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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 > 2010 > February
February 2010
Votto befriends Alonso, his competition
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Yonder Alonso hears it almost in his sleep and for certain hears it over and over and over from his friends in Doral, Florida.
It goes something like this: “Hey, Yonder. You’re a first baseman and Joey Votto is a first baseman. What are you going to do, man? What’s going to happen?”
Alonso thought the same thing when he walked into his first major-league spring training camp with the Cincinnati Reds last year as the team’s No. 1 draft pick in 2008 and the club’s top prospect.
And then he met Joey Votto.
“People ask me that at home and I look at it like this: The guy is probably the best player on the team, if not THE best player. I just try to learn from him every single day. That’s all I try to do. I pretty much nag him. I ask him every day, ‘What do I do here and how do I do that?’ That’s the way it was all last spring.”
What flabbergasted Alonso is that Votto befriended him, despite the fact they both are young and both play the same position.
“He is a good friend,” Alonso said. “He is a great baseball player, a good person and a good friend. You don’t find many guys like that, especially guys at the same position on the same team.
“I thought when I first came in, ‘Man, it is going to be hard dealing with Votto,’ ” Alonso said. “But it was the exact opposite. He has just done nothing but help me out and been a good friend. He told me how Albert Pujols (of the St. Louis Cardinals) helped him out a lot and he is trying to do the same for me.
“You never know what is going to happen because this game is so crazy,” he said. “This is my first year and a lot of things went on - injuries, trades. And I look at it that I’ll do whatever it takes, like play first, third, left, right or pinch-hit. As long as I can play and help the team.”
SPEAKING OF never knowing what events are in your future, Alonso suffered a major one last year.
He began the season at high-A in Sarasota and hit .303 in 49 games with seven homers and 38 RBIs.
HE WAS PROMOTED to Double-A Carolina in early June. It was one week into his Double-A career and Alonso takes it from here:
“We were playing a doubleheader in Knoxville (Tenn.) and in the minors they play seven innings in doubleheaders,” he said. “Well, the first game went 10 innings and I hit a game-winning home run.
“We had 25 minutes between games and then in my first at-bat in the second game I took a swing and fouled off a pitch,” he said. “But I felt something in my neck. It hurt. The trainer came out and looked at my right hand and it was blue. When he touched it, man, the pain was awful.”
Turned out Alonso fractured a bone in his right wrist that required surgery and put him out of action for 10 weeks.
“I started out really good in high-A,” he said. “It’s a tough league to hit in. Then I went to Double-A and was doing good for a week and suddenly I’m done for 10 weeks. I hit that home run and then the next at-bat, poof, I was gone. Done for 10 weeks and that really sucked.
“When I broke it, it landed on two of the veins in my wrist and the pain went all the way to my neck,” he said. “I thought something was wrong with my neck and I told the trainer, ‘My neck, my neck,’ but he pointed to my palm and it was blue.’ “
And his thoughts?
“I had to deal with it, but at the time I thought, ‘Oh my God, what is going on?’ I thought I was done for the year,” he said. “I’m done, that’s it, I won’t play the rest of the year.”
ALONSO DID his rehab work, even though he thought his season was over, and came back in time to play the last week for Carolina, then for Class AAA Louisville in the post-season playoffs.
“I wasn’t healthy, wasn’t 100 percent, but I was able to at least help my team win some games,” he said.
“It was rough, man,” he said.
Now he is in his second big-league camp and is enjoying it much more than last year.
“This is unbelievable,” he said. “Last year it wasn’t much fun because I didn’t know anybody and I didn’t want to step on anybody’s shoes. But I played in high-A, Double-A and Triple-A and I got to know everybody. So we all hang around now, just trying to enjoy things. Much more fun this year.”
ALONSO played mostly first base all last year, but dabbled a few games in left field. He didn’t play any third base, “But I took ground balls there every day, every single day. I could have played there but we have too many guys who are third basemen - guys like Chris Valaika, Zack Cozart, Todd Frazier and Juan Francisco.”
There is no doubt his future is top-shelf, but it remains in the future where he plays and for whom he plays.
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Tweet‘I must be in the front row …’
Walked into Don & Charlie’s Monday night, a popular sports-oriented restaurant in Scottsdale that is stuffed with baseball memorabilia, including autographs on baseballs of Hall of Fame players, including Babe Ruth.
I was barely in the door when somebody yelled, “Hey, Captain.” It was Chicago Cubs assistant GM Gary Hughes, formerly a special assistant with the Cincinnati Reds. I call him Mr. Baseball and he calls me Captain Greyhound because we spent a few hours together at the Sarasota Kennel Club wagering a dollar or two on the puppies and checking up on our racing namesake, a faun greyhound named Gary’s Real McCoy, which made the spring All-American team, but made us little money.
Hughes, who knows everybody in baseball, introduced me around at Don & Charlie’s and even brought the owner, Don Carson, to my table while I chewed on barbecued ribs. And it got me free dessert.
As I was leaving, I ran into Bob Uecker in the lobby and one of my companions said, “Hey, I must be in the front row,” a reference to a Miller beer commercial Uecker did years ago where he walked into a ball park holding some tickets and says, “I must be in the front row.” Then it shows him in the top seat of the upper deck, drinking a beer as he says to a guy sitting next to him, “Hey, great seats, huh pal?”
After dinner, it was time for a trip to Casino Arizona in an attempt to retrieve some of the cash I left there Sunday to help the state economy. After a long, long run of bad hands, a dealer named Christopher showed up and it was if he was my best friend - blackjack after blackjack, a string of 20s and some successful splits and double downs.
I not only retrieved my losses, I made some money. As I went, I kept tipping Christopher for the good hands and when he left the table he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Thanks for the tips. You made my night.”
Later he saw me leaving and ran up to me and stuck out his hand to shake and again said, “Thanks for the tips.” No, no, Christopher. Thanks for making MY night. And in all my years of casino visitations, I’ve NEVER had a dealer thank me or chase me down to shake my hand for a few tips.
