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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 > 25 > Entry
Random thoughts in Paradise Lost
Another day in Paradise Lost. It is chilly and the skies are the color of Grandam Moses’s hair.
San Diego? More like Milwaukee. I once asked my friend, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, if they had summer in Milwaukee.
“Yes,” he said. “August 25th, from noon to four.”
AN ALL-STAR moment this year: Edinson Volquez (7-1, 1.34) facing Josh Hamilton (.337, 12 homers, 14 doubles, 53 RBIs).
THE HEAVENLY Beds in Westin/Starwood hotels are, indeed, heavenly, but the new ones in the Marriotts are awfully tough to get out of in the morning.
ONE MORE TIME: No more messages/comments/e-mails about trading Ken Griffey Jr. I’m going to say it here for the 598th time - Griffey has a no-trade clause. Griffey has told GM Walt Jocketty he doesn’t want to be traded. Ken Griffey Jr. will NOT be traded.
DID YOU KNOW that the 1999 Reds, a team I dubbed The Big Road Machine because of its success in road games, established a Major League record with 10 straight wins over first-place teams (3-0 at Arizona, 4-0 at Houston, 3-0 against Arizona again). This year’s team has five in a row (3-0 Florida, 2-0 Cleveland). Yes, the won three from Cleveland, but the Tribe was in second place for the third game.
WHAT’S UP IN SAN DIEGO? The Hilton hotel, just outside Petco Park, blew up last week. The Padres lost three players to the DL last week - top pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young, plus catcher Josh Bard.
Young and Bard were both eliminated in the same inning by St. Louis’ Albert Pujols. First Pujols lined a pitch off Young’s face and nose, shattering bones. Then he put Bard on the DL with a slide home.
Then the Padres struck out 30 times in two games against the Reds and in between those two games Reds interim manager Chris Speier was nearly maimed by a falling piece of steel pipe as he ran the stadium steps.
CAN YOU says cursed?
THREE THINGS Ken Griffey Jr. wants to see when he gets out of baseball: Indianapolis 500, Kentucky Derby, Sport Super Bikes in Europe.
“I used to hear the Indianapolis 500 when my daddy played Triple-A there,” said Griffey.
And he had a near-Indy experience not long ago at a test track in Savannah, Ga. when he rode with former Indy driver Bobby Rahal, “At 206 miles an hour in a Porsche Carrera.” Griffey was reminded of it when he saw Rahal’s 19-year-old son, Graham, crash in this year’s 500 as Griffey watched on a clubhouse TV.
“At one point, as we approached a turn, I was looking at him and her was looking at me and nobody was looking at the road,” Griffey said of his spin with Rahal.
THE SUBECT was players able to play a lot of different positions, like Jerry Hairston Jr. and Ryan Freel, “Two guys who are rare in that they can play both infield and outfield,” said manager Dusty Baker. “To me that’s the toughest thing to do in baseball. The best I ever saw was Derrel Thomas. He had eight gloves stacked in his locker like pancakes.”
AFTER BEING the invisible man for about a month, no playing time, few pinch-hitting assignments, Javier Valentin had a pinch-hit single Friday and a pinch-hit walk Saturday.
After Saturday’s game he said with a smile, “Back-to-back games. I’m going to need a day off. I’ll be sore Sunday.”
No day off, though. Because he is one of the few baseball players in captivity who wears out Greg Maddux, Valentin was in Sunday’s lineup at first base. For his career, Valentin is 8 for 23 (.348) with four homers against Maddux.
Why are the new $10 bills rust-colored?
