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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 > 26 > Entry
An unexcusable foul-up
Forgive me, for I have sinned.
For those who picked up this morning’s Dayton Daily News and didn’t find a game story on Wednesday’s 6-5 10-inning win by the Cincinnati Reds over the Toronto Blue Jays, it is my fault.
My deadline Wednesday was 10:45 p.m. and the game ended at 10:45. I had my story finished and I thought I sent it to the paper, then scurried to the clubhouse for the post mortems.
What I didn’t realize is that instead of sending my game story, I re-sent my Reds Notebook that I had already sent. My cellphone wasn’t working in the Rogers Centre, so my desk couldn’t reach me.
So my game story didn’t make the paper. For those still interested, go to daytondailynews.com/reds and you’ll find it. But don’t ask me for the 75 cents you paid for the paper, OK?
The Reds won it in the 10th without a hit - and that shouldn’t surprise you with this team. Norris Hopper walked. Paul Janish walked. David Ross bunted them up a base and Jay Bruce hit a sacrifice fly to left.
Amazingly, the Reds had a 5-0 lead on Roy Halladay after three innings, but suddenly unimpressive and ineffective Aaron Harang gave it all back. Free of charge. No strings attached.
He gave up five runs and there has to be concern. Harang has given up 18 runs in his last four starts over 23 innings. With the collapse of Bronson Arroyo, the Reds 1-2 pitching punch isn’t even a slap these days.
The other goofy thing that happened was David Weathers pulling an escape act beyond belief. To start the seventh inning, he threw three pitches. All three were hit for singles that loaded the bases.
On his fourth pitch, Scott Rolen popped up. On his sixth pitch, Lyle Overbay grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The Reds stranded 11 runners. No shock there. That’s modus operandi stuff.
So now it is 2 a.m. and I’m in room 1222 of the Westin Harbor Castle writing this because I feel guilty about screwing up.
I hope some of the Reds feel as bad as I do when they mess up.
I still can’t figure out why Jay Bruce tried to bunt in the fourth inning. There were two on and one out and he tried to bunt for a hit. On the fast artificial turf. He forced a runner at second.
Bad rookie mistake. But manager Dusty Baker made it clear to him that he was up there to drive in runs, not to bunt.
Had to laugh before the game when the Reds were playing catch in front of the dugout. A tune that Brandon Phillips recognized was blaring on the public address system and Phillips was singing. Very loud.
A fan near the dugout yelled, “Hey, Brandon. Love your singing.”
Said David Ross, “You’re the only one. Don’t encourage him.”
Adam Dunn was sitting in the dugout doing an interview with a Toronto radio guy and ground rules were, “No questions about J.P. Ricciardi.”
The guy asked Dunn who his favorite player was growing up in the Houston area and he said, “Alan Ashby.” Alan Ashby? A journeyman catcher?
I told Dunn that the only thing I remember about Ashby, a catcher, was the license plate on his car. “What was that?” asked Dunn.
I told him it was SBE2. To translate, that means, “Stolen base, error on the catch (E2).”
“That’s hilarious,” said Dunn. “At least he had a sense of humor.”
And with that, I bid you good night (or good morning). Tomorrow is another day.
“And we have our ace going, Edinson Volquez,” said Baker. At least he now realizes that Volquez is the ace, not Harang and not Arroyo.
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By Don L
June 26, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this
Lohse is not the only ex-Reds pitcher to leave and do a lot better elsewhere. They are scattered through out the league. Of course having to pitch in that arena size ballpark the Reds have must be frustrating to a pitcher.
By HuberTucky
June 26, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
Let’s see, this year Lohse’s #s with the Cards, a team with a good pitching coach? 9W-2L, 3.94 ERA. I rest my case. Okay, we have our ace going tonight, could be another of the Reds famous 2-game winnng streaks!? Griffey wrapped in tin foil? Well, at least maybe he gets hot at home. And Dunn sure is showing up that liar Ricciardi now isn’t he!? Yeah, baby! Yee Haaa! Go Dreads!
By Steve
June 26, 2008 3:30 PM | Link to this
Hal- Would have been great if you could have missed the deadline for Tuesdays game. Sure am glad our owner won’t tolerate losing anymore. Where do tax payers get their refund check for G.A.B.? This city got hosed. And it ain’t all ol’ leatherpants’ fault.
By Mark
June 26, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
First of all, you pitch the rookie and Dunn with your lefty specialist. Both are slumping and that was the proper play. Secondly, Reds pitchers are not taught to move the ball up and down and side to side, either at the minor or major league level. That is why they deliver so many 0-2 hits and why they make average hitters look like Ty Cobb. Example: Kyle Lohse was 9-17 with the Reds and 63-59 everywhere else?
