Ramon Hernandez: a good signing

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 11:12 AM

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.

Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment

Reds trainer Mark Mann resigns

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 02:30 PM

DO YOU BELIEVE in coincidences? One of my favorite book characters, detective Harry Bosch in the Michael Connelly novels, says in almost every book, “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Nor do I.

But Cincinnati Reds athletic trainer Mark Mann says his resignation today has nothing to do with the fact his mother, Wilma Mann, suddenly “retired” last Friday - although friends say Wilma was not ready to retire and that she was pushed out.

Wilma Mann has worked 37 years in the Reds scouting department and was Director of Scouting Administration since 1997.

HER SON, Mark, has been the Reds head athletic trainer since 2003 and before that he was the team’s assistant trainer since 1995.

Mann said he is leaving to become a financial advisor for major leaguers and will study the craft in the immediate future. He is joining Bob Castellini Jr. and Tim Allred, who already represent some former and current players.

Asked if what happened with his mother hastened his decision, Mann said, “Ironically, no. I told (general manager) Walt Jocketty about 24 hours before the thing with my mom’s retirement. It is all separate and not related.”

Mann, along with team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek, over the last 15 years has built the Reds medical staff and facilities into one of the best in the majors and Mann said, “In my subjective opinion, we have the best medical team in baseball.”

Mann said he will play a part in selecting his successor.

“I was just offered a unique opportunity,” he said. “It will be tough to leave the day-to-day stuff of baseball. Because of my mom’s association, I grew up in Cincinnati and around old Riverfront Stadium. I love the team and I love the city. But this will give me a chance to spend more time with my wife (Michele) and my two sons - an opportunity to come home every night and every weekend.”

Ah, the old more-time-with-the-family statement.

Mann is a class guy who was easy for the media to deal with and was always honest and upfront with the information he was permitted to relay.

When Brandon Phillips “announced” last year that he was playing with a broken finger, Mann quickly informed the media that it wasn’t so, that Phillips had neither a fracture nor a break. Phillips used the term fractured and later said he didn’t know that a fracture was a break.

AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, Mann was signed by the Reds as a pitcher in the 29th round of the 1990 draft, but a shoulder injury ended that career and got him interested in athletic health care and a new career.

Since then, he has taken care of hundreds of players shoulders and other parts of their bodies. Now he’ll help take care of their money.

Permalink | Comments (15) | Post your comment

Mann oh Mann, what were they thinking?

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 01:30 PM

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.

Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment

What can the Reds possibly do?

By Hal McCoy | Friday, November 6, 2009, 12:03 AM

The Empire won, as expected - even though it was the first time since 2000, even with baseball’s highest payroll every year since their previous championship in 2000.

I refrain from calling the New York Yankees the Evil Empire because they are playing within the rules, as skewered as the rules may be.

Their payroll this year was $220 million. Last winter they spent $450 million to sign three players to multi-year contracts - pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, plus first baseman Mark Teixiera.

What to do? What to do? Here is an idea. Let’s break up the majors into two leagues - The Big Bucks League, for those teams who want to pay more than $100 million in salaries and The Spare Change League for those who want to pay less than $100 million.

This year, The Big Bucks League would have 11 teams:

1. NY Yankees $220,097,414

2. NY Mets $145,367,987

3. Chicago Cubs $134,058,500

4. Boston $122,435,399

5. Detroit $119,160,145

6. LA Angels $118,964,000

7. Seattle $112,053,666

8. Philadelphia $111,209,046

9. Houston $102,996,414

10. Chicago Sox $100,598,500

11. LA Dodgers $100,008,592

Absurd? Maybe so. Maybe it makes as much sense as the way things are done right now.

THAT BRINGS US to the Cincinnati Reds and what they can do? Disband? Join the Class AAA International League? Drop back 15 yards and punt?

Under current rules, there is no way, none, zip, nada that the Reds can ever win.

Some might say, “Well, the St. Louis Cardinals compete every year and their payroll this year was only $87.5 million.”

The Reds had the 17th highest payroll (out of 30) at $73.5 million, so what’s another $12 million? Well, it is a whole bunch when you don’t have it. And it is a whole bunch when your attendance took a horrendous downturn last season.

And the Reds front office already is on record as saying they won’t increase payroll. Probably it will be reduced.

What can you do when you start things off with four players owed $46 million next year - closer Francisco Cordero ($12 million), pitcher Aaron Harang ($12 million), pitcher Bronson Arroyo ($11 million) and third baseman Scott Rolen ($11 million)?

That leaves $27 million for the other 21 players and with the average salary in major-league baseball at $3.27 million, where does that leave the Reds? Mostly standing with empty cash bags.

General manager Walt Jocketty needs to do two things as fast as he can this winter: (One) Trade Cordero. (Two) Trade Harang.

By trading Cordero, the Reds not only save $12 million this year, they save $13 million next year. An expensive closer for a sub-mediocre team is an unnecessary evil. It’s a job Nick Masset can do.

