Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
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 > 2008 > February > 14
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Long-term deal for Phillips
Brandon Phillips and the Cincinnati Reds have agreed in principle to a long-term deal, a source close to the negotiations told the Dayton Daily News on Thursday night.
Terms and length of the deal were not available, but the long-term deal is done and an arbitration hearing between the Reds and Phillips has been canceled.
Phillips was asking for a one-year contract worth $4.5 million and the Reds were offering a one-year, $2.7 million deal. The long-term deal wipes that all out.
Phillips, 26, had a breakout season in 2007, blossoming as a star both offensively and defensively.
The Stone Mountain, Ga., resident, acquired from the Cleveland Indians during the spring of 2006 for right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens, hit .288 and was a 30/30 player - 30 home runs and 32 stolen bases (in 40 attempts). He also drove in 94 runs and scored 107. He was the team’s clean-up hitter most of the second half.
On defense, he was spectacular and probably should have won the Gold Glove. He led the National League in fielding percentage for a second baseman (.990) and made only eight errors.
TweetRoger, the Unartful Dodger
As spring training begins, baseball arrives with two black eyes of blinding proportions. The game’s best all-around player, Barry Bonds, and best pitcher, Roger Clemens, are closer to jail than the Hall of Fame.
Bonds already is under siege for perjury, and four FBI investigators were in the hearing room Wednesday when a stuttering and stammering Clemens dodged questions and gave conflicting answers during his congressional testimony about his possible use of steroids and HGH.
While his accuser, Brian McNamee, was calm and composed throughout the hearings, most of the time Clemens appeared ready to explode (‘roid rage?) the way he did when he picked up a broken piece of jagged bat and threw it at the Mets’ Mike Piazza during a Yankees-Mets game.
If the FBI decides to investigate the truth or lies of Clemens’ testimony - what if they find his DNA in those syringes and bloody gauze pads? - Clemens’ next uniform could be prison blues.
I’m probably not the best and most objective person to weigh in on Clemens, already buried under tons of negative media verbiage.
We, uh, have a history. Goes back a long way, too.
It was in the 1980s after Clemens, pitching for Boston, struck out 20 Seattle Mariners. My paper sent me to Boston to do a piece on Clemens, who, after all, was born in Dayton.
An appointment was set up with the Boston public relations man, who told me to be in the Fenway Park home clubhouse at 2 p.m. I was there; Roger wasn’t. He ambled in at 3:30 and walked to his locker. I walked over, stuck out my hand and said, “Roger, I’m Hal McCoy and I …”
“I know who you are,” he said. “Can’t talk to you today. Come back at 2 tomorrow,” he said.
I was back at 2 the next day when he walked in at 3 and said he had to do a photo shoot for People magazine. When that was finished, he ignored me again, walking into the training room. Again I approached him to say, “Look, I’m only here to do an interview with you. My paper sent me just for that. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll go home.”
He told me to meet him in the dugout before he did his daily run around the park. The interview lasted 12 minutes and was conducted while he laced on his shoes. And the only thing to come out of the interview worth anything was Clemens’ quote about his hometown: “The best thing about Dayton was seeing it in the rear-view mirror.”
Fast-forward to a couple of years ago when Clemens was pitching in Houston and the Reds were in Minute Maid Park. Because I am legally blind, in some parks I use what is called an Ott-Lite, a table lamp brighter than florescent bulbs, to brighten my computer screen. Never had a complaint.
Clemens was pitching that day and the Houston PR person approached me politely and said, “Can you either turn off that light or cover it with something? One of our players says it is shining in his eyes.”
I laughed as I snapped off the switch and said, “Let me guess. Roger Clemens.” The man nodded his affirmative. In fairness, the press box in Minute Maid Park IS one of the lowest in baseball, but in several other games there were no complaints.
So that’s the background as I weigh in on this.
What struck me during the hearings, other than Clemens contradicting himself and backpedaling and doing more hemming-and-hawing than a seamstress, was how he threw more people under the bus than were on the bus.
His agent, Randy Hendricks, is one of the best and most capable agents in the game. Clemens tossed him under the bus, blamed him for not telling him that investigator George Mitchell wanted to talk to him about steroid allegations. Clemens was told; he knew Mitchell wanted to talk to him.
His nanny was tossed under the bus when she confirmed that Clemens was at a party with acknowledged steroids user Jose Canseco, where it is alleged Clemens and best friend/pitcher Andy Pettitte talked about HGH use.
His wife, Debbie, was tossed under the bus when Clemens talked about her using HGH and said he had no idea McNamee injected her with HGH.
And then there was Clemens visiting legislators in their offices before the hearing and some of those elected officials and their staffs asking for autographs.
From what I’ve seen and heard, McNamee was most credible, which is saying something because the guy has been proved a liar. But he told the truth about Pettitte and Chuck Knoblauch, both of whom admitted using illegal substances. So why would he lie about Clemens?
And there are too many holes and discrepancies in Clemens’ testimony. He sounds a whole lot like Pete Rose during his 15 years of denials.
As of now, you can add me to the list of writers who won’t vote for Clemens for the Hall of Fame, and the way it is going it might not be long before I send in an empty ballot.
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