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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > May > 18 > Entry
West usually is not the best
What is it about the west coast that puts the fear of Mephistopholes into the Cincinnati Reds?
They bolted Great American Ball Park Sunday afternoon to Los Angeles to open a seven-game trip - three in LA, four in San Diego - after winning six straight at home, topped off Sunday with a 6-4 victory and three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians.
Noe it is the west coast, where hopes and dreams to go die for the Reds.
Is it the time difference, playing games past their bed time? Is it stage fright, with all those celebrities in Dodger Stadium?
Remember when Hugh Hefner and a half dozen of his wholesome American next-door neighbor girls showed up at Dodger Stadium and sat behind home plate with more skin showing than fabric?
Three catchers left the game with sore necks.
Is it the fear of Tommy Lasorda plopping down next to them in a Beverly Hills restaurant and eating all their linguine? And stiffing them with the check?
Remember a few years ago when the Reds went west in first place and lost every game and came home 4 1/2 games behind and slipped away to oblivion?
And it isn’t just a few teams. Marty Brennaman and I remember The Big Red Machine going west and getting more than their eggs scrambled.
Something happens when you go west. I can remember one year going to Old Town in San Diego for a Mexican lunch. Never, never, never do I drink alcohol before covering a game. On this day, though, I drank two (not one, TWO) fish bowls full of margaritas. Somebody had to keep jabbing me with a ball point pen that night in the press box to keep me awake.
I’ve spent all night on the beach in La Jolla - watched the sun come up. I’ve spent all day at the La Brea tar pits smelling mastodon bones, all day on the Santa Monica Pier smelling dead fish, all day on Venice Beach watching the societal dropouts.
There was the time I tried to, uh, “bring” back some Cuban cigars from Tijuana and was stopped at the border. A couple of customs agents enjoyed some fine cigars for a few days - at my expense.
So I know exactly what Reds manager Dusty Baker is saying about this trip.
“As Bill Walsh (former NFL/49ers coach) always told me about trips, emphasize that they are business trips, not pleasure trips.”
Baker said he can’t understand why the Reds have so much difficulty on the left coast, even The Big Red Machine. Yes, there are distractions.
“There are a lot of things to do and not just at night,” he said. “Weather is nice, but you have to limit your time at the pool, limit your time with the family, make sure you get your rest. There is Sea World, Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, Tijuana, the beach, all kinds of stuff,” said Baker.
“I’ve reprimanded quite a few guys for coming in from the beach,” said Baker. “I had one guy who was supposed to play couldn’t walk because he got blisters walking at Universal Studios all day.”
They know how to put you in a foul mood. A driver once parked the team bus across the street from the hotel. A policeman stood nearby. As the players came out the hotel door and jay-walked to the bus, the LA gendarme furiously wrote tickets.
There was the time former first baseman Nick Esasky missed time on the coast when he ate at a diner counter and swallowed a broke-off piece of fork. Not pork. Fork.
Heading west, the Reds are on a natural high and Baker says, “Surf’s up.”
“If you’re going good, you don’t think about it going bad,” he said. “You just keep thinking about it going good. I have a lot of buddies who surf and they catch a good wave a ride it all the way to the beach. If you think about falling off, you’re going to fall off. So you ride the wave and keep on riding. Don’t worry about the wind or if you are going to fall.”
Adam Dunn has four homers in four games and a couple of defensive notches on his belt and a smile back on his face.
Paul Janish, the guy they said who could field like Omar Vizquel but hits like Omar the Tentmaker, made his first start Sunday and had a walk and three hits. His average is .800 and he said with a laugh, “That’s quite the torrid pace.”
The Reds ripped Cliff Lee, who was 6-0 with a 0.67 ERA for six runs (five earned) and 10 hits in only 5 2/3 innings. He was beaten by Edinson “High-Voltage” Volquez - two runs, four hits over six innings.
Volquez now leads the majors in ERA, 1.33 to Lee’s 1.37 and Volquez is 7-1.
Off to LA and SD with WG on their mind (winning games).