By trading Harang, the Reds save another $11 million. Harang has had two straight down years, but he is still marketable. Several scouts told me late last year that their teams would be happy to deal for Harang.

BUT FOR 2010, that’s still only a savings of $23 million, which isn’t going to buy you much on the free agent market. Just look at how much the Yankees paid.

The Reds could only afford middle-of-the-road free agents and then they’re taking a chance. Will the guy be good or will he be an expensive flop. It’s one reason Jocketty says the Reds won’t dabble much in the free agent cash parties. And I don’t blame him.

There is only one way the Reds can win a division title. Every player, and that’s every player, has to have a season that is better than the back of his baseball card. How often does that happen? The nth of never?

They could get by with the same year from first baseman Joey Votto. If they can talk catcher Ramon Hernandez into taking a cut from his $8 million option and sign for maybe $3 million and he has a career year, that would help.

Brandon Phillips needs to return to his numbers of two years ago, not the year he had last year and he has to eliminate all the selfish things he does and the things he does that distracts from the team.

They need a better hitting shortstop than Paul Janish - and good luck with that.

They need Scott Rolen to hit more homers and hit .300 and stay healthy all year - and good luck with that.

They need to sign Jonny Gomes, who hit 20 home runs in about half a season. Indications are, though, that they won’t offer him arbitration.

They need Drew Stubbs to be the player he was in September and that’s possible. They need right fielder Jay Bruce to prove he can hit major-league pitching, something he hasn’t come close to doing that last season-and-a-half.

They need Arroyo to pitch even better than he did last year, pitch all year the way he did the second half. They need Homer Bailey to be the pitcher he was the second half. They need Johnny Cueto to come around the way Bailey did.

Those are all Big Needs - and good luck with that.

Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment

Of Aruba, Pole and Lee/Hamels

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 12:09 AM

Aruba is nice this time of year - or any time of year. Spent six days there last week and it was 90 to 92 every day, not a drop of precip and the heat was kept down by a persistent cool breeze off the cobalt blue ocean just a few yards behind the hotel.

If I had stayed away from the casinos, where I firmly believe they have figured out a way to cheat at blackjack, it would have been a perfect vacation.

I mean, how many times did I have a wager between $25 and $40 in front of me with two face cards in my possession with the dealer showing five? Then he would pull an ace for 16 and another five for 21 to beat me - time after time after time after time.

Then on the next hand, with a $10 bet, I’d draw a blackjack, just to keep me interested.

Where was 007 when I needed him?

If you go to Aruba, steer clear of the casinos, but don’t miss restaurants like Sole Mare, Papiemento’s, Simply Fish (tables on the beach with torches lighting the tables), El Gaucho and, for ambiance to watch the sunset, The Lighthouse.

TALKED TO Dick Pole this week, the pitching coach the Cincinnati Reds unceremoniously fired late in the season. Why couldn’t they at least wait until the end of the season?

Pole, a Michigan resident, is in Florida this week to undergo hip replacement surgery. After 22 years as a coach he says he won’t pursue another job, “Unless somebody comes after me.”

I know many of you called for his removal all season and wanted hitting coach Brook Jacoby gone, too. Well, you got half of what you wanted.

To me, it is almost always sad to see a dedicated, hard-working guy lose his job. Perhaps when you are with somebody every day and get to know them personally, your view becomes fuzzy.

All I know is that Pole worked hard and knew his job. Usually, when a manager or coach is fired, it is because his players or pitchers underachieve.

To me, though, most of the Reds pitchers were pitching to their capabilities, perhaps everybody but Aaron Harang, who has struggled the last couple of years. Bronson Arroyo blossomed under Pole, as did Edinson Volquez. In fact, Volquez was upset when Pole was fired.

After many false starts, Homer Bailey turned it around the second half of last season. Didn’t Pole have something to do with that?

We all know how obstinate young Bailey can be and Pole refused to coddle him - and it probably cost him his job.

One problem with the Reds is that CEO Bob Castellini listens to too many people and some of them have axes to grind or let personalities sway their opinions. One of them got Castellini’s ear about Pole and Pole was axed (pole-axed?).

A manager and a coach is only as good as his players/pitchers, and I saw improvement from the Reds pitching staff under Pole.

WILL THE PHILLIES be brave enough to bring back Cliff Lee on three days of rest if the World Series goes seven games and give him the ball Thursday?

It is probably their only chance. If it goes seven - and I believe it might - it will be Cole Hamels’ turn to pitch. I wasn’t there to hear the quote or put it into context, but I’m mystified about his quote, “I can’t wait for the season to be over.”

If that’s what he said and what he meant, I don’t want him pitching the deciding game of the World Series. You would more like to hear him say, “I wish the season would never end.”

With the way he pitched in his last start against the Yankees, well, it looked as if he wanted the season to end.

What do you think? Should Lee pitch Game 7, if there is one?

Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment

The Phillies are NOT the Big Red Machine (yet)

By Hal McCoy | Friday, October 23, 2009, 06:37 PM

Before I depart for Aruba Saturday and a week’s fun on the beach and at the pool as Official Bikini Observer, let me weigh in on the nonsense I’m reading and hearing about the Philadelphia Phillies as The Little Red Machine.

Pshaw and balderdash.

Just because the Phillies are only the fourth National League team in history to win back-to-back National League pennants doesn’t mean they are on a level with The Big Red Machine.

They aren’t even The Little Red Machine yet.

Oh, yeah. They’re good. Very good. But don’t lay the BRM or LRM on me until they win two straight World Series, as the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds did, or they go through the playoffs and World Series without losing a game, as the ’76 Reds did that included a sweep of the Phillies in the League Championship Series and a sweep of the New York Yankees in the World Series.

And the ’76 Reds won the NL West by 10 games.

Want to play the lineup comparison game? OK, here is how I seee it:

Catcher: Johnny Bench over Carlos Ruis in a landslide.

First Base: Ryan Howard over Tony Perez,

Second Base: Chase Utley/Joe Morgan. That one is probably a wash.

Shortstop: Jimmy Rollins on offense and Davey Concepcion on defense.

Third base: Pete Rose over Pedro Feliz, not even close.

Left Field: George Foster over Raul Ibanez, by a wide margin.

Center Field: Shane Victorino on offense and Cesar Geronimo on defense.

Right Field: Ken Griffey Sr. over Jayson Werth because Griffey was a better all-around player.

Starting pitching: The Reds Don Gullett, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Pat Zachry and Fred Norman against Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and Pedro Martinez, to me, is flip a coin and call it.

Relief pitching: Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney, Clay Carroll Pat Darcy and Pedro Borbon were better than Brad Lidge, J.A. Happ, Chad Durbin and Ryan Madson.

Anyway, that’s my opinion? What’s yours? It’s something to discuss while I’m eating, drinking and being merry for a week.

The blog returns the first week in November and will appear two or three times a week throughout the winter.

Permalink | Comments (65) | Post your comment

Time for umpire challenges in baseball

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 07:50 PM

When I lost a good portion of my vision a few years ago, a few helpful folks suggested, “Now you can be an umpire.”

And judging by what I’ve seen so far in the playoffs this year, maybe they’re right. The umpires so far have missed more calls than a teenager with their cell phones turned off.

Don’t get me wrong. I love umpires and some are good friends - like former umpire Bruce Froemming, who is now a major league umpire supervisor who watches games and grades the work of umpires, and Randy Marsh, who lives across the Ohio River from Great American Ball Park.

The job is tough, almost impossible. But these guys get it right - most of the time. I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat in the press box and watched a play with my naked eyes and said, “He missed that one.” Then I watched replays and realized, “He got it right.”

When the NFL and NCAA put in replay challenges, I thought it was an awful idea. But now that I’ve watched it a few years, I believe it is a great tool.

Isn’t the idea to get it right? And with the amazing technology available, why not use it?

Which brings me to baseball. It’s time for replay challenges, especially after watching about 10 incorrect calls so far in this postseason, including two missed calls Tuesday by umpire Tim McClelland in the ALCS involving the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Tim McClelland is a crew chief and an excellent umpire, but he blew two easy calls in one game Tuesday, plays that could have been called right if replay was used.

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker is against replay and says, “It takes the human element out of the game and the human element is a big part of our game.”

Maybe so, but isn’t getting a call right more important, especially when it might decide the outcome of a game?

I never thought I’d ever say this, but the time is now for replay to be available. My proposal would to be give managers three challenges a game on every umpire’s call except balls and strikes. If a manager believes an umpire missed a call, he tosses a red hankie onto the field.

All this would require would be a fifth umpire seated in the pressbox with instant replay in front of him. Yes, baseball games already are too long, but what’s another ten minutes if it means getting a call right?

And if a game goes into extra innings, the replay calls are in the hands of the fifth umpire - he would review any close call and if it shows the call was missed, he reverses it.

Before technology in sports television became so sophisticated that if the catcher has a mole on his left check it is visible in your media room, they didn’t use enough close-ups and isolated cameras to show if a call was right or wrong.

And not so long ago, the home team was told not to show close plays or controversial plays on their scoreboards. But in recent years, that isn’t the case and all close plays are shown on the board, sometimes to the embarrassment of umpires, who have no access to replays. They see the play unfold and make a quick decision - usually getting it right. Usually.

Somewhere down the line, when an umpire makes a wrong call that costs the home team a game and it is shown on the scoreboard, they’ll have a European soccer riot on their hands.

So I say, with a heavy heart, install replay challenges.

Any of you have a better idea as far as different replay challenge systems? Or do you like it the way it is, permitting mistakes by umpires to possibly determine the outcome of an important game?

Permalink | Comments (38) | Post your comment