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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 > May > 27
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Bruuuuuuce, Bruuuuuuce
The Jay Bruce Era is upon us and it arrived with a bang, not a whimper.
Three hits. Two walks. A run-scoring double that nearly put a canon-sized hole in the right-field wall after nearly decapitating the right fielder.
Reds 9, Pirates 6, Bruce 1.000.
And think of those hits that were wasted in Louisville before the Cincinnati Reds came to their senses and added this 21-year-old stud to their roster.
Everybody welcomes Bruce, and the fans (all 17,000 of them) got into it by chanting Brooooooce, Broooooce every time he batted.
But Scott Hatteberg will be missed — not on the field or in the batter’s box, but in the clubhouse. I don’t understand why it wasn’t Corey Patterson jettisoned to make room for Bruce — other than the fact Patterson is making $3.5 million this year and Hatteberg was making $1.85 million.
They won’t miss Hatteberg’s inability to pinch-hit (1-for-17) and they won’t miss his below-the-Mendoza LIne batting average (.173).
To the Reds he had become just another mouth to feed, but that mouth was important in the clubhouse.
What they will miss is his presence in the clubhouse, his savvy and his willingness to share his experiences. Those kinds of players are fast disappearing from the Reds roster.
Joey Votto took Scott Hatteberg’s job at first base and Scott Hatteberg helped him do it. Votto dressed next to Hatteberg in the Reds clubhouse and Hatteberg answered every question the rookie had.
And he did it for every young player.
Listen to Votto: “At the beginning, when I first got here, I tried not to cross any lines or ruffle any feathers as far as me being a rookie. If I did, Hatteberg would tell me and give me some advice.
“His thing was if you are a rookie and act like a rookie everybody will treat you like a rookie,” said Votto. “If you know how to do the whole baseball thing, they’ll leave you alone.”
Votto said goodbye to Hatteberg as he packed his gear early Tuesday after the Reds designated him for assignment.
“I’m going to miss him,” said Votto. “A real nice guy to play with. Baseball-wise, he advised me on some little things to look out for. He was more somebody to look up to and see how to act professionally. He was the epitome of a professional, a good guy, a role model.”
Votto said Jay Bruce is missing out on Hatteberg’s sage advice and that Paul Janish was fortunate to get a couple of weeks of it.
“You watch certain guys and you learn things,” Votto said.
About Bruce, Votto said, “You hope what he did in the minors translates to the majors and he is another body to help us get some wins. It’s a perfect situation for Jay. It doesn’t matter who comes up here as long he helps this team.”
(Pregnant pause)
“But I’m sure Jay can help this team,” said Votto.
OK, Mr. GM, Mr. Walt Jocketty. Why Hatteberg. Why not Corey Patterson?
“It was tough,” said Jocketty. “Scott is a class guy who has contributed a lot here. But he wasn’t going to get playing time because Joey Votto has proved he can play first base every day. So, right now, it was the best move to make.”
Jocketty said they’ve been trying to trade Hatteberg and still hope they might get it done, but there have been few nibbles.
“There are things we felt Corey Patterson can still contribute to the club,” said Jocketty. “His defense, his baserunning. Obviously he is not hitting and he knows it ,and there are things to work on. But we have a left-handed first baseman in Votto and it was the right thing to do now. It was unanimous with the staff and we’ll see how it works out.”
Yes, sir, we certainly will.
And if Patterson is EVER put in the lineup ahead of Bruce, then it must be like when Pete Harnisch used to pitch for the Reds and sometimes he would look at the lineup card and say, “Hey, Skippah, we tryin’ to win?”
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TweetAnother J.B. arrival
The media horde swooped into the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse early Tuesday and catcher David Ross looked over his shoulder and said, “Jay Bruce doesn’t catch, does he?”
No, he doesn’t, but Bruce’s arrival rivals that of another J.B. — Johnny Bench. Bench’s arrival happened with far less folderol, pomp and circumstance.
