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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 > June > 13
Friday, June 13, 2008
Good Friday on the 13th
Pete Mackanin, the Cincinnati Reds interim manager for the last half of last season, is a New York Yankees scout now and as he stepped on the media elevator before Friday’s game he said:
“I’m supposed to meet my wife in the stands. She’ll be wearing red so I won’t have trouble finding her,” he said.
Funny stuff, Pete, because Great American Ball Park was coated in red - whether it was for the Reds or for the Boston Red Sox. And Red Sox Nation was well-represented.
And the Reds pulled the plug on them, just as they did in the 1975 World Series, the last time the Red Sox were in Cincinnati.
Leadoff hitter Jay Bruce started things with a first-inning home run, Manny Ramirez tied it in the fourth with a run-scoring single, then Adam Dunn homered in the fourth and Joey Votto poked a run-scoring double.
That was it. Reds 3, Red Sox Nation 1.
“That just shows us we can play with those guys,” said Bruce, batting leadoff because there is nobody else, due to injuries. “I batted leadoff in high school, so I could get more at-bats. I don’t care where I bat as long as I’m swinging and we’re winning.”
Aaron Harang threw a beauty - one run, four hits, no walks, seven strikeouts in seven innings.
He said he has been working on his legs and that was evident Tuesday when he came through the clubhouse door pushing a racing bicycle, a pointed helmet on his head. He said after Friday’s game he was working on his legs.
“I’ve been riding for about an hour every afternoon around the streets of downtown Cincinnati,” he said. “Next stop? Tour de France.”
His opponent, 23-year-old Justin Masterson was as good as Bat Masterson with a pistol - 6 2/3 innings, three runs, four hits. He is from Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton. And he appears to be the Real Deal.
Bruce was right, too. There is no reason why this team shouldn’t be able to play games like this every time out. But they don’t - more often not.
It was great to see the fans give Sean Casey a standing ovation when he batted in the second. He stepped from the box and waved his helmet in all directions of the stadium.
And my ribs still hurt from the bone-crushing hug he gave me in the Bosox clubhouse before the game.
(See previous post below for loads of stuff on Sir Sean).
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TweetSean Casey: He’s everywhere
Has anybody anywhere at any time at any place seen Sean Casey depressed?
“I’m in the lineup tonight,” he said. “If this game is rained out I’ll be depressed.”
Impossible.
Casey spent the entire pregame afternoon Friday touring Great American Ball Park and saying hello to everybody. As he walked into the park, he stopped at Gate 3 and posed for a picture with two security people.
My ribs still hurt from the press box fall I took a couple of weeks ago, but they had been getting better — until Casey saw me. His bear hug was enough to crack three more ribs, but it’s worth it to see him.
Casey, the world’s all-time nice guy, was suspended three games for his part in last week’s Boston-Tampa Bay brawl, and they wanted him to serve it this weekend.
“Oh, no,” he said. “Not the Cincinnati series. I’m appealing.” He did, and he won’t have to serve any suspension time until his hearing.
“I’ve only been suspended twice, and both times I was defending teammates,” he said. “The other was Dunner (Adam Dunn). Philadelphia’s Carlos Silva hit him in 2003 and he rushed the mound. But he hesitated and (catcher) Mike Lieberthal caught him from behind and clipped him. I had to protect him.”
Casey was defending outfielder Coco Crisp, who had charged the mound to get at Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields on June 5.
Most of the Red Sox are wearing T-shirts passed out by Casey. On the front is, “Woooooooo,” something pro wrestler Rick Flair shouts. On the back is, “Diamonds Are Forever,” and “alcalde,” which is Spanish for The Mayor.
Casey is hitting .372, but because he only plays first base he doesn’t play that much, although he DH’s and there is no DH in this series with the Reds.
During spring training, somebody asked him if he could play outfield in an emergency and Casey said, “Yeah, if the emergency was that the whole city is burning down.”
Of playing for the Red Sox, Casey said, “Man, this is a different world. I see why they call it Red Sox Nation. It truly is. And they’ll be here in Cincinnati in full force. They’re everywhere.”
Casey was talking about some of his former managers in Cincinnati and told a funny incident about Dave Miley.
“He came up to me in the dugout one game and said, “Should I take out the pitcher? I gotta take him out right now, right?’” said Casey. “I told him, ‘How do I know, I’m just the first baseman.’ “
READY FOR another travel tale?
To get to and from home games, because I can’t drive, the paper furnishes me with a driver, a fine gentleman named Larry Glass from Fairfield, and sometimes a limousine service.
On Friday, a day for the limo service, I was supposed to be picked up at 1:30. They called to say my limo had a flat tire and they’d be late. They showed up at 2:30. With heavy rains and Friday traffic, my driver tried to take a “short cut” to the park.
I saw parts of Cincinnati I didn’t know existed — and the guy had to stop for gas as well. I saw Carthage and the Hamilton County Fairgrounds and the front door of Procter & Gamble. Arrived at the part at 4:45 — 1 hour, 45 minutes late.
A strange coincidence: My limo driver early Friday morning took Boston pitcher Josh Beckett to Kenwood Country Club for some golf.
Beckett and I became friends when he pitched for the Florida Marlins and Jack McKeon managed there. McKeon introduced us and we hit it off.
Unbeknownst to me, Beckett was in a Cincinnati establishment three or four years ago at the same time as my daughter-in-law, Tammy. She’s a huge baseball fan, recognized him, and struck up a conversation. He didn’t know she was my daughter-in-law, but was extremely nice to her.
Tammy is now pregnant, her first child by my son, Brent, and they know it is a boy. His name will be either Beckett or Casey (guess who?).
My grandson, Eric, my son Brian’s son, is named after Eric Davis.
One of the first people I saw at the stadium was Pete Mackanin, the Reds interim manager last year and a guy who deserved to keep the job. But the Reds wanted to go big-time and hired Dusty Baker.
Mackanin scouts for the New York Yankees these days, snooping on the Reds for that next road trip.
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