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Comments
By Jon in SF
May 19, 2008 10:12 PM | Link to this
Ban Reds Authority, there’s a policy against pretentious and annoying little boys using their dad’s computer to be annoying and pretentious. Your act is boring kiddo, scram.By donb51
May 19, 2008 9:16 PM | Link to this
Hal, I’ll believe anything you say - you are the real Reds’ authority. Please feel free to thank me at my real email address. I would gladly frame anything from you. If you look back a little bit, I predicted this current run of wins.By ShockMonkey
May 19, 2008 7:14 PM | Link to this
Reds Authority: It’s okay to correct someone but do so in a positive way. We’re all in this together so be nice if there’s an error or change needs to be made. Besides, Hal goes out of his way writing this blog. It really is a pain in the fanny. We cool now?By got milk
May 19, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
Hmm - seems like someone should change their screen name to Gutless Reds Authority given that they list their email address as xxx@xxx.com. Looks like they can dish it out, but can’t take it.By Jimmy1Time
May 19, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this
Does anybody remember when the Reds went to L.A.durning the 1990 season. And Charlie Sheen sat out in the Bull-Pen with Nasty Boys? Then Dibble tells the story of how the whole Reds team partied at Sheen’s Malibu Beach house. And the dude from the Princess Bride stole the hot actress that Dibb’s almost hooked up with that night!!! Anybody have footage of Sheen at that game?By Jimmy1Time
May 19, 2008 11:50 AM | Link to this
Does anybody remember when the Reds went to L.A.durning the 1990 season. And Charlie Sheen sat out in the Bull-Pen with Nasty Boys? Then Dibble tells the story of how the whole Reds team partied at Sheen’s Malibu Beach house. And the dude from the Princess Bride stole the hot actress that Dibb’s almost hooked up with that night!!! Anybody have footage of Sheen at that game?By will
May 19, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this
Hal, great stuff as always. Reds Authority, try and have a little respect for a hall of famer. We read Hal McCoy for the great content, not for statistical data.By Reds Authority
May 19, 2008 9:54 AM | Link to this
That’s because Hal CORRECTED it AFTER I corrected him with the facts. (See my cut/paste below from his initial blog entry). Not trying to stir it up…just listing the FACTS.By Steven Ross
May 19, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this
Volquez now leads the majors in ERA, 1.33 to Lee’s 1.37 and Volquez is 7-1. Where does is it say Volquez doesn’t have 7 wins? I think Hal got it right based on what I read.By Brian
May 19, 2008 7:27 AM | Link to this
Reds Authority…If you have such a problem with Hal…DON’T READ HIM. There is a reason he is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. You are in the minority here, Pal. I would like to visit your place of employment (if you even have a job) and critique your sorry job. Keep up the great work Hal.By Ryan
May 19, 2008 3:59 AM | Link to this
Careful up there on your high horse, Reds Authority. Wouldn’t want to see you fall and hurt yourself!By Reds Authority
May 19, 2008 1:12 AM | Link to this
Yet another error, Hal… Hal said: “Volquez not leads the majors in ERA, 1.33 to Lee’s 1.37. Both are 6-1.” The fact is, Volquez now has SEVEN (7) WINS and is now tied (3-way tie) for 2nd in The Majors in terms of the number of WINS. Cliff Lee’s record is indeed 6-1, but he is NOT tied with Volquez who has now improved his record to 7-1.By redfuture
May 18, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this
Hal, what kind of draft do you think the Reds will have this year? Baseball America reports that the rumor is the Reds are planning to take Pat Kelly’s son. Pat served as Mackanin’s bench coach last year. BA says the kid would be a reach at that point. I’d like them to take a pitcher or catcher first. It looks to me that catcher Mesoraco is a bust already from last year. He had a terrible short season last year and was held back for extended spring this year. They finally put him at Dayton where he is 3 for 22 with 9 strikeouts. Three good catchers are out there this year: Posey, Skipworth, and Castro.By JAMES R. SHOCKMAN
May 18, 2008 9:15 PM | Link to this
DEAR HAL, JUST KEEP THE REDS PLAYERS AWAY FROM CHARLIE SHEEN AND HIS HOLLYWOOD PARTIES WITH HEIDI FLIESS AND HER GIRLS. YOU CAN’T BE THAT SHALLOW HAL TO NOT KNOW WHAT GOES ON OUT THERE IN HOLLYWOOD.