Refreshing.
THE REASON I’m rambling right now is that it is late morning on Tuesday and the entire Cincinnati Reds team is in camp, but they are engaging in physical examinations and the workouts don’t start for another two hours.
Brandon Phillips, Scott Rolen and Joey Votto showed up and manager Dusty Baker said, “I’m glad to have everybody in camp. Now we feel whole as a team.”
BAKER ON signing Jonny Gomes: “He was in the mix all winter for left field. It was just a matter of getting all the terms of a contract worked out.”
When talk turned to left field and who might be there, Baker said, “It will work itself out. I don’t know much about Josh Anderson (in camp on a minor-league contract after playing at Detroit and Kansas City last year) or Chris Heisey, but we’ll find out.
“I remember in 1986 when Will Clark showed up in our camp with the Giants,” Baker said. “Everybody said, ‘Who is this guy?’ Well, he led the Cactus League in hitting and home runs and pretty soon everybody knew who he was. We might have a Will Clark come along here. Rarely does it happen, but you have to keep your eyes open.”
Baker didn’t include Todd Frazier and Juan Francisco in the left field mix, but only, he said, “Because we have to have them get down all the infield drills and learn the infield stuff. Then they’ll get some time in the outfield.”
Asked if Drew Stubbs is the center fielder going in, Baker said, “Yeah, I think he is our center fielder, but I ain’t gonna tell him that. What he’s done so far is only Step One. He has a lot to learn and accomplish and he knows that.”
Baker also said Chris Dickerson will play some center field this spring, “Because that’s his best position and Stubbs isn’t going to play every day. It’s just spring training.”
So what does all this mean?
Uh, left field is in flex, but it looks as if it will be Dickerson against righthanded pitchers and Gomes against lefthanded pitchers - with Laynce Nix, Chris Heisey and Wladimir Balentien part of the cake badder. And Baker said, “Balentien had a very good winter ball season.”
AARON BOONE told me a couple of weeks ago when he was in town to do our Fireside Chat for the Dayton Heart Institute at the Marriott that he was retiring from the playing field and moving to the press box.
It was official today. Boone will be a baseball analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.
Boone, a former Reds third baseman, played 12 years in the majors. He worked for ESPN Radio as a guest analyst during the 2009 National League Division Series.
I’ll be leaving Goodyear after today, but I shall return for three weeks just before the exhibition games begin in early March.
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TweetChapman’s 40 minutes of bewilderment
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — For nearly 40 minutes, 22-year-old Aroldis Chapman sat in a chair in front of a large media gathering, a nice smile on his face as he mostly stared at the hands he had folded in his lap.
For nearly 40 minutes, Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty talked and manager Dusty Baker talked and pitching coach Bryan Price talked.
Chapman listened - and didn’t understand a single word. He knew people were talking about him, but didn’t understand one syllable unless he heard his name or the word Cuba or Cuban. Then he looked up and smiled.
Other than that he was like a thoroughbred horse at auction, knowing something special was going on but not aware of the nuances.
How tough must that be on a young man in a strange new world?
AND WHEN IT came time for him to answer questions through Cuban coach/interpreter Tony Fossas, Chapman handled it with poise and pride.
“I don’t smile a lot,” he said, although he smiled for the entire press conference. “I just like to be at the field with my baseball friends.”
Chapman has nobody. He left behind his mother, father, wife and eight-month-old daughter, plus all his friends and baseball teammates.
“It was a very hard decision, but as they say in Cuba, ‘You have to be brave and you have to make the move,’” he said.
“I’ve talked to my family on the phone and hopefully some time, if God prevails, sometime in the next year I’ll see them again,” he said.
Somebody asked if he looked forward to facing any particular major-leaguers and Jocketty jumped in by saying, “They don’t get to see a lot of major-league baseball in Cuba, which might help.”Yeah, he might be asking, “Albert Who? Who is this Pujols guy?’ “
AFTER THE MEDIA conference, pitching coach Price stood outside the door and elaborated on Chapman and what he said was stunning.
The word is out that he can throw 99 to 100 miles an hour and somebody allegedly clocked him at 105 on one pitch, but Price added. “He has a great slider when he catches it right. Of course, at his age and experience, he doesn’t always catch it right. When he does, it’s the best lefthanded slider I’ve seen since Randy Johnson.
“It doesn’t come out as frequently right now as it will, but that’s what we have to polish on this kid,” Price added. “We aren’t going to try to change much. He likes to throw long toss, throw the ball a long way. And maybe that’s how he built up his arm strength. I’m never going to strip him of what he has been taught to do.”
Price laughed and said the first time Chapman tried a pickoff move, it was very ordinary, “So we stopped him to show him a better one. But he said, ‘No, no. That wasn’t my best pickoff move. I have four of them.’ “
Chapman hasn’t faced hitters yet and exhibition games will determine where he begins the season, but Price sees the future and it is sunlight bright.
“You all heard of Fernando-mania?” said Price. referring to when Mexican lefthander Fernando Valenzuela joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1980s and all of Mexico seemed to come up to watch him pitch.
“We don’t know if he’ll ever get to that point, but he’s a guy people are going to want to see pitch,” said Price. “He is a special talent with a chance to be an integral part of the Cincinnati Reds. We have a great athlete with a great arm to start off with and now we go from there.”
ASKED ABOUT the toughest part of the culture shock, Chapman said, ” Definitely the food. And the language is very hard for me right now.”
The baseball is easy. But how tough must it be for a 22-year-old kid coming from abject poverty to the land of opportunity?
“I was told America was completely different than it is and I am shocked by the technology,” he said. “But I know of technology from traveling the world playing international baseball.”
Has his lifestyle changed after signing for $30.25 million? “No, not really. I go into a store and buy something when I need it. That’s about it.”