It was Aug. 29, 1967, against the Philadelphia Phillies. Bench caught that day and was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. He was 19 years old.
And he never looked back — focusing himself right into the Hall of Fame.
Now we have outfielder Jay Bruce, just turned 21. The clamor for his promotion was as loud as the Liberty Bell before it had a crack.
Asked if he knew about the fans and media demanding his promotion, Bruce smiled and said, “Yeah, I read and saw a few things.”
What should be of major concern to the Cincinnati Reds is that fans consider Bruce the savior, the man to lead the Reds from last place to first place in about a day-and-a-half.
“He is not the savior,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We just want him to be himself. Just let him play and be himself — no labels on him, no comparisons. Let’s just let him play, you know? You can’t help what people put on you and what people say.”
There is not doubt about Bruce’s make-up — and it has nothing to do with Revlon or Cover Girl or Mary Kay.
“He is a confident young man and he is a bright young man,” said Baker. “And very competitive.
“I’m going to protect him some, but not a whole bunch. He’s going to play most of the time,” Baker added. “Maybe not against some tough lefty, we’ll see. Right now, it is, ‘Go play.’ “
Bruce said all the politically correct stuff about taking until now to get here, but he also said, “I’m an impatient person and I wanted to be here yesterday.”
A lot of people wish he had been here the day before yesterday — or the day before the season opened.
“I just want to get things started,” he said before the game, spotting his name on Tuesday’s lineup card, batting second and playing center field. “It is pretty surreal and it still hasn’t really set in. Getting sent down after spring training, well, worrying about it wasn’t going to help get me here.”
As Bruce said, he took care of business at Louisville and waited. And waited and waited and waited.
“It is what it is,” he said. “They had a plan and you have to respect their decisions. I’m here now, so …,” he said. “I got to work on some little things and it helped me. It certainly didn’t hurt me.”
It might have hurt the team, though, with Corey Patterson stumbling along in center field — batting .201 with a .243 on-base percentage and perpetrating baserunning gaffes against the laws of nature.
OK, why is Bruce batting second?
“I don’t want to put the pressure on him to lead him off,” said Baker. “The third spot right now belongs to Junior. The fourth spot belongs to Brandon Phillips. The fifth spot belongs to Adam Dunn.
“So you could put him toward the top or put him underneath,” Baker added. “I thought it would be better to put him up top. I know most good hitters bat third in the minors, but Junior has 20 years at third. Just bide you time and everything will work out sooner or later.”
Bruce has done nothing but bide his time. Now let’s see how things work out.
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TweetBruce is in the lineup
Jay Bruce is in the Cincinnati Reds lineup tonight — batting second and playing center field — weather permitting. The tarp is on the field at 3:15 and rain is in the air.
The Fall Guy is Scott Hatteberg.
Instead of saying, “We made a huge mistake on Corey Patterson,” and cutting him loose, the Reds dumped Hatteberg on Tuesday to make room on the roster for Bruce.
Yes, Hatteberg was expendable. Both he and Joey Votto bat left-handed, and who needs two left-handed first basemen, especially one that is 1-for-17 as a pinch-hitter this year? When Votto doesn’t play first, Javier Valentin (a switch-hitter) can do it.
But the Reds also have a plethora of outfielders. Why keep Patterson? He is hitting .201, his on-base average is .243, mostly as a leadoff hitter. He went 0-for-8 in the 18-inning loss to San Diego Sunday. He is 3 for his last 34.
But Hatteberg, a guy who hit nearly .300 in his years with the Reds, up until this year, is the guy to go. One can say, “Well, Hatteberg plays only one position.” Well, Patterson plays only the outfield, so that’s a wash, too.
It is 3:15 Tuesday, 45 minutes before Bruce and GM Walt Jocketty meet the media.
I was going to take today off after the trip to the West Coast and the long ride home Monday, but how often does one gets to see the coming-out party of a second J.B., the first, of course, being Johnny Bench?
Did he have this much attention for his debut? Not even close.
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