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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 > August > 26
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The Big A’s: Alonso, Arroyo
While the Cincinnati Reds were winning a meaningless August game under the roof of Minute Maid Park, shielded from the thick humidity outside, news was being made elsewhere.
In the stifling humidity of Sarasota, Fla., in front of a few dozen fans swatting mosquitos, Yonder Alonso made his professional debut, a double off the wall in Ed Smith Stadium in his first at-bat.
See, he can use a wooden bat. Is he ready for the majors? Probably not quite yet.
Soon, maybe? The Reds certainly could use some heavy weaponry, even though they performed a major accomplishment Tuesday night by beating the Houston Astros, 2-1.
This one was won because pitcher Bronson Arroyo cranked up a dandy, a five-hitter and the first complete game this year by a Reds pitcher — the Reds being the last team without a complete game.
And a home run by rookie catcher Ryan Hanigan provided the winning run.
Arroyo certainly knew that closer Francisco Cordero was not back from attending the birth of his child and pitched accordingly.
“Arroyo came in after the eighth inning and said, ‘Give me a chance,’” said manager Dusty Baker. “I said, ‘You got it.’ I haven’t had the opportunity all season to say that.”
Said Arroyo, “With Coco (Cordero) not around, well, if he’s here I’m sure Dusty let’s him have the ninth. If I got somebody got on, I’d hope he would come and get me.
But Arroyo pitched a quick 1-2-3, with Lance Berkman ended it with a deep fly to center — sort of apropos.
“It was nice to have Berkman up there and to get him because he has beaten me so many damn times,” said Arroyo, 0-3 against the Astros this year before Tuesday. “In this park, I’m up 3-1 and he hits a three-run jack or something.”
Baker was appreciative of what Arroyo did.
“Bronson was masterful,” Baker added. “To hold this team to one run in this park, that’s masterful.”
Was Arroyo and the starting staff aware that the Reds had no complete games?
“Oh, yeah. We were aware,” he said. “Even if you have an off year you usually sprinkle in a few here and there. I knew after last time when I went seven and he pulled me. We thought, ‘We might not ever get this thing.’ Now we got one, so we’re off the schneid for this season.”
Arroyo’s sinker had the Astros digging divots in the infield, leading to a pair of key double plays. In contract to Sunday’s five-error fiasco, the Reds were digging dirt to make plays on ground balls — two exceptional ones by third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, two by shortstop Jeff Keppinger, one by first baseman Joey Votto and one by second baseman Brandon Phillips.
“A lot of good defensive plays that won’t show up in the box score,” said Arroyo, cognizant of the team’s five errors Sunday in Colorado that showed up glaringly and in bold type in the box score. I had the sinker worker to get those ground balls and if a couple get through I probably don’t come close to finishing.”
Arroyo picked up a clue from home plate umpire Dana DeMuth when he batted in the third inning and DeMuth called him out on what Arroyo thought was a low pitch.
“He rang me up on balls I thought were really low,” said Arroyo. “So I went to the mound and test him out. He called those strikes, too, so I said, ‘Beautiful,’ and tried to stay way, way low with my pitches, down at the bottom of the zone, right at the knees. And those got me all those ground balls.”
So now the Reds are 2-8 this season against a team this is 15 games out of first place in the National League Central and an even .500 — even though the Reds act as if they are playing the Angels, leaders of the AL West by 16 games over second place Texas.
The winning blow was struck by rookie catcher Ryan Hanigan, an eighth-inning home run above the yellow line and off the viaduct in left field.
Still, the Reds struck out 12 times — and that’s 26 in two games. They had five hits, same as they had Sunday in Colorado.
Jay Bruce struck out three straight times, giving him seven straight strikeouts over two games before he grounded out in the ninth inning.
Yonder, where are you?
Nineteen of the Reds’ final 31 games are against four teams either leading their division (Chicago Cubs, Arizona) or within six games of the leader (Milwaukee, Florida) or is within 3 1/2 games of the wild card leader (St. Louis).
Houston is not one of them.