His goal is to make the team, “But if I don’t I’ll go wherever they want me and work hard to get here. And I need to learn the English language so I can be friends with everybody on the team.”
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TweetGomes signed and in camp
As expected, outfielder Jonny Gomes is back with the Cincinnati Reds, ready to stake a claim on at least part-time duty in left field.
Gomes agreed to a one-year major-league contract Monday drove from his Phoenix-area home Monday to the Reds’ camp in Goodyear.
Gomes hit .267 with 20 home runs and 51 RBIs in 281 at-bats last season.
As it stands, Gomes would play left field against lefthanded pitchers and Chris Dickerson against righthanders, but Wladimir Balentien and Laynce Nix may have a few things to say about that before spring training ends.
Gomes had hoped to get a major-league deal with either Seattle or the Chicago Cubs, but the Cubs deal evaporated when they signed Xavier Nady it enabled the Reds to sign him to a one-year major-league deal with a club option for 2011.
What was the holdup? The Reds didn’t offer a major-league contract until recently, hoping Gomes would take a minor-league deal.
“Highlight and copy my quotes from last year,” said Gomes. “Walt Jocketty (general manager) and Dusty Baker (manager) grasped me and took me in last year and they’ve done it again.
“I’m excited to be back and I wanted to be back,” he added. “The Reds are a well put together team. After only 281 at-bats last year, I wasn’t holding out for more money. Money wasn’t a deal. I just wanted a major-league deal and it took until Feb. 22 to get it done.
“I’m was confident a major-league deal would come along,” he added. “I’ve proved myself and kind of established myself.”
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TweetSutton’s season of fighting illness
It isn’t often a utility player is the center attention. Usually he is in the manager’s peripheral vision, barely visible until the manager says, “Hey, what’s your name? Go pinch-run.” Or, “Hey, Bud (not his name), grab a bat and pinch-hit.”
Such was not the case when Cincinnati Reds utility infielder Drew Sutton walked into the clubhouse. That’s utility player Drew Sutton, not center fielder Drew Stubbs.
Sutton walked into camp 30 pounds heavier than when he left for his Houston home after last season. And rest assured, Sutton’s weight gain has nothing to do with funny pills or any salve that swells your biceps, thighs and head.
It is called health. Good health.
Sutton was a victim of mononucleosis last year - the kissing disease. But he couldn’t kiss it good-bye, fighting it the entire season, steadily shedding pounds he couldn’t afford to shed.
“It started last spring training when I was still with the Houston Astros,” said Sutton, a solid 200 pounds now after finishing last season at 170. “The third week of March I got sick. When we broke camp, I was sent to Triple-A. I played and got sick and came back and played and got sick and came back and played.
“I was weak and run down and couldn’t shake it,” said the 26-year-old infielder. “I was just about to ask the Astros to put me on the DL when they traded me to the Reds (April 16 of last year to complete a trade that sent Jeff Keppinger to the Astros).”
Being with a new team, Sutton said nothing about his condition, played through it all year.
But he was placed on the Triple-A disabled list and spent a week of rehab in Sarasota. He came back to Louisville and became dehydrated and earned himself a room in a hospital.
He was up and down between the Reds and Louisville three times, making his major-league debut with the Reds.
“With my health, it was tough, very tough,” he said. “I never told anybody but my wife, family and a few close friends how miserable I felt all year. I was pretty proud, though. It was my first year in the majors and I was playing at 50 percent, so hitting .212 may not sound like much, but I was pretty proud of it, especially it being my first time ever as a pinch-hitter.”
So when a fully healthy Sutton and his regained 30 pounds walked into camp, manager Dusty Baker was amazed.
“Last year was a challenging year and a great experience,” he said. “Nobody realized how sick I was last year until Dusty and the coaches saw me this year. You can’t believe how great it feels to come here feeling good.”
In addition to finding a left fielder and a fifth starter, the Reds are looking for bench players and from what Baker has seen so far Sutton is deep into the mix.
ONE MUST be pliant and flexible and I am that, even at my age. So when something better comes along, I’m ready to adjust.
Something better came along Sunday night - a fantastic meal at Donovan’s Steaks & Chops in Phoenix. I had a scrumptious peppercorn filet mignon after eating the best split pea soup I’ve ever had.
So I’m revising my Top Three Out of Town Steak Houses: 1. Donovan’s, Phoenix, 2. The Saloon, Chicago, 3. John Q.’s, Cleveland.
When I made my reservations for Donovan’s, a hostess asked me all kinds of questions. She asked me what I was doing in town and I told her.
When we got to the restaurant, Shane Gladden, the captain of the service people, seated us in a nice banquette. He asked about baseball and the Reds and asked to see my Hall of Fame ring.
The meal was nearly over when I looked below a piece of art on the wall at our banquette and saw a gold-plated name tag slid into a holder. It said, ‘McCoy.’ I thought, ‘Wow.’
I was impressed and they said they seated me there purposely, but the name tag was not in my honor. It was for Al McCoy, a long-time play-by-play announcer for the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL.
Manager Richard Schumacher even stopped by the table to thank us for coming in and actually walked us out the door (maybe he thought we weren’t going to pay). Anyway, great service, great people, great meal.
IT IS hours before a scheduled press conference with Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman begins and the national baseball media is gathering - Jerry Crasnick, Tracy Ringolsby, Danny Knobler and Ray Ratto so far.
Arizona? So far you can have it. It has rained every day since I’ve been here and the temperature continues in the low 60s. When I said, “Arizona my butt,” manager Dusty Baker said, “Just wait. In about two weeks it’ll be so hot you’ll be begging for rain.”
I’ll take his word for it - for now.
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TweetBruce on a mission to step it up
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - It was 7:45 on a dreary Arizona morning, the sun shielded by a cloud cover that kept the temperature below 60.
