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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 > 17 > Entry
Ramon Hernandez: a good signing
Ramon Hernandez is the kind of guy I want around when I want to have fun and a guy I want to have around when I need somebody to watch my back.
He’ll do both and he’ll be a leader doing it.
That’s why it is a good thing for the Cincinnati Reds that Hernandez is returning and it was a good thing for the Reds that he was only able to play 81 games last season because of a knee injury.
That meant that few other teams would be interested in the 33-year-old catcher at inflated free agent prices. And it meant that the Reds could turn down his $8.5 million option for 2010 and sign him for a reduced rate of $3 million.
When the Reds traded Ryan Freel and two minor leaguers for Hernandez before last season, some Baltimore media said he was a bad guy, a surly guy, a guy who stirred up trouble in the clubhouse.
That never surfaced last season. Not once. He was nothing but smiles and politeness. He was a hard worker. He continued to work hard after knee surgery.
And most importantly, with a fairly large and young Latino contingent on the Reds, he was a leader.
Every morning during spring training, Hernandez and most of the Latins were seated at a picnic table near the front of the clubhouse, enjoying breakfast together, chattering in rapid-fire Spanish and laughing uproariously. Hernandez and veteran closer Coco Cordero were the leaders.
In the home clubhouse in Great American Ball Park, there is a cluster of four black leather couches forming a square. It used to be the home of Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn - a place where they sat to eat or play cards or just congregate with other players.
After Griffey and Dunn were traded, Hernandez and Cordero and the other Latins, like pitchers Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, commandeered the four couches and it became known as The Latin Quarter.
If Cordero is traded, as he should be, Hernandez becomes the sole leader of the Latins and they would be in good hands.
I was impressed with Hernandez on the first day of workouts last spring training. There is an area at the Sarasota Sports Complex where there are eight mounds side-by-side and eight home plates side-by-side.
That’s where pitchers throw every other day during their early workouts and on that first day Hernandez’s voice rose high above the other seven catchers and he encouraged the pitchers. I loved it when I heard him extolling and cajoling Homer Bailey.
I also heard that the Latins were looking for an authentic Caribbean or South American style restaurant. I took Hernandez a menu from Bill Casto’s El Meson restaurant in West Carollton. He grabbed the menu, checked it out, then called a meeting at the Latin Quarter and invited all the Spanish-speaking players to an outing to the El Meson, on him.
Hernandez hit only .258 last year with five homers and 37 RBIs, but did a lot of damage early in the season, hit a few key home runs and drove in some important runs, before his knee rebelled. That happened early in the season and he kept trying to play until he couldn’t bend it to kneel. He had surgery on July 21 and figured to be out the rest of the season, but worked diligently and returned September 19.
Hernandez did win the Most Outstanding Player award for the Ohio Cup (the six-game series against the Cleveland Indians) with three three-hit games against the Tribe.
Hey, MOP of the Ohio Cup? What more could you ask?
SOME INTERESTING numbers from last season:
This comes as zero surprise to anybody with a whiff of baseball intelligence, but Cincinnati outfielder Willy Taveras has the lowest GPA (.191) of any player in the majors with at least 400 plate appearances.
What’s GPA? It is called Gross Production Average - a statistic conjured by the numbers seamheads and is a variation of OPS, only supposedly more accurate.
Anyway, Taveras was the worst.
And here’s another:
Jay Bruce’s LD percentage of 13 percent was the lowest of any player in the majors with at least 300 plate appearances. LD stands for line drive and means that Bruce hit line drives only 13 percent of the time - or 87 percent of the time he hit fly balls, ground balls or struck out.
One final seamhead number (they are interesting but I sometimes wonder what they really mean): Aaron Haran’gs LD % was 24 percent, lowest of any major-league pitcher with at least 162 innings pitched. That means he gave up fewer line drives than any pitcher in the game.
But the DER behind Harang was .659, lowest of any major-league pitcher with more than 162 innings. DER? That’s Defense Efficiency Ratio, or the percentage of times a batted ball is turned into an out, not counting home runs.
In other words, of all the balls hit against Harang that weren’t home runs, the defense turned fewer of them into outs than the percentage of any pitcher in baseball.
And to that, Harang would say (but not out loud), “I hear that.”
ENOUGH WITH goofy, but interesting, numbers.
When the City of Englewood decided to have a day for me Sunday, complete with a gathering at the Government Center, I feared Nadine and I would be the only ones there because the Bengals and Steelers were on TV.
To my surprise and delight, a crowd nearly filled the room and we had a great hour-and-a-half talking baseball and the Cincinnati Reds. Thanks to all of you. It was a fun day. And thanks to the City of Englewood.
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By Judithcgh
February 8, 2010 4:30 PM | Link to this
interesting read. I would love to follow you on twitter. By the way, did anyone learn that some chinese hacker had hacked twitter yesterday again.
By michael
November 26, 2009 7:43 AM | Link to this
Agree with cleat. Janish hitting second was “a thing that made me go huh?” Not only does he not hit, he doesn’t run either.
