Home of the Week
Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
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 > 28
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Cueto: One for the road
Bob Feller walked up to me in the press box, stuck out his hand, and said, “What d’ya say, young fella?”
Talk about making an old guy feel good. Young fella? Usually people come up to me and say, “I’ve been reading you since I was a kid (and they’d be 50 years old),” or they say, “My grandad read you.”
So here was MY big chance and I took it. “Well, Mr. Feller, when I was a kid my dad took me to Cleveland Stadium to watch you pitch.”
True, too. Feller is 90 and doesn’t look a day over 89. I hope I look as good as he does when I’m…ah, forget that.
Another true story. Growing up in Akron, I always read baseball writer Jim Schlemmer of the Akron Beacon Journal. He’s the reason I’m in this business.
Well, one time when Feller was pitching, he got hit by a line drive in an, uh, sensitive area of his anatomy. So in the Akron Beacon Journal the next day, Schlemmer wrote, “Feller got hit where only a feller can get hit.”
You think Feller could help The Lost Soul in Louisville - Homer Bailey? Somebody needs to help him - and fast. In his outing at Louisville Friday, Bailey pitched only 4 1/3 innings because he threw 110 pitches - in 4 1/3 innings!!!
He gave up five runs, eight hits, walked three and struck out five. And lost. He is 4-6 with a 4.41 ERA and it wouldn’t be surprising if we never see H.B. in a Reds uniform again. He’s trade bait, if his value hasn’t decreased to zippo.
Remember Ryan Freel? Somebody asked about him a few days ago. We’d all pretty much forgotten about him since he went on the DL June 4 with an injured right hamstring.
Well, he’s not close to coming back. Manager Dusty Baker said he gets medical updates every day and the only thing it says about Freel is that he is still a long way away from coming back.
A national columnist recently wrote that two or three teams are interested in Freel (with a bad hamstring)? If that’s true, the Reds wouldn’t ask for much to dump a contract that will cost them $4 million next year.
OK, OK. I agree. Why does Corey Patterson EVER play? He was in Saturday’s lineup and came up with the bases loaded and one out in his first two at-bats. He stranded all six. the first time he struck out into a double play.
Fortunately for the Reds, the second time Paul Bako picked up Patterson by pushing a three-run double to left field.
IN BETWEEN innings, they showed celebrity birthdays on the scoreboard, complete with pictures. When they showed former Denver QB John Elway, the crowd booed. Why? Well, there isn’t a Cleveland Browns fan who doesn’t remember The Drive. I was there. I booed then and I booed tonight.
I REFUSE to mention The Ohio Cup. Oops, just did.
MISSING FROM the Indians roster due to injuries: Starting pitchers Jake Westbook and Fausto Carmona, catcher Victor Martinez, 1B/DH Travis Hafner, infield Josh Barfield.
Missing from the Reds roster due to injuries: Nobody of significance.
So the Reds should be pounding this team, right?
THE CLEVELAND hot dog race. Bogus, bogus, bogus. A very bad rip-off of the Milwaukee hot dog-sausage race. Cleveland should have a bowling pin race.
WHAT’S WITH Johnny Cueto’s home-road differential? Before Saturday, Cueto was 4-3 with a 4.11 ERA at Great American Ball Park and 1-5 with a 6.49 ERA in enemy territory.
On Saturday, he was spotting his fastball, throwing it hard inside. He even hit a couple of Tribesman while on his way to 6 1/3 shutout innings as the Reds beat the Tribe, 5-0.
Cueto gave up no runs, five hits, walked three and hit two - what they call in the business as effectively wild - or, if you dig in, you better hang loose.
He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and two-on and one out mess in the fourth.
For some good quotes about his outing by him, manager Dusty Baker and shortstop Jerry Hairston Jr., check daytondailynews.com/sports or daytondailynews.com/reds. Check out Ask Hal, too.
So the Reds are 4-4 on this sojourn through New York, Toronto and Cleveland, with one game remaining on the trip. If they win Sunday, they’ll go home with only their second winning road trip of their last 22.
Hey, everybody has to have some goal, no matter how menial, right?