Inside a large roofed building illuminated by florescent lights, in one of six indoor batting cages, Jay Bruce was pounding baseballs delivered underhanded by batting instructor Brook Jacoby.
The coffee in the media work room was still brewing, but Bruce already had worked up a sweat in his quest to elevate his game to his personal satisfaction.
His .223 batting average last year is not a point of pride and while Bruce knows right field belongs to him, he is intent upon making all negative questions about him disappear like Egg McMuffins every morning in the clubhouse dining room.
Two days before the All-Star break last season, Bruce broke his right wrist trying to make a diving catch in New York and missed two months. He was hitting .208 at the time and splashing like a drowning man who has fallen out of a rowboat to keep his head above .200.
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER believes those two months were the most educational of Bruce’s professional life.
In the 18 games after Bruce returned, he hit .375 in 32 at-bats with four homers and 13 RBIs, raising his average 15 points.
“I’m looking for the Jay Bruce I saw after the injury,” said Baker. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. That shows mental strength and the physical shape he was in because it is hard to lose that much time and then come back the way he did. He had very little rehab and the pitchers weren’t going to get any sharper.
“It’s not like he missed April and came back in May,” Baker added. “He learned a lot in that absence and was it was beneficial because he was on a downward funnel. It’s hell getting out of that funnel. All funnels I know go down.
“He came back in great shape and he is still learning,” Baker said.
AND WHAT most people forget (Bruce lets you know) is that he is close to being the youngest player on the 40-man roster and he has 1 1/2 years in the majors. Bruce is 22 and turns 23 just before Opening Day.
“I’m one day older than Yonder Alonzo,” said Bruce. He is younger than Todd Frazier (24), Chris Heisey (25), Homer Bailey (23), Johnny Cueto (24), Chris Valaika (24) Wladimir Balentien (25) and Juan Franciso (23).
“Let’s not forget that,” said Baker.
Bruce, though, doesn’t use youth as an excuse.
“Age is relative, relative to what you’ve been through,” said Bruce. “I’m in the major leagues and it doesn’t matter if I’m 22, 32 or 42. I expect a lot out of myself and so do they. If they didn’t think I could do the job I wouldn’t be here, no matter how young I am. My job is to help the team win and I didn’t do it as well as I wanted last year.”
Bruce, though, does agree with Baker’s assessment that the two months off were served not only for healing time but for educational purposes.
“I finally had to deal with some adversity and adversity is good for everyone,” said Bruce. “People deal with it in different ways at different times. I just decided to move forward and take it as a positive and let it be something I learn from.”
Bruce has hit 43 home runs in 209 major-league games and driven in 110 runs with a career .240 average.
Numbers are not what is on his mind.
“I just want to be as productive as I can, all around,” he said. “Score as many runs as I can, drive in as many as I can and prevent as many as I can. Defense is a big deal and I take a lot of pride in it. Being an all-around baseball player is the way it should be. I want to be that and I have a long way to go, but I’m trying to make it happen.”
Before Bruce broke his wrist he was tied with Washington’s Elijah Dukes for mosjt outfield assists with 10.
EDUCATED GUESS: Outfielder Jonny Gomes will sign a minor-league deal with the Reds Sunday and report to camp - short drive since he lives in the Phoenix-area,
“We’ll have a decision or something on him tomorrow (Sunday),” said general manager Walt Jocketty.
“I think he is taking one last lap around the majors (to see if any other teams are interested),” said assistant GM Bob Miller.
Jocketty, though, calls Wladimir Balentien a wild card or maybe a trump card. “I still think he is a sleeper,” said Jocketty. “He finished really strong in the winter league.”
A SIGN HANGING in Baker’s office: “The most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen - not necessarily in that order.”
Baker couldn’t remember where he picked it up, but said, “That’s the truth, too. Like Yogi Berra always said, ‘If you don’t have a bullpen, you don’t have nothin’.’”
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TweetRiding with a language barrier
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The first morning in Arizona was eventful, in a Latin sort of way.
My good friend, companion and pseudo-chauffeur, Jeff Gordon, and I were eating our free breakfast at the Springhill Suites in Glendale. Two young men walked into the room and one nodded my way. Because of my blurred vision, I didn’t recognize him.
After breakfast, Jeff and I retrieved some gear from the room and headed back down to the lobby. One of the young men stopped me and began rattling off sentence after sentence, all in Spanish.
I took two years of Spanish at Kent State and either the professor stunk or I stunk. Most likely I stunk and didn’t learn a thing. So I didn’t understand a word.
Just to be polite, I finally said, “Yes.” He smiled broadly and pointed toward his friend, who turned out to be lefthanded pitcher Pedro Viola, whom I then recognized.
And I figured it out. They wanted a ride to the ballpark. Viola’s companion was righthanded pitcher Enerio Del Rosario. We, of course, said yes and they scrambled into the back seat of our Dodge Journey SUV.
There was total silence from the back seat for most of the 20-minute ride. I visited the Goodyear Stadium when it was under construction, so I had a general idea where it is - somewhere off west-bound I10 between Phoenix and Los Angeles.
When I recognized something, I used the one Spanish word I remembered. “Aqui (here)?” And Viola would say, “Si.”
We made one false turn. Gordon turned into the parking lot for the Cleveland Indians and Viola said, “No, No. Indians, Indians.” I almost felt like ducking and saying, “Where are the arrows?” But I know that’s politically incorrect and I knew he meant it was the complex occupied by the Cleveland Indians.
But we made it. Now what?
ONE DAY in Arizona and it rains. Is it too late to return to Sarasota? Like Indianapolis, it never rains in Sarasota.
OK, so it is sprinkling as the Cincinnati Reds begin their spring training work outs today in the desert. If one has to stay out of the rain, the Reds spring training complex is a good place to dodge rain drops.
It is a palatial oasis in a sea of sand. One has to see it to believe it. The clubhouse is bigger than most clubhouses in major league ball parks and I’ve spent the first hour acclimating myself inside the complex. Times lost in 60 minutes? Three.
