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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 > 2008 > April > 19 > Entry
A busy day off
What does a baseball writer do on his day off when the team he covers plays a game, other than watch it on TV in the sun room while the team loses another game.
Why do the Red ever pitch to Bill Hall? Ever? Ever ever, ever? The guy beats them with the regularity of a One-a-Day multiple vitamin. His two-run double off David Weathers in the 10th inning beat them…again.
And how bad is it when the Reds get two hits through six innings off the very hittable Jeff Suppan?
Anyway, the off day.
First it was up at 8 to be the Grand Marshall of the very wet Englewood Little League Opening Day parade in a spiffy 1984 Corvette.
And I threw out the first pitch, a strike, thank you very much. I still have it at 46 feet, even though any 10-year-old who watched could have yanked it out of the park.
Then it was off to see my favorite jewelers at James Free - Scott, Neil and Cathy. I returned a bracelet in December to be fixed and there it was, on April 19, ready to go.
But those folks are great, especially Scott, who has to be the world’s No. 1 Reds fan. You know that because his favorite all-time Reds player is Hal King.
Hal King? Yes, Hal King, even though he once gave Scott an autograph and spelled his name Stocc. He is still known as Stocc to close friends and uses that as his eBay moniker.
Stocc, or Scott, said before the season began he thought the Reds would win 96 games this year. I told him if they did, I’d buy the biggest diamond they had for my wife, Nadine. He told me that would be a 5-carat number worth $100,00. I’m not budging, nor worried.
As for the Reds, they made it official Saturday that Matt Belisle would come off the DL Monday and pitch against the Dodgers in place of Josh Fogg - the worst kept secret since the Japanese code in World War II. It was a no-thinker.
The roster move? David Weathers left Saturday’s game in the 10th with what looked to be elbow problems and he could land on the DL. If not, they might ship Todd Coffey to Louisville.
Something about Friday’s game that was neglected and shows the unselfishness of one Ken Griffey Jr. He is sitting on 596 home runs, pursuing 600. To him, though, it is one big nothing. No bid deal. Just a number.
And he proved it Friday in the ninth inning when the Reds trailed Milwaukee 5-0 with one out. When he could have swung from his ankles for home run No. 597, Griffey knew one run meant nothing. They needed baserunners.
So with the infield overshifted to the right side, leaving the third-base line vacant, Griffey dropped a bunt down the line for a hit. That’s baseball. That’s unselfishness. And it led to two runs and the Reds had the tying run at the plate twice against Eric Gagne, who struck out Javier Valentin and Paul Bako to end it, 5-2.
But for all you Griffey detractors, that one was for you. This one, too. Some research revealed that if Griffey had been able to average 150 games while in Cincinnati, instead of spending about 2 1/2 seasons worth of time on the DL, if you figure in the home runs per at bat for the games he missed, he would be at 715 right now, even with Hank Aaron, and bearing down on Barry Bonds.
That, of course, is a big ‘if,’ and injuries are injuries are injuries - something that can’t be avoided. But certainly not his fault.
And I’m also weary of hearing two things about Adam Dunn - that his home runs never mean anything and that he tries to pull everything.
Some research has revealed that 79 percent of Dunn’s home runs have come when either the Reds led by three or less runs or trailed by three runs or less - save situations.
Dunn also is going more to left field, trying to beat the overshift. He has been doing it regularly,
That’s what I did on my day off.
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By ohdave
April 20, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this
Gene, it makes you wonder, doesn’t it, what the rest of the league knows about how to pitch Hall that the Reds don’t know?
By Gene
April 20, 2008 7:33 AM | Link to this
Nah, you wouldn’t want Bill Hall on the Reds, because he ONLY hits against the Reds. Check his batting avg past couple years against the rest of the league.
By donb51
April 20, 2008 7:14 AM | Link to this
Hal, With regard to the 79% of homeruns on Adam Dunn - come on now - don’t be fooled that easily. Most homeruns will fall with a six run differential between winning and losing. However, look at his homers in the context of actually winning a game. This year, he is zero of 18 in contributing to a Reds win - whether homer or not. Last year, 17 of his homers were in losing causes and 3 games he hit two. So 20 of his 40 meant nothing. Of the remaining 20, 10 games the Reds would have won big anyway. As far as Griffey, there is proven, statistical analysis that home runs by an anyone follow a certain independent, distribution and you can not predict how many someone will hit based on how many he hit in previous years.
By Tim in Stuttgart
April 20, 2008 1:55 AM | Link to this
Nail on the head Hal. How in the world could Stormy give him anything to hit at 3-2. before he threw it I said “I’d rather walk him than give in to him here”. Inexcusable. I remember Hammerin’ Hal King well. Seems like when he came up he was always hittin’ a dinger. Good job on gettin’ that first strike!
By Mr. Redlegs
April 20, 2008 12:09 AM | Link to this
Yeah but Hal, you forgot to say whether you think Dunn is worth $15 mil a year over five years… . Mr. R
By Kyle
April 19, 2008 8:15 PM | Link to this
OK, I know this is going to sound really heartless, but if Weathers is really hurt, this might be a blessing in disguise. I certainly don’t personally wish him ill will, but if the Reds are going to compete, besides the pathetic hitting, Weathers needed to be out of the bullpen. It seems the organization thinks they owe him for being a workhorse last year. The problem is that every time he comes in, it is mentally taxing on the entire team. Even if he gets out of it with no runs scored, he nearly always puts runners in scoring position. How deflating is it to a team that gets a comeback homer from Votto, players getting fired up over crappy umpiring, Cordero getting through after taking the shaft on the Kendall play, only to have Weathers throw up a two spot. But here we are back to the multi-million dollar a year question: Why couldn’t the meat of the order do anything in the ninth?
By ohdave
April 19, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this
I think I asked you yesterday why the Reds pitch to Bill Hall. I thought you might have an answer. Here’s another question: What’s going on with Bill Bray?
By Deaner
April 19, 2008 5:51 PM | Link to this
I’ve always been a Griffey fan and always will be. Thanks Hal!
By Margo
April 19, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this
Thanks for sharing your day off with us, Hal. It was a great read. I, for one, have a new appreciation for Griffey because as far as I can tell he never cheated by using steroids like Bonds. That will make 600 homers even sweeter.
By Jeff
April 19, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this
As much as I hate Billy Hall, I love this guy! I wish to God the Reds could find someone like this to play left field next year!