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Comments
By BOB DUERSTOCK
May 28, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
WHY DOES GRIFFEY KEEP HITTING THIRD!!!!!!HE IS BY FAR THE WORST NUMBER 3 HITTER IN ALL OF BASEBALL!!!BOB LET HIM KNOW YOU OWN THE REDS!!!By wizard
May 27, 2008 1:50 PM | Link to this
What could have been: Phillips-2nd Keppinger-ss Bruce—rf Hamilton—cf Votto—1st Dunn—lf-or 1st Encarnacion—3rd Backo—c PitcherBy Aaron
May 27, 2008 6:17 AM | Link to this
If what you say is true Hal, and Griffey really will not be traded this year because he’ll veto it, than he has really screwed over this team who can get something for him now,rather than waiting till his contract is up. And there’s no doubt his massive 16 million option will not be picked up. So he continues to screw this club over and over and over again…wow!By Stone
May 26, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this
Would somebody please tell Jockety to do SOMETHING and GET RID of Patterson? O fer 8? 201 average? He SUCKS. Why is Jay Bruce sitting in favor a $3M mistake in signing a washed up neverwasbeen. Dusty is screwing us over royally with this guy. DO SOMETHING!By George
May 26, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this
Hal, not to be a stickler, but Griffey does not have a no-trade clause. He has 10-5 rights. There is a difference. With a no trade clause, that generally means the player does not want to be traded and that clause must be waived for the team to pursue a trade. With 10-5 rights a trade can be made, but for it to go through the player must approve it. There are a whole different set of factors at play in these two cases from forcing a player to reject a deal which has been made public (remember Barry Larkin to the Mets?) to the fact that players often change their thinking when another team says “We want you.” Hal your teriffic at analyzing what has happened in a game, but your track record on forecasting major organizational moves, not so good. I wouldn’t bet the farm Griffey won’t be traded, unless you hear it from Jocketty. And being familiar with the details would help too.By Buckfan69
May 26, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
I’m convinced the solution doesn’t involve upgrading at this or that position, or getting another right handed power hitter, closer, pitcher, etc. The problem is fundamentals; getting a runner home from 3rd base with less than 2 outs, advancing runners, hitting cut-off men, holding the opposition to 3 outs per inning, relief pitchers throwing strikes, breaking up double plays, and all the other little things that don’t show up in the box score or get a player a $20 Million contract. I think this problem permeates baseball today, but it’s gotten awful on the Reds over the last several years. Until this year, we didn’t have the personnel to notice whether they were playing fundamentally good ball; but this year the personnel were significantly upgraded in a lot of places, yet we still snatch defeat from the jaws of victory over and over. I don’t know how to teach major leaguers the fundamentals, but I hope they find someone who can. And I hope they find a way to incent players shooting for $20 million contracts to risk it all for a World Series ring and a $350,000 players share, or whatever it is they get these days for winning the series.By Buckfan69
May 26, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this
I’m convinced the solution doesn’t involve upgrading at this or that position, or getting another right handed power hitter, closer, pitcher, etc. The problem is fundamentals; getting a runner home from 3rd base with less than 2 outs, advancing runners, hitting cut-off men, holding the opposition to 3 outs per inning, relief pitchers throwing strikes, breaking up double plays, and all the other little things that don’t show up in the box score or get a player a $20 Million contract. I think this problem permeates baseball today, but it’s gotten awful on the Reds over the last several years. Until this year, we didn’t have the personnel to notice whether they were playing fundamentally good ball; but this year the personnel were significantly upgraded in a lot of places, yet we still snatch defeat from the jaws of victory over and over. I don’t know how to teach major leaguers the fundamentals, but I hope they find someone who can. And I hope they find a way to incent players shooting for $20 million contracts to risk it all for a World Series ring and a $350,000 players share, or whatever it is they get these days for winning the series.By BB
May 26, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this
What has Walt Jocketty done??? All I hear is he is having meetings? He has been with the team since January - how long does it take to get to know his people. I think all he is doing is wineing and dining. He has not made a change, so I figure he is just getting paid for his social life.By Pressbox Cigars
May 25, 2008 7:02 PM | Link to this
Ken, No offense but you might be the idiot posting the same message three times.By Echo
May 25, 2008 6:57 PM | Link to this
Hal, Dusty is an idiot. Corey Patterson should not be playing. Furthermore, the Sunday lineup was a disgrace. It’s one thing to be 10 games over .500. This team is four games under and I consider this a must-win. I hope you enjoyed the Marriott. I stayed there in the fall. It is awesome!By Ken
May 25, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this
Hal, Dusty is an idiot. Corey Patterson should not be playing. Furthermore, the Sunday lineup was a disgrace. It’s one thing to be 10 games over .500. This team is four games under and I consider this a must-win. I hope you enjoyed the Marriott. I stayed there in the fall. It is awesome!By Ken
May 25, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this
Hal, Dusty is an idiot. Corey Patterson should not be playing. Furthermore, the Sunday lineup was a disgrace. It’s one thing to be 10 games over .500. This team is four games under and I consider this a must-win. I hope you enjoyed the Marriott. I stayed there in the fall. It is awesome!By Ken
May 25, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this
Hal, Dusty is an idiot. Corey Patterson should not be playing. Furthermore, the Sunday lineup was a disgrace. It’s one thing to be 10 games over .500. This team is four games under and I consider this a must-win. I hope you enjoyed the Marriott. I stayed there in the fall. It is awesome!