The players were able to do calisthenics indoors without breaking their arms against walls and gagging on the smell of dirty socks and jocks. And they were able to do some throwing and pitchers fielding practice (PFP) inside a building that houses six batting cages.
Then some of the pitchers walked to some bullpens just outside the clubhouse for some throwing.
PERSONABLE PITCHING coordinator Mack Jenkins, a guy who has spent 21 seasons with the Reds as a pitching coach or coordinator throughout the system, walked from the roofed cages to the bullpen and said, “We were here for five days doing winter instructional work and it rained three of the five days,” he said.
“One of the people here said, ‘Congratulations. In five days you matched our entire rain output for all of 2009,’” Jenkins said with a laugh.
Jenkins was here not long ago with pitching coach Bryan Price working with Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban pitcher in whom the Reds invested $30.5 million.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he does when he faces hitters,” said Jenkins. “Some guys get even better when they face hitters. I know catcher Ramon Hernandez told me, ‘I was just playing catch with him and he was throwing 95 miles an hour.’”
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER is pleased to have the young man wearing red and said, “A two or three other teams were right there with offers close to what we offered and I’m just happy he chose us.
“He is extremely shy, which is expected right now,” Baker said. “There are a lot of things for him to adjust to, quite a few changes. Everything. He appears very happy and has a good reason to be. He is quiet, but doesn’t miss much. He observes a lot. He has a hell of an arm and a hell of a body.”
Baker isn’t shoving Chapman toward any particular player for him to hang around with, although he is lockering next to catcher Ramon Hernandez.
“You have to let that evolve, let them do their things,” said Baker. “Guys with things in common gradually gravitate toward each other. Guys who have things in common. It’s like being in a new school a couple of times. You don’t want to fall into any group real quick. You want to intertwine with everybody until you find who you have the most in common with and that takes more than a couple of days.
“I do see the other players kidding him some and it’ll happen fast,” Baker added.
“I’ve seen one of the quickest arms I’ve seen in a long time and he throws easy,” Baker said after watching him throw a couple of times. “He is very fluid and with his body type and height and arm length he has tremendous leverage to throw downhill.”
Somebody asked Baker about the culture shock that Chapman must be going through and Baker laughed and said, “We won’t be short of rice, beans and pollo (chicken) around here. We’ll keep him well-fed in Latin food.”
With the slight drizzle persisting, Chapman had his second bullpen throwing session and it was as if a movie star was on view. There were eight pitchers throwing, but every eye was on Chapman. Photos were snapped, including some by members of the clubhouse staff. Reds executives like General Manager Walt Jocketty (who watched from about two steps next to Chapman) and Baker (two steps on the other side) watched closely. Assistant GM Bob Miller, VP Bill Bavasi, VP Jerry Walker, VP Dick Williams and special assistant Cam Bonifay watched closely.
A pop like a rifle shot exploded in the air and Miller said with a smile, “He’s the one who is popping the glove the loudest.” I thought it was somebody hunting coyotes.
And maybe Chapman will need a ride tomorrow.
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TweetReporting time for pitchers, catchers, writers
PITCHERS AND CATCHERS report this week to spring training - and I’m often asked, ” Why do pitchers and catchers report before the rest of the players. Why don’t they all report together?”
Good question. Right now, if I’m an infielder or outfielder and I live in Ohio, I change positions immediately to pitcher or catcher and report right now to Arizona to get out of this two feet of winter wonderland.
As near as I can gather, and nobody has the definitive answer, pitchers need the extra few days to get their arms in shape before they start throwing to live hitters, so they report early. And they need catchers to catch them.
That may have been true way back when, when baseball players didn’t make gazillions and had to pump gas and flip burgers in the off-season to pay the bills, but it is no longer so. Players don’t work anywhere in the off-season, except on their golf games, and they stay in shape - ready to go when spring training begins.
But it’s baseball and it’s tradition.
SO PITCHERS, CATCHERS and baseball writers report this week. Baseball writers have to be there to watch the pitchers play catch with the catchers and work on PFP, the dreaded pitchers fielding practice that pitchers abhor.
If spring training were in, say, Duluth, Minn. or Fargo, N.D. in some indoor facilities, baseball writers wouldn’t be standing at the locker room door shaking hands with pitchers and catchers as they arrive.
But, in the case of the Cincinnati Reds, it’s Arizona and like the rest of my baseball brethren, I’ll be there to soak up the atmosphere (translation: soak up the sun).
I’m arriving in Arizona on Friday for a few days to bring you blogs on how Homer Bailey’s fastball looks - as delivered off a bullpen mound to a minor-league catcher - and to say, “Si, senor,” to Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman, who speaks no English.
AS IT STANDS now, the only major issues in camp for the Reds are:
Who will play left field?
Who will be the fifth starter?
Who will be the extra players?
We’ve beaten the left field issue to a pulp, with no answers. Will it be Chris Dickerson, Jonny Gomes (still unsigned), Wladimir Balentien, Laynce Nix, Juan Francisco, Chris Heisey, Todd Frazier or some mystery man yet to emerge?
The first four in the rotation are set: Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto. The fifth starter would have been Edinson Volquez and that question would be answered. But Volquez had Tommy John surgery and won’t be available until mid-season, if then.
That leaves the fifth spot to: Micah Owings? Matt Maloney? Travis Wood? Aroldis Chapman? Justin Lehr? Or some myster man yet to emerge?
The club appears a bit thin on the bench, which might open the door for rookie Todd Frazier. He signed as a shortstop, but has played third base, second base, first base and left field in the minors. That versatility might earn him a spot on the club to cover several positions when the inevitable injuries surface and as a back-up at several positions when the regulars need rest.
Those are the answers the Reds seek in the next six weeks. My shorts are pressed, my Tommy Bahama shirts are cleaned and folded, my suntan lotion is ready to be slathered, my portable cigar humidor is full.
