers for 5 seasons going 427-383 and winning a division title in 2004.
By Mark
October 8, 2009 10:08 AM | Link to this
How bout the Reds try to nab Gullett back before Colorado does?
By Rockieredsfan
October 8, 2009 9:07 AM | Link to this
Hal: Are you suggesting that Tracy will fire his current pitching coach who has done a great job with the young pitchers this year — for Gullet? I would suggest only if the pitching coach decides to leave for another team; otherwise, no chance Gullet comes to the Rockies as the pitching coach.
By HavaKlu
October 8, 2009 8:38 AM | Link to this
Tom Jones in the St Pete Times recently commented that sportswriters who cover teams don’t care if they win or lose. I e-mailed him saying that I couldn’t believe Hal McCoy would feel that way. He responded saying he knows you and he guarantees you don’t care. Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe you were always objective but whether the team won or lost was still very important to you.
By Stretch
October 8, 2009 6:25 AM | Link to this
I thought Jim’s first managers job was with the Dodgers. In fact SI did a feature story about him.
By old dude
October 8, 2009 1:27 AM | Link to this
Hal, retirement is not all it stacked up to be. Quick change your mind before it’s too late!!