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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 > July > 27
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Who invited the ‘27 Yankees?
Before delving into these words about The Lost Weekend, if you haven’t read the previous post about Ken Griffey’s gestures toward the broadcast booth Saturday, go back to the previous blog, “Of Griffey’s Gestures.”
Then come on back to this, if you have the stomach.
They gave away lunch boxes at Great American Ball Park Sunday, somewhat fitting in that the Colorado Rockies handed the Cincinnati Reds their lunch three straight days.
On Sunday, though, an 11-0 defeat, trash bags and barf bags would have been more apropos.
The Rockies, a team 13 games under .500 when they arrived, but hot, hot, hot since the All-Star game, exposed the Reds for what they are - a mediocre to a below mediocre team.
It appeared the 1927 New York Yankees made a rare ghostly appearance in Great American Ball Park this weekend — flattening, wrecking and destroying the Reds by 7-2, 5-1 and 11-0.
For the three games, the Yankees outscored the Reds, 23-3 outhit the Reds, 45-16, and outhomered them, 5-1.
OK, OK. So it wasn’t the ‘27 Yankees. But only a slight mistake in the eyes of the Reds.
The 2008 Colorado Rockies just bear a foreboding resemblance to the original Bronx Bombers and left the Reds in a befuddled puddle.
Since the All-Star break, the Rockies are 9-1 and have 11 or more hits in eight straight games (15, 16 and 14 against the Reds) and outscored their opponents, 76-32. The 45 hits are the most against Reds pitching in a three-game series since a three-game visit to Oakland in 2003 saw the Athletics bombard 51 hits in machine gun rapidity.
Before Sunday’s game, Reds manager Dusty Baker was on the phone with his sister, Tanya, and said, “She always calls me when we’re losing and says, ‘How are you? I know how you are when you’re losing.’”
After Sunday’s afternoon of destruction, Baker might have been on the phone, calling his sister back with one word: “Help.”
“We just couldn’t keep their leadoff man off base and when that happens it equals trouble,” said Baker, referring to Willy Taveras and Scott Podsednik, who were on base 10 times in the three-game series.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati leadoff hitters Jay Bruce and Corey Patterson were 0 for 13. In addition, No. 2 hitter Jeff Keppinger was 0 for 12.
“We knew they were hot coming in here and they were hot up and down the lineup,” said Baker. “Every time we made a mistake, whether it was hanging or in the middle of the plate, they whacked it someplace.
“They beat the hell out of us and I’m tired and I’m not even playing,” he added. “It’s tough to watch something like that. We’re capable of doing that. When is it our turn?”
The Rockies rocked Reds starter and former teammate Josh Fogg for three in the third and four in the fourth.
Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run single in the third gave the Rox a 3-0 lead, then Jeff Baker and Garrett Atkins each bombed two-run homers in the fourth.
“I didn’t throw enough strikes and the ones I did weren’t located very well,” said Fogg. “I lost command and paid for it.”
The Reds bolted out of town with a 4-6 record on the homestand, headed for three in Houston, beginning tonight, and three in Washington.
“They hit ‘em out of the park, they hit ‘em in the gaps, they hit ‘em through the holes,” said Baker. “We just got thumped.”
Adam Dunn had two of the Reds’ six hits and one of the two they had Saturday.
“They way they’re swinging the bats and then to get the pitching they got, well, that’s hard to beat,” said Dunn. “And when you’re down 8-0 before you blink, it’s awfully hard to do anything. Us not scoring runs is shocking to me, shocking any time we don’t score runs.”
The Reds stranded nine, leaving two on in the fifth, sixth and eighth. Edwin Encarnacion stranded seven runners and made another error.
For the three games Reds starters pitched only 12 1/3 of a possible 27 innings and the bullpen is about to start picketing the dugout with signs, “On strike, management unfair.”
Said Baker, “I’ve got to talk to (general manager) Walt Jocketty. The guys are dragging. I have to use them for more innings and on consecutive days more than I should.”
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TweetOf Griffey’s gestures
As former President George Bush once said, “Read my lips.”
That’s pretty much what Ken Griffey Jr. was mouthing to the radio booth Saturday night after he hit a home run. And for those who can (or those who can’t) read lips, yes, that was an epithet Griffey uttered as he make a cut gesture across his throat at home plate.
It was aimed at radio broadcaster Jeff Brantley.
“Oh, you saw that?” said Griffey. Yes, and so did the television world.
Griffey said he was upset that Brantley said Griffey was pouting because the Reds haven’t picked up his $16 million option for next year.
“If I was worried about money, would I have even come here in the first place?” said Griffey.
Brantley denies ever saying that on the air and, in fact, said he didn’t say it until he and Griffey had an early-morning chat Sunday in the players dining room. Brantley believes Griffey was angry over comments he made about the defense of the corner outfielders (Griffey and Adam Dunn).
Anyway, that’s the genesis of Griffey’s gesture. And do you know how I found out about this?
I was nearly Josh Fogg-ed in the press box Saturday night. With my eyes on my laptop as I wrote, I heard Reds PR man Rob Butcher yell, “Hal, duck.” I dropped my head and covered it with both hands. I felt the ball graze the hairs on the back of my hands.
The ball was fouled by Griffey.
After the game, I said to him, “I thought you were my friend?”
Said Griffey, “That wasn’t meant for you. That was meant to boxes down.”
Griffey didn’t know his foul ball nearly maimed me. He thought I was referring to his gesture toward Brantley.
JAY BRUCE, 0 for 11, took a seat Sunday, replaced by Corey Patterson. Said Bruce to Griffey, “A good, solid, benching.”
“No, no,” said Griffey. “You are getting a day off before you go home to Houston and have to deal with your first game in front of the home folks.”
Griffey was right on.
“Griffey knows,” said manager Dusty Baker. “That’s exactly why. Give him a day before he goes home. “Guys generally perform well near their hometown, but it can wear you down, too.”
Bruce produced a sheet of paper from an e-mail - his ticket requests for the three games in Houston, “65 the first game, 63 the second game, 53 the third game.”
“You know how many tickets I left for my rookie debut in Seattle, my first game?” said Griffey. “Two. One for my mom and one for the seat next to her for her purse.”
Baker also acknowledged that Bruce is on one of his bad-pitch chasing modes, striking out a lot on pitches outside the strike zone.
“He’s chasing that rabbit instead of stalking it,” said Baker. “You never catch a rabbit by chasing it. You have to stalk it.”
WHEN THE media walked into Baker’s office Sunday morning, he was finishing a phone call.
“My sister (Tanya),” said Baker. “She always calls when we’re losing. She calls and says, ‘You OK? I know how you are when you’re losing.’”
Baker then talked about getting only two hits Saturday against lefthander Jorge De La Rosa.
“We went fishing against him,” said Baker. “We went fishing but we weren’t catching anything. He was throwing a lot of bait at us.”
Dunn had one of the two hits off De La Rosa and said, “That guy had a 6.71 ERA. How can that be? I swear he was throwing a change-split-cutter. Really. I was on second base and that’s exactly what it looked like - a change-split-cutter.”
JAVIER VALENTIN walked into the clubhouse Sunday and saw a writer near his locker.
“You waiting for me?” he asked.
“Yeah, you’ve been traded,” the writer said, kidding.
“Where? To The Bahamas?” said Valentin.
Griffey, hearing that, popped up with, “If that’s the case, when you get there you will find me in your suitcase and you’ll have to buy some new clothes.”
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