Play ball - Arizona variety.
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TweetDawson: The quiet, modest Hall of Famer
UNDER THE WORDS humble, shy, modest and quiet in any American dictionary there should be a reference: “See Baseball Encyclopedia, Andre Dawson.”
Baseball’s newest Hall of Famer was in Cincinnati this week and I was fortunate to be able to introduce Dawson at a function at the Green Diamond Gallery.
The what? The Green Diamond Gallery, that’s what. It is an amazing place, a private collection of astounding baseball memorabilia owned by former Daytonian Bob Crotty. I’ve seen museums and private collections before, but Crotty’s is second only to the Hall of Fame museum in Cooperstown.
For a baseball fan, the place is truly breathtaking. My mouth doesn’t drop open for too much involving baseball - I’ve seen a lot in my 37 years of covering major-league baseball - but the moment I stepped into Green Diamond Gallery I knew I was in a special place.
ANYWAY, DAWSON was the speaker this week. I’ve know Dawson for a long time and I knew he was humble, modest, shy and soft-spoken, but he captivated them at Green Diamond.
They asked a trivia question about Dawson that I didn’t know: Only two major-league players have hit home runs off both a father and a son. Dawson is one. Who did he hit them against? Answer at the bottom.
I’ve known Dawson fairly well because he is tight with Tony Perez. Both now work for the Marlins and when you see one you see the other. They are like baseball bookends, baseball Siamese twins.
After the announcement that Dawson made it this year, he said his first call was from Perez, who said, “We finally got it done.”
It was the 10th time Dawson was on the ballot (I voted for him every year he was eligible) and he said the previous eight times he was hopeful he would make it and then disappointed when the call didn’t come.
This year he said he was not expecting the best.
“For the first time in my life I visited the graves of my grandmother and mother on the day of the announcement,” he said. “I left there humbled and at peace. I was, for the first time, prepared for if the call didn’t come. I did say before I left the cemetery, ‘I might do something today that neither of you would ever, ever expect.’”
And then the call came.
I COVERED NEARLY all the games Dawson played against the Reds, from his Rookie of the Year season in Montreal in 1977 to his MVP year in Chicago in 1987. I saw him beat up on the Reds time after time after time, always doing it with grace and class.
“When I began playing this game, I never once thought about the Hall of Fame,” he said. “I only wanted to play the game.”
He wanted to play so badly that when he became a free agent in 1987, he wanted to get out of Montreal and off the hard, hard AstroTurf of Olympic Stadium, turf that forced him to have knee surgeries 12 times.
It was the time of ownership collusion and Dawson wasn’t inundated with offers. So he signed a blank contract with the Cubs, told them to fill in the numbers, “And I’ll stand up to it like a man.” They filled in $500,000 (Dawson made $1.2 million the year before with the Expos) and the Cubs acquired an MVP for $500,000.
“Not quite,” Dawson said with a grin. “I had some incentives and made most of them and ended up making $1 million, just $200,000 less than the year before.”
ALL DURING his days with the Expos, he was outrushed for publicity by catcher Gary Carter, the media’s darling because Carter always looked for attention, while Dawson preferred anonymity. Dawson laughed and said, “When Pete Rose came to Montreal, he nicknamed Carter ‘Lights, Camera, Action.’”
There was one time I saw Dawson lose his cool and it was in Wrigley Field. My wife, Nadine, and stepson, Chad, were attending their first game at Wrigley and had cherry seats, front row behind the Cubs dugout.
Dawson was called out on strikes, a horrible call. It was a ball. He protested vehemently and was ejected. When he reached the dugout, he took every bat out of the rack and flung them onto the field. When the bat rack was empty, he tossed the big orange Gatorade cooler.
That didn’t draw much attention because on the same night Chicago’s Doug Dascenzo dropped a bunt down the first base line. Reds’ pitcher Rob Dibble knew he couldn’t throw out Dascenzo, so he threw the ball at Dasecenzo’s legs, sparking an on-field GMA. What’s GMA? That’s a baseball fight - mostly general milling around.
BECAUSE HE played for 10 years in Montreal, the Hall of Fame chose to put an Expos hat on Dawson’s head for his plaque. “All the teams I played for will be on the plaque and I must admit I had a better time playing in Chicago. I was runnerup for MVP twice in Montreal and I knew I’d never win it playing there. Then I won it my first year in Chicago. I had a love affair with Cubs fans.”
Dawson was the first player to win the MVP while playing on a last place team.
And he had some interesting thoughts on some controversial subjects:
ON STEROIDS and their users: “Steroid were very damaging and they altered the history of the game. As for some who have come clean, they did it way too late and should have come clean at the very beginning.”
ON WHO HE would like to see in the Hall of Fame: “Dave Parker and Dale Murphy. Tim Raines was the Rickey Henderson of the National League. Bert Blyleven, Lee Smith and Jack Morris.”
The answer to the trivia question: Pedro Borbon and Pedro Borbon Jr.
AND IT’S TIME to think about those Ask Hal questions. The Ask Hal column will begin appearing in the Dayton Daily News February 21, so I need questions. Send them to halmccoy@hotmail.com.
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TweetPick the left fielder, I buy dinner
Apparently, a lot of you people like to eat out. Especially if it’s free - although I’m flattered that some of you offered to pay.
Anyway, response to my offer to buy dinner for one person who picks the Opening Day left fielder for the Cincinnati Reds has been overwhelming, even though I tried to hide it at the bottom of the blog - and thanks for reading it all the way through.
For those who missed it, here’s the deal. Just post on this blog who you believe will be the Opening Day left fielder for the Reds. Post your legitimate e-mail address so the winner can be reached. I’ll take all the entries with the winning name, put them in my Reds’ spring training hat and draw one name.
