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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 > November > 10
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Mann oh Mann, what were they thinking?
THE CINCINNATI REDS did some early paper shuffling this week:
THEY OUTRIGHTED infielder/outfielder/catcher Wilkin Castillo and he quickly signed a minor-league contract.
THEY LOST pitcher Ramon Ramirez, who was claimed by the Tampa Bay Rays.
OUTFIELDER DARNELL McDonald decided to declare his free agency.
That’s minor stuff compared to what happened late last week when the Reds told Wilma Mann on Friday that her services were no longer needed as Director of Scouting Administration.
Who is Wilma Mann? She is a legend and an icon to the scouting fraternity - and not just to the scouts who work for the Reds.
Wayne Krivsky worked for the Minnesota Twins and had never worked for the Reds when he was hired as general manager. When he accepted the job as Reds GM, he said one of the reasons he came to the Reds was because of some of the legendary people associated with the team and he listed, among a few others, “Joe Nuxhall, Marty Brennaman, (scout) Gene Bennett and Wilma Mann.”
Mann joined the Reds the same year I began covering them - 37 years ago in 1973 - and she was hired by then-club president/general manager Bob Howsam. She has been in the front office part of the scouting department ever since.
In 1997 she was named Director of Scouting Administration and was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Reds’ scouting operations. More accurately, to the many scouts who have come and gone through the Reds organization she was Mother Superior, Mother Confessor and a person they needed to conduct their duties.
She was beloved and after she was let go Friday my telephone never stopped ringing from people who worked with her over the years, most of their questions being on the line of, “What are they thinking?”
Wilma’s son, Mark Mann, is the team’s head athletic trainer.
I HADN’T GIVEN this much thought until a regular e-mailer asked me about it this week. His question: “Didn’t the 1-2 relief punch of the 1975-76 Reds, Will McEnaney and Rawly Eastwick, both have identical twins brothers?:
Absolutely correct. They both did. I don’t think I ever met Eastwick’s brother, but knew he had an identical twin. A lot of us “met” Will McEnaney’s identical twin brother. They look so much alike that when Will was going to be late to the clubhouse, he had his twin brother show up and put on his uniform and sit in front of Will’s locker until he got there. Not even manager Sparky Anderson ever caught on.
OVER THE YEARS, I have communicated with many of you via e-mails, a lot of you many, many times, but never had the pleasure of meeting you.
I’d love to meet each and every one of you - even those from Norway and Germany and Australia and Alaska and all points of the U.S.
I know that isn’t possible, but I also know there are many of you from the Dayton area I’d love to meet.
So, if you aren’t doing anything Sunday, here is my chance. I’m appearing Sunday from 2 to 4 at the Englewood Government Center on National Road (Old Route 40) in Englewood, where I live. The good folks in Englewood government have proclaimed Sunday as Hal McCoy Day and are hosting a Meet Hal McCoy function.
For those who can pull themselves away from the Bengals-Steelers game, I’d love to see you and meet you. There will be refreshments and an autograph session and a question-and-answer session.
Best of all, it’s free.
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