THIS ISN’T one that’s going to frighten the bejeezus out of the Chicago Cubs, but general manager Walt Jocketty admitted, “We’re short of bodies at Louisville.” So he signed 32-year-old journeyman Rob Mackowiak to a minor-league contract. He took batting practice in Toledo with the Class AAA Bats Saturday.
He started the season with Washington and hit .132 in 58 bats before they took away his uniform.
Permalink | Comments (15) | Post your comment | Categories: Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto
TweetHiding from the elements
Sitting in the press box at 3 o’clock, four hours before game time, looking at the overcast skies. Rain predicted. Might be best for the Cincinnati Reds these days. Rain, rain and lots more rain.
Lightning is dancing around the skies and somebody said, “Just get yourself a one-iron golf club and hold it over your head. Not even God can hit a one-iron.”
Before batting practice could begin, they pulled a tarp over the field and Reds pitcher David Weathers headed for the clubhouse, telling people who asked if it is raining, “I don’t know, but they’re gathering animals in pairs.”
Staring at the scoreboard in Progressive and they’re testing the bulbs color by color - red, blue, white, black, green. How many bulbs? 3 million. I didn’t count ‘em, somebody told me.
A young man who works for the Indians is telling somebody that Shoeless Joe Jackson is his all-time favorite player because the man’s grandfather used to read Shoeless Joe’s mail to him because Jackson could neither read nor write.
You can’t make this good stuff up.
Dusty Baker said something interesting after Friday’s 6-0 loss to the Indians. Unsolicited. For the first time, somebody with the Reds brought up Josh Hamilton’s name.
The question was about the offense, the lack thereof. Hamilton’s name wasn’t mentioned. Said Baker, “We lost a big bat out of the middle of our lineup, traded it to Texas. But we did obtain (pitcher) Edinson Volquez. But Josh Hamilton was a big bat in the middle of our order.”
From that, Baker went to his familiar and all-true refrain: “We strike out too much. Way too much. We have to do better. Much better.” C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 Reds.
At the halfway point to the season, not one Reds hitter is on pace for 100 RBIs, but six are on pace for more than 100 strikeouts (Adam Dunn, Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Paul Bako, Ken Griffey Jr., Edwin Encarnacion).
The Reds have struck out 564 times, which isn’t the worst in the NL, but the guys who are whiffing the most are the guys who are supposed to be driving in the runs.
Speaking of Sabathia, he hit a 440-foot home run when the Indians played in Dodger Stadium and the pitcher had to bat. Whose bat did he use? Adam Dunn’s.
When the Tribe was in Cincinnati in late May, Sabathia borrowed some bats from Dunn and used one for his home run.
“I’m going over there and get it back,” said Dunn. “I used to work out with C.C. and he is a very good athlete. I’ve played basketball with him and thrown passes to him in football. Don’t let how big he is fool you. He’s a good athlete.”
So who’s bigger? C.C. or Adam? Dunn is 6-7, 275 pounds. C.C. is 6-7, 290. Whatever, the scales are yelling no mas, no mas after those two step on them back-to-back.
Said Dunn, “I gave him two bats. Obviously the wrong one. I’m going over there and get it back.” Now there is a wrestling match I’d pay to see.
Before Friday’s game, manager Dusty Baker spotted Daryl Thompson on the street, carrying a McDonald’s bag.
“Son, c’mere,” said Baker. “What kind of car do you drive?”
Thompson told Baker he drove a Lincoln Navigator and Baker said, “Do you put cheap leaded fuel in it or do you put supreme high-test? You put the cheap stuff in it and it’s going to start sputtering. Same with your body. You’re gonna run out of fuel late in the game eating that stuff.”
It was suggested that Thompson might be used to minor-league meal money, which barely pays for a couple of Big Macs. Said Baker, “I’ve seen a lot of Latin players their first year lose weight. I ask them about it and they told me they send most of their meal money home to their families.
“I always told them to take care of their bodies and eat right and soon they’ll be making a lot more money to send home to their families.”
Baker, turning philosophical, as he often does, shook his head and said, “Tomorrow is a tough sell when you’re young.”
Hey, man, it is even tougher when you’re old.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
Tweet