By ohdave
November 22, 2009 12:28 AM | Link to this
Hal, I read on ESPN that Aroldis Chapman, the latest Cuban export, is being declared a free agent. This is one of the many things wrong with Major League Baseball that prevent fair competition. The best international talent always goes to the highest bidding team. In any other sport such a player would be entered into the draft. A player like Chapman, if he were a basketball star, would never be a free agent in the NBA. He would have to negotiate with the team that drafted him. One of the many reasons why there is no parity in baseball and the playoffs are usually populated by the same group of teams (not the Reds). I hope Chapman has fun trying to decide between the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Yankees.
By Worn Cleat
November 20, 2009 11:55 PM | Link to this
The message was, I believe, that ‘the only chance’ for 2010 Reds success is for the two fastest Reds to have success in the first two spots in the batting order. Anyone else will not accomplish what is needed from those two spots, except Dickerson and Stubbs. The Reds need speed out of those two spots,not a slow running Gomes, or anyone else. They need base runners.Neither Dickerson or Stubbs have played an entire season as regulars, but they need to this year,for offensive improvement, and a chance for Reds success. Anything else, will prove a failure.
By ndnbob
November 19, 2009 2:56 PM | Link to this
I think they should hang on to Gomes. No way Dickerson can replace those numbers. With all that speed,he’s way too inconsistent as a baserunner and defender. Just a notch above Willie Taveras.
By Tom in Virginia
November 19, 2009 2:38 PM | Link to this
For Reds fans in Virginia and North Carolina it was a hard day’s drive to Sarasota for spring training (those days are sadly over..)and it is a hard day’s drive to Cincy for a ball game…plus a Big Klu hot dog and a cold beer sets you back about $20 once you get there…Now for the good news!! The Roanoke Times reports that the Lynchburg (VA) Hillcats Carolina League team will be the Reds’ Class A minor league team starting in 2010. We can watch the progress of the baby Reds, drink $1 beers and have a great time at the ball park at peanut prices!! Wonder if the name of the team will change??
By Ken
November 19, 2009 9:54 AM | Link to this
It was good to hear Walt J say the Reds need to focus on 1-5 year players to try and win. He is right with that statement because they cannot afford older expensive players and probably never will be able to again. It does, once again, show how bad the Rolen trade was for this team. It was the opposite of what was needed and now Walt seems to finally get it. That trade was a setback. They should trade all the older players and stockpile good young talent, let the players go after 5 years and keep payroll reasonable. Maybe you get lucky and get a collection of talented young players that can compete, it is the only hope.
By Mitter Wed Wegs Pro Whiter
November 18, 2009 2:13 PM | Link to this
Yes to the Dog. Good signing. A catcher was needed. So no to Johnny Gomes now. He is now gone with the signing of the Dog. Anymore signings will come with a trade/salary dump.
By Believe It Or Not
November 17, 2009 11:42 PM | Link to this
Although I like Gomes,I think the Reds need a successful Stubbs and Dickerson in their outfield. If one looks at the first two hitters in the Yankee/Phillies lineup, they have people there who get on base. IMHO, the best chance for the Reds to have a successful run at the division, is for them to fully utilize the speed the aforementioned players have. Leading off Dickerson, with Stubbs hitting second could prove to be upsetting to opposing pitchers-especially, if they both use the threat of bunting and base stealing. That untapped talent is certainly visible in both of their games.It could certainly be worked on in STraining.Then, imagine following that up with Votto,Bruce, Rolen,etc. In addition, Stubbs in the #2 hole, would be tough to double. We must have successful table setters, in order to put pressure on opponents. The Yanks and Phils proved the importance of that.
By Jacki
November 17, 2009 8:51 PM | Link to this
Hal, I enjoyed your stories on Sunday and even heard a few new ones. Please write that book so others can enjoy your work. Take care and ask Nadine to make some chili.
By Mr. Redlegs (Original)
November 17, 2009 8:21 PM | Link to this
What? Hal McCoy dabbling in advanced stats? The world also ends in 2012.
By Mike-Cinci
November 17, 2009 5:37 PM | Link to this
Hernandez is a good signing. He can also back up Votto at 1B. I worry about Bruce. He needs to get in shape,learn the strike zone, and begin to hit lefties. Next year is key for him. Stubbs could be a real find or a late season flash in the pan. I hope for the best. Unlike Taveras he should be able to get on base and steal 50 bases. He also has shown some pop in his bat. Rolen needs to play 145 games, hit .280 with 20 HR’s and 85 RBI. I worry about Janish(hitting) at SS and the cast of characters in LF. Is there enough talent there? Phillips needs to be more professional. He has loads of talent. I wish the he did not have to bat clean-up. Votto should only get better. He can hit. Bailey and Cueto need to put it together. It’s time. This team will be good if their young players develop into something special. If they don’t they are nothing more than the Pirates in different uniforms.