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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 > 2009 > April > 27
Monday, April 27, 2009
Concussion? Oswalt gives ‘em out freely
The Cincinnati Reds have been extremely fortunate the first 19 games of the 2009 season - they have not been forced to make a single roster move since the start of the season. Not one.
That means no injuries - and somebody please knock on Edwin Encarnacion’s wooden bat because Lord knows he isn’t using it for anything else.
They are waiting to see what’s up with Chris Dickerson. Just when it looked as if he had found his lost confidence with a hit and a couple of dandy defensive plays Monday night, he and Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada clashed heads at second base. Tejada must have the harder head. He won.
Dickerson stayed in the game for a while but eventually left with concussion-like symptoms, but it doesn’t appear he has a concussion.
“He doesn’t have a concussion, even though he’s had some in his career - four or five,” said manager Dusty Baker. “They doctors say he doesn’t have one. He might be a little woozy tomorrow, so we’ll wait and see. They say 24 hours to 48 hours to make sure he’s all right.”
AS FAR AS Monday’s game went, the Reds didn’t have the chance of a spare hunk of chocolate in an orphanage, even though the Houston Astros have grown older than a leisure suit hidden in the back of a closet.
Closer Coco Cordero, brought into the ninth inning of a tie game, gave up three straight hits and three runs and the Reds lost, 4-1.
It was pre-ordained, it was written in the wind, it was beyond karma.
It starts with Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt, 23-1 for his career against the Reds when the night began, a guy the Reds couldn’t beat if he were a blanket dangling on a clothes line and the Reds all carried rug beaters.
He didn’t get the win, but he held the Reds to one run and six hits over seven innings.
“It has to be a psychological thing on Oswalt’s part and ours, too,” said manager Dusty Baker.
Then mix in the fact that the Astros were 14-1 in their last 15 games in Great American Ball Park (16-1 now) and owned nine straight victories (10 now).
Beat the Astros? The Reds were more likely to swim the Ohio River — length-wise.
And then there is Lance Berkman, who has more red on his hands than a barn painter.
His home run in the sixth inning off Johnny Cueto broke a 0-0 tie, Berkman’s 20th home run in Great American Ball Park, six more than the next most by a visiting player (Jason Bay, 14).
It was the only thing the Astros got off Cueto, who gave up one run and seven hits over seven innings.
It was 1-1 when the ninth began and Cordero gave up a broken-bat bloop single to Carlos Lee and a two-strike single to Miguel Tejada. Hunter Pence doubled for two runs and took third on right fielder Jay Bruce’s error, enabling Pence to score on Geoff Blum’s sacrifice fly.
Cordero was sincerely distraught because he coughed up a game pitched so well by Cueto.
“I’m not happy because of the way Cueto pitched, he was unbelievable,” said Cordero. “He gave the team a chance to win and that’s why I’m so upset. I should have made better pitches to give my team a chance to win.”
Cordero was upset with the two-strike pitch that Tejada whacked for a single and the two-strike pitch that Pence pounded for a double.
“I had good stuff, but two bad pitches — I tried to go in on Tejada and it stayed in the middle and I tried to go away to Pence and it was right there.”
Baker wanted to emphasize how well the Reds played — and they did — with left fielder Chris Dickerson making two excellent plays and shortstop Alex Gonzalez nailing a couple on defense.
“We had Oswalt on the ropes a couple of times and he threw up a couple of double play balls and worked his way out of a bases loaded jam (in the sixth),” said Baker. Edwin Encarnacion ended that uprising by dumping a little putt in front of the plate, then stood and permitted catcher Pudge Rodriguez to tag him.
“We played a good game, but we just couldn’t get the hit we needed off Oswalt and when you hit into three double plays, well, when you get two outs on one pitch, that’s a pitcher’s best friend and that was Oswalt’s best friend tonight.”
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TweetTwo shoulder thumps equals two hits
As I was leaving Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker’s office after Sunday’s game, he looked up and said, “Hal, no more days off, OK? You were with us on the trip when we went 7-3, then you took two days off and we lost, then you came back Sunday and we won easily. No more days off.”
Check with my boss and my wife on that one, Dusty. I won’t be taking any days the rest of this home stand (three with Houston) and then I’ll be on the next trip all the way, three in Pittsburgh and two in Florida.
It is amazing how managers and coaches can be superstitious. A few years back, Aaron Boone was struggling and on a whim before a game I tapped him twice on the shoulder and said, “Two knocks tonight.” Sure enough, he got two hits. The next day, same thing. Two hits. For the next three days he came looking for me for the two taps on the shoulder and it worked each time.
This spring Jeff Keppinger was struggling mightily. Before an exhibition game I tapped him twice and said, “Two knocks.” It worked. He had two hits - two of the few he had all spring. The next day, I couldn’t find him right away, so there were no shoulder taps. He went 0 for 4 and came up to me after the game and said, “Where were you?”
BROADCASTER Marty Brennaman’s take on the drafting methodology of the Cincinnati Bengals: “I have always maintained that if Ted Bundy played college football, the Bengals would draft him.”
IF YOU WATCHED Sunday’s game, you saw Brandon Phillips drive a ball hard to right field and go into his slow home run trot. One problem. The ball hit the wall and Phillips, who should have been standing on second base, was held to a single.
“It was addressed quickly,” said manager Dusty Baker. “I’ve already addressed it. He has been overall running harder than he did in the past. You agree? You haven’t noticed? Well, maybe it’s because he hasn’t been on base enough to run and be noticed.”
Asked if Phillips knew what he did was wrong, Baker said, “He internalizes a lot of stuff. With Brandon, not one to hold his tongue, no answer is as good as a yes answer with him.”
HOMER BAILEY is on a big-time roll at Class AAA Louisville. He was named International League Pitcher of the Week for last week when he went 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA, striking out 18 in 12 1/3 innings, including nine in a row at one point. He struck out 15 in 6 1/3 innings Sunday against Toledo.
“That’s great,” said Baker. “I told him when he went down to win seven a row. We’re pulling for him. Big-time.”
WHEN JACOB ELLSBURY stole home Sunday night against the New York Yankees, it was the first straight theft of home in Fenway Park since 1994. That theft was performed by Billy Hatcher, now the Reds’ first base coach, but then a Boston outfielder.
“Chuck Finley (a lefthander) was pitching and we were up one run,” said Hatcher. “Mo Vaughn had trouble hitting Finley. And Finley wasn’t paying any attention to me at third, so I took off. I stole home one other time when I was with Boston, against Juan Guzman when he pitched for Toronto. He was slow to home and didn’t pay attention to me.”
Hearing Hatcher talk about running the bases reminded me of the time when utility player Champ Summers hit an inside the park home run in Riverfront Stadium. After he slid home he remained in the dirt, flat on his back for several minutes before he finally got up and staggered off the field.
Asked if he hurt himself sliding home, Summers said, “Nope. I swallowed my chewing tobacco.”
FORMER REDS general manager Wayne Krivsky, the guy who traded for Bronson Arroyo, Edinson Volquez and Brandon Phillips (among others), is now a special advisor/scout with the Baltimore Orioles. He was in Great American Ball Park Monday, still lamenting his dismissal as Reds GM and said, “I really thought I’d be here for the long haul. Wish I was.”
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