Winner get a free dinner at a nice place with me (McDonald’s and Wendy’s are nice places, but it will be much nicer than that).
If you are far, far away and you win, another appropriate gift will be decided upon.
Deadline is next Wednesday (February 17). One entry per person, please.
Good luck, Hal
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TweetThe Saints, Flyers, Wilt and Taveras
When I told friends, acquaintances and strangers that I thought the New Orleans Saints would win the Super Bowl, many told me the Saints didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.
Well, as I write this, outside my window there is 18 inches of snow on the ground and it is 18 degrees with a wind chill factor that freezes bone marrow. If that isn’t hell, I don’t know what is and I could make a million snowballs in my backyard.
So New Orleans wins, 31-17, and I’m telling folks smugly, “I told you so.” For proof that I predicted the Saints to win, check the Key West Citizen, a newspaper where my former sports editor Ralph Morrow still works. He asked me for a prediction and published it.
By the way, I sure wish I was writing this from Key West.
WAS FORTUNATE to score a ticket to last Saturday’s UD-Xavier basketball game at UD Arena and be part of the whiteout when nearly everybody wore white t-shirts. What? They didn’t think the whiteout outside was enough? To me, the MVPs that day were the snow plow drivers who cleaned the parking lot for the noon game.
UD’s 25-point win over Xavier was a stunner and, no, I made no such prediction on that one. Even though I’m a UD fan, I thought Xavier would win. Guess you’d call me a Flyer Unfaithful. I covered the Flyers for the DDN and covered the first game in UD Arena in 1970. And I’ve never heard it louder than I did Saturday.
AS MOST FOLKS know, I’m not a huge NBA fan, even though I covered the old Cincinnati Royals of the NBA when Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas were there. The Royals later became the Kansas City Kings and later became today’s Sacramento Kings. Cincinnati hasn’t had an NBA franchise since the Royals left town.
Even though I’m not much of a fan - and I hold no contempt or animosity toward those who are fans (to each his own) - I do try to watch a few Cleveland Cavaliers games just to catch the artistry and magic of LeBron James. The guy is basketball’s Incredible Hulk, with mixtures of Spiderman and Superman.
Saw him score 35 points against the New York Knicks in the first half the other night. While I think my Aunt Opal in her wheelchair could score at will on the Knicks, it still was a fantastic accomplishment - especially when he scored 24 points in a row.
It just goes to show how unbelievable it was when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the old Philadelphia Warriors against, yep, the Knicks on March 2, 1962. The game was played in Hershey, Pa., and there was no TV and apparently nobody took film of the game. So there is no visual record of it, but there is a radio tape.
I was also fortunate enough to cover a few games when Wilt the Stilt played against the Royals and I’m a tall guy at 6-foot-2. But when I stood next to the 7-foot-2 Chamberlain I felt like the Flatiron Building standing next to the Empire State Building.
OK, SO SPRING training is about 10 days away and we still don’t know who will play left field for the Cincinnati Reds. It looks as if it will be an open competition during spring training for anybody who wants to give it a try.
How about this: let’s guess. Give me your choice as to who will be in left field on Opening Day. I’ll put all the winning entries into a hat and draw a name and take that person out to dinner. Or if we can’t get together, we’ll come up with something as a prize.
The candidates, so far: Chris Dickerson, Chris Heisey, Wladimir Balentien, Juan Francisco, Todd Frazier, Jonny Gomes (if he signs), Laynce Nix - or name your own candidate.
Only once guess per person and use your correct e-mail address so you can be notified if you win.
DIDN’T TAKE long for the Oakland A’s to discover they had no need for Willy Taveras, did it? It took the Reds an entire season to figure that out. Just eight days after the Reds traded Taveras to the A’s, they released him. What’s that all about?
Immediately after making the trade, the A’s designated Taveras for assignment and even though they released him, they owe him the $4 million on his contract. The A’s have plenty of outfield talent, so why would they trade for Taveras in the first place?
All this time we thought the A’s were a pretty smart franchise, but this is one I can’t figure out? There has to be some photos somewhere.
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TweetDusty, Sheen, Meat Loaf and The Boss
CINCINNATI REDS MANAGER Dusty Baker was a big hit recently at the Wright State University First Pitch baseball dinner and was sincerely impressed with what he saw of the campus, particularly the Nutter Center.
“I always wanted to be BMOC (Big Man on Campus) but I signed a baseball contract when I was 18 and never went to college,” he said. “When I was about to be drafted, things weren’t too settled racially in the south and I said a prayer, ‘Lord, don’t let me get drafted by the Atlanta Braves.” Then came the draft and said Baker, “Wham, bam, I was drafted by the Braves and I said, ‘Lord, you didn’t here me, did you?’”
BAKER LOST his father, Johnny Baker Sr., a couple of months ago and he recalled how tough his dad was on him.
“He coached Little League in Sacramento and he cut me from the team when I was 8 because I threw my glove after I missed a ball,” said Baker. “The next year he cut me because I threw my bat after I struck out. I came back the next year and I quit the team when a guy threatened to hit me and I was scared. My dad wouldn’t let me come back on the team because he said, ‘I don’t want no quitters on my team.’”
DAYTONIAN RON BROOKEY is an Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer and coached Steve Yeager at Meadowdale High School. Brooked asked Baker about Yeager because the two played together for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s.
“Boomer?” said Baker. “You mean Boomer? We always called Yeager ‘Boomer.’ He was the best catcher I ever played with, but what I remember is how Boomer could go into the shower holding a cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other and get neither of them wet.”
Yeager is credited with an invention on the catcher’s mask. During a game a bat splintered in front of him and a large piece lodged in Yeager’s throat. This was before catchers began wearing hockey-type helmets. Yeager devised a piece of steel that hung from the chin padding of the mask that covered his throat.
After his baseball career, Yeager became a technical advisor on the movie Major League, which is why the movie is technically correct in all its baseball aspects. And Yeager appeared in a cameo role as a third base coach in the movie that starred Charlie Sheen as pitcher Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn.