After his gem, Arroyo was more concerned about his hair and said as he came out of the showers, “These people don’t realize you can’t wash your hair with Pert-Plus. Your hair will fall out.”
Meanwhile two Reds farmhands from Class AAA Louisville and five from Class AA Chattanooga will play for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, whose pitching coach is Louisville’s Ted Power.
Outfielder Drew Stubbs and pitcher Charles Fisher are the representatives from Louisville, while pitchers Robert Manuel, Pedro Viola and Sean Henry, plus infielders Chris Valaika and Justin Turner are the Chattanooga representatives.
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TweetThe dog-savers: my heroes
I have two new heroes.
You probably don’t know Dave and Kate DiCenzo, unless you live in Canada and read some of Dave’s hockey reports for the Canadian Press.
He recently began work as a stringer for my paper, although I didn’t know that. Nor did I know he lives a mile from me. I didn’t know Dave or Kate - until today.
My 9-year-old miniature schnauzer, Barkley, went on his own - Barkley McCoy’s Big Adventure. Our cleaning lady decided to let him out before she left the house. When she went to get him, he was gone. She searched frantically.
Finally, she called my wife, Nadine, who was at school teaching. Nadine came home. She and my mother-in-law, Lucille Tomczak, and the cleaning lady scoured the neighborhood for an hour. No Barkley.
My wife returned home just in time to pick up a phone call. It was Kate DiCenzo. Barkley was with Kate and Dave. They’d read his license number and called the county dog folks, who gave them our number.
Only when Nadine went to pick him up and she mentioned my name did Kate and Dave reveal that he has just gone to work at the Dayton Daily News — unbeknownst to me.
All I know is that Barkley is one smart pooch — other than not being able to find his way home. He found a house where another sports writer lived and stood on their porch. Or maybe it was the fact Kate works for the Iams dog food company and Barkley was after a free sample.
Anyway, thanks Kate. Thanks Dave. Other than Nadine, Barkley is my best friend in the world and I would have been a total wreck if something happened to him.
DAVID WEATHERS yelled at me. Again. He likes to yell at me, I guess.
This time it was after I visited Ken Griffey Jr. for a story in Chicago. The White Sox-Mariners game was a mess, a 15-3 White Sox win. I mentioned, offhandedly, in my story, that watching the Mariners was like watching the Reds. Dreadful.
Well, two nights later the Reds beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-5, after leading 8-0. Weathers himself gave up two of those five runs, but in the clubhouse after the game, Weathers yelled at me, “Hey, Hal. Did we look like the Mariners tonight?”
I said nothing, but I could have said, “Well, yeah, in the last three innings.”
A couple of years ago the bullpen was struggling and we were in Cleveland. After the bullpen blew up again I wrote, “This isn’t a bullpen, this is a pigpen.”
Weathers came into the clubhouse the next day waving the newspaper clippings and shouting, “So now we’re a pigpen, huh?”
One of Weathers’ best friends is fellow bullpenner Kent Mercker, but he came to my rescue and I am forever grateful. He said, “Hey, Stormy (Weathers), check the numbers. We are a pigpen right now. All I ask is that I get to be the Head Hog.”
After Weathers yelled at me in Denver, a couple of his teammates later apologized to me. For obvious reasons, they shall remain nameless, but one said, “Does he look at the standings? Has he watched us play?”
Strangely, I like David Weathers. He is a pro. He does anything the team asks him to do and more. He is a fun-loving guy and a good quote. He helps young players. He is good to have around - except when he is yelling at me.
I WAS ON Baseball Beat with Charlie Steiner on XM radio today and before our segment began, he played Eric Burdon’s song, “We gotta get out of this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do.”
Very funny, Charlie. Did you mean out of last place or did you mean I’ve gotta get out of this place of covering the Cincinnati Reds - the eighth straight losing season.
TODAY’S LINEUPS (If anybody cares)
No Corey Patterson.
Dickerson is leading off and playing CENTER FIELD. Jolbert Cabrera is in left field.
Dickerson, Keppinger, Phillips, Votto, Encarnacion, Bruce, Cabrera, Hanigan, Arroyo.
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