By Mike-Cinci
June 26, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this
Speaking of foul ups…The Reds have Arroyo signed for $12 million per year in 2009 and 2010. Harang gets the same plus another $12 million in 2011. Cordero gets $12 million per year in 2009, 2010, 2011. The 3 pitchers get roughly $35 million on a $75 million payroll. Phillips gets $6 million starting next year. Freel gets $4 million next year.The Reds won’t have the $ to get players. They will have $30 million to spread cover 20 players. Jocketty will have a challenge.
By don L
June 26, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this
It seems to me that a lot of hits our pitchers are giving up are on 0-2 counts. They don’t move the ball in or out, up or down to try to set up the next pitch but just try to pound the low outside pitch to get the batter out. Maybe that comes from pitching in our Arena baseball park where you can’t afford to make any other pitch but low, outside. Sure does make it easy for the batter to put the bat on the ball though. Also, dumb mistake not walking the rookie, should have pitched to the strike out king.
By Calvin S.
June 26, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
Making mistakes are what the Reds are famous for, so I guess you should get a pass for this small one. lol I believe that Arroyo is tipping his pitches. Maybe he should stop singing and start worrying about pitching. Harang just doesn’t seem like the same pitcher at all, I think he needs a rest. I betting that after the All-Star break, you might see a different Harang, ok I hoping to see that.
By jarrod
June 26, 2008 11:37 AM | Link to this
as i say this i want to say i like arroyo and believe he’ll get back, but…wayne k screwed up signing a guy to an extension when he had two years left on his deal and after his best season. anybody want to know why he’s gone and this is one of several.
By Colgar
June 26, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Did Ken Griffey really wrap himself in tin foil for his wife’s birthday? Leftovers again.
By Mr. Baseball
June 26, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
An oddity of last night’s game. There were 10 different Reds hitters who got one hit, but nobody got two. That could be a record. Hal, check it out with Elias Sports Bureau.
By HuberTucky
June 26, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this
Inexcusable? Nawww. Not you…you’re always worth waiting for. Besides, that’s for strictly newspaper readers. This blog is an awesome forum and those of us who are with it enough depend more on the blog than the exaggerated advertising supplement they call a newspaper. BTW, looks like Harrang and Arroyo are getting their pitching tips from Homer. Fire Pole; hire Mazzone. Whaddya think?
By Tom
June 26, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this
Hal, all is forgiven! I love to hear stories about the players beyond baseball. I wonder what song Philips was singing? When I was a kid, I remember Alan Ashby because he wore a HUGE catcher’s mitt to catch Joe Niekro’s knuckleball.
By Y-City Jim
June 26, 2008 9:04 AM | Link to this
It seems as if Harang has “lost” his other pitches as he primarily threw fastballs all night. As for Gaston pitching to Bruce rather than Dunn, remember that Dunn was 1 for 4 with a walk at that point and had smoked a line shot out to RF earlier in the game.
By Rick
June 26, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this
Hal— the only reason I take the paper is you and Tom Archdeacon— the rest of it is only good for recycling— but we’ll forgive you this once— keep up the good work.
By donb51
June 26, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
Hal, Was that your first mistake in 36 years? If so, good streak! With regards to the comment on walking Bruce and pitching to Dunn - that would have taken some “balls” (pun intended) on the part of Gaston. Can you imagine the trouble Gaston would have been in if they would have walked Bruce and Dunn homered? Now that would have been a headline around the league!
By Oskar
June 26, 2008 8:03 AM | Link to this
I agree with the previous scribe that everyone makes mistakes. I’m surprised you didn’t write about the one that Cito Gaston made in the final inning of the game last evening. How could he have his lefthander pitch to Jay Bruce when Adam Dunn was on deck and there were right handed relievers available in the pen to pitch to Brandon Phillips? Bruce was a good bet to put the ball in play to drive in the run from third with one out. Dunn was a longshot to do the same and in fact struck out feebly when he faced the same lefty one at bat later. This was a crucial decision by the returnee in the Toronto dugout and it wasn’t even mentioned. Bruce should have walked and Dunn pitched to in the reasonable hope of a strikeout or a double play ball. The game is on the field and that’s where the story is. Although your honest mistake vis-a-vis sending the wrong e-mail was amusing, you made a bigger mistake in not focusing on this mistake by the Toronto skipper.
By Florida Buckeye
June 26, 2008 7:41 AM | Link to this
Hal, don’t worry, we all make mistakes, and well, that’s in part what I wanted to write about. I’ve been as concerned as the rest of the Red’s fans about Harang. So, I started watching the game, and Gamecast - on the four letter website - at the same time to see where his pitches were compared to how they were being called. Interesting thing: He was in the strike zone almost all of the time. One batter - I dont remember who - had a 9 pitch at bat, and the count was 3-2 when he finally singled. Watching Gamecast, 8 of the pitches were strikes, and the one that wasn’t, was partially in the zone…could it be that the Catchers are stabbing at the ball, or not setting up so that the Umps can see the outer part of the plate, and NOT that Harang is suddenly a bum, who can’t find the plate? Just wondering…