ABOUT CHARLIE SHEEN. He was, and maybe still is, a huge fan of the Cincinnati Reds, probably because his actor father Martin Sheen was born in Dayton.
In the early 1990s, I was sitting in my press box seat in Dodger Stadium, head down as I pounded the keys on my laptop because I was near deadline. There was an empty seat next to mine and some guy sat down and began bombarding me with questions about Barry Larkin, Eric Davis and Rob Dibble.
I was busy, so I was terse and cryptic with my answers, never looking up. Finally, the guys says, “Would you like a cup of coffee?” To get rid of him, I said, “Yeah. Black. Two Sweet ‘n’ Lows.” The guy left to fetch the coffee and another guy two seats down leaned over and said, “Do you know who you keep ignoring? That’s Charlie Sheen.”
Well, he should never bother a writer on deadline - but I was more alert and polite when he returned with my coffee.
ANOTHER BRUSH with celebrity came in Philadelphia when singer/writer/actor Meat Loaf sang the National Anthem before a Phillies-Reds game. I loved Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell album. Along about the second inning I was again pounding the keys, head down, when I sensed somebody looking over my shoulder.
I hate that. I hate somebody watching me write. But when I realized it was Meat Loaf we struck up a nice conversation. He knows a lot about baseball. And later, whenever anybody brought up Meat Loaf, I always said, “Oh, yeah, my friend Meat. We’re on first-name basis.”
THEN THERE was the day I was standing at the batting cage during batting practice in New York’s Shea Stadium when a guy next to me said, “Don’t you just love Sean Casey’s all-out swing?”
I looked over and it was The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. For once I was speechless, when I knew I should have said, “We have something in common. I was born in the USA, too.
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TweetHopefully Cabrera is not another Gonzalez
When the Cincinnati Reds signed Miguel Cairo to a minor-league contract last week, I thought to myself, “Omigosh, they’ve signed the wrong Latin infielder to play shortstop. It’s Orlando Cabrera whom they need, not Cairo.”
Well, they rectified that little misdeed Monday when they signed the 36-year-old Cabrera to a one-year, $2.02 million deal.
And how did that happen when they said they already were over budget? Easy, they traded outfielder Willy Taveras and his $4 million contract to the Oakland A’s, along with the versatile Adam Rosales.
I’m sure the Reds had to include Rosales in the deal to make the A’s take Taveras. I would have taken two broken bats and a used rosin bag for Taveras, just to get rid of him and his $4 million contract.
THE TWO BIGGEST mistakes the Reds have made since they signed pitcher Eric Milton were the signings of outfielder Corey Patterson, followed up by the signing of Taveras. Both were bigger failures than the maiden voyage of the Titanic.
It is amazing the A’s took Taveras. Aren’t the A’s the original Moneyball team, the team that places so much value on on-base percentage? It was bad enough that Taveras hit only .240 last season, but even sadder was his on-base average as a leadoff hitter, .275. And his slugging average was .285.
I mean, I know the A’s don’t rely that much on scouts any more - it’s not the Moneyball way - but didn’t somebody tell them, “Hey, this guy can’t play?” The Reds must be laughing under their armpits.
During spring training last year, Taveras said he thought he could steal 100 bases last season. Man, he barely reached base 100 times and he walked only 18 times all year. Adam Dunn stole that many bases and he is 6-7 and 275 pounds.
WHILE MANY are excited about the acquisition of Cabrera, mostly that excitement comes from fans believing, “Well, the Reds finally are trying to do something, trying to fill the shortstop hole.”
I’ll reserve judgment on that one for now. I’m still thinking about shortstop Alex Gonzalez. When the Reds signed Gonzalez to a four-year, $14.5 million contract everybody was giddy. Even former Reds shortstop Dave Concepcion said, “Alex Gonzalez will make everybody forget about me.”
Yeah, right. How’d that one pan out?
Everybody pointed back to 2004 when A.G. played 159 games and hit 23 homers and drove in 79 runs for the Florida Marlins. And they said his defense was solid gold.
In his 3 1/2 years with the Reds, Alex played only 290 of the 576 games in which he could have played. He missed the entire 2008 season. When the Reds traded him to Boston last season he was hitting .210. And his defense was leakier than a milk carton with a hole in the bottom.
So color me skeptical right now about Cabrera, who is 36 (Colombian age). He combined to play 160 games last year for Oakland the Minnesota and hit .284 with a .316 on-base average, nine homers and 77 RBIs. His career average over 13 1/2 seasons in .275.
Nice numbers? Yes. But I still think back on the Alex Gonzalez deal and shudder. At least the Reds didn’t give Cabrera four years. It’s only one year, with a $4 million mutual option for 2011. And he seems to be a stopgap until somebody in the organization steps up and says, “Hey, I can play shortstop,” somebody like Paul Janish or Todd Frazier or other prospects in the organization.
And what did the Reds get for Taveras and Rosales. Really, it’s who cares. They got Aaron Miles and a player to be identified later. Miles hit .185 in 74 games for the Cubs last year.
Doesn’t matter. The big thing is that the Reds rid themselves of a heavy liability in Taveras - both financially and in talent. It was the old addition by subtraction trade.
THE AARON BOONE event Saturday at the Dayton Marriott, put on by the Dayton Heart Institute, was a rousing success. Nearly 450 people showed up to hear Aaron and me talk baseball.
One of the most asked question I get everywhere is: “Is Dave in Ask Hal a real person?” I always lead my Ask Hal column in the Sunday Dayton Daily News with a question from Dave of Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek. Some believe he is my alter ego and I make up his questions.
Not true. Those who attended the Aaron Boone function saw him, but didn’t know it. Dave stood up and asked a question during the question-and-answer period. I could have ‘outed’ him right then. But I didn’t. He likes his dirty little secret.
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