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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 > May > 11 > Entry
Notes, Quotes from the Arizona desert
I’ll give credit where credit is due: thank you, Delta, for getting me quickly and safely from Dayton to Phoenix today - on time, no incidents. But boring. No excitement, unless you count me pouring water in my lap when I dropped my book and tried to catch it. Fortunately, it happened early in a four-hour flight, time to dry.
And when I got to Phoenix I discovered it was 102 degrees (in May?). And it will be over 100 all three days the Cincinnati Reds are here. Yeah, I know, dry heat. But tell that to me right hand which nearly suffered third-degree burns when I touched the iron railing on the balcony of my hotel room.
SO WHAT’S it like in the clubhouse of a team on a roll, a team having fun, a team winning? Well, fun.
Every day, four of the Latin players sit at a table in the middle of the room playing cards. “Casino,” said Edinson Volquez. “You know, 21?” Participants include Coco Cordero, Ramon Hernandez, Willy Taveras, Edwin Encarnacion, Volquez and Johnny Cueto. All I know is there is a lot of laughing and insults shouted in Spanish. And, of course, Latin music punctuates the air from a large black box in Taveras’ locker.
AND THEY watch TV as they dress and prepare. On Monday in Arizona, Deal or No Deal was on and Jerry Hairston Jr. watched as he pulled on his green t-shirt from the Mexican team in the WBC. “I don’t understand some people,” he said. “They have a change of a lifetime, a chance to win $1 million. And some of them stop in the game at $22,000, which means $14,000 after taxes. What’s the matter with those people.”
JAY BRUCE tried a practical joke on Joey Votto Monday. Didn’t work. Bruce put up a bogus lineup card that had himself batting third and Votto batting fifth. The usual lineup has Votto third and Bruce fifth.
As I stood looking at the card, wondering if manager Dusty Baker had wigged out, Bruce tapped me on the shoulder and said, “That’s not the real lineup.”
So, I went to Votto and said, “You like batting fifth?” And he said, “What do you mean? I’m not batting fifth.”
Somebody had replaced the bogus card with the real one and that’s the one Votto saw. When told about the other card, an attempt by Bruce to make Votto mad, Votto laughed and said, “That’s a bad joke right there. It didn’t work. I didn’t even see it. I wish I had. It would have been funny. But it misfired.
THEY PUT out an interesting note today. It said that the pinch-hit home run that pitcher Micah Owings hit Sunday was the second pinch-hit home run of his career and both tied games. The note continued that the only other pitcher to do it even once (tie a game with a pinch-hit home run) over the last 50 years was Brooks Kieschnick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003 and 2004.
One problem with that: it isn’t fair to Owings. Here’s the difference. Owing is a pitcher, always has been - a pitcher who happens to be able to hit. Kieschnick was an outfielder throughout his career and the Brewers had him do some relief pitching. He still played the outfield and first base, too.
So in my book, what Owings has done is more impressive.
REMEMBER Kevin Jarivs. He pitched in the mid-90s for the Reds and is now a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was in Great American Ball Park Sunday and happened to look at the scoreboard where it said: “On this date in baseball, Pat Jarvis pitched a two-hitter in 1995 against the Mets.”
Kevin Jarvis stared at it a few moments, then thought, “Hey, I pitched a shutout that day. That’s me, not Pat Jarvis.” There was another Jarvis, named Pat, who pitched in the majors. “How ironic that I was in Cincinnati’s ballpark when they put that up,” said Jarvis (Kevin, not Pat).
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By Curt Heaton
May 13, 2009 6:50 AM | Link to this
Sportcasters are the reason for misconseption. Runner does not have to beat the throw to 1st base. Runner only has to tie in the race to 1st base.
By BrarHopper
May 12, 2009 5:50 PM | Link to this
I remember Nuxie pinch hit a lot when I was a boy back in the late 1800s.
By maxhack
May 12, 2009 9:57 AM | Link to this
The only other Red I remember doing some regular pinch hitting was Jim Maloney. Maybe my memory is faulty there. I think they’d put up Browning in a pinch but only if the game was really out of whack. I still remember getting finished with caddying one day and hearing that a pitcher, Tony Cloninger, had hit two grand slams in the same day. That amazes me to this day.
By Ryan K.- IN.
May 11, 2009 11:41 PM | Link to this
It’s okay MisterRedLegs..blog away. Don’t forget, I have a new and improved attitude. It’s so much easier to be friendly when the Reds are playing the way they are. 7-4 right now in the top of the 6th. Arroyo has been knocked around the last few innings, hopefully he can go a few more before turning it over to the relievers. How bout Nix and Rosealez going back to back. Laynce hit a moon shot to strait away center. Willie Taveras is 19 out of his last 48 including 4-4 so far tonight. Thats strong, real strong. It was nice to see him steal a base tonight too. Reds are now up 8-4 in the top of 6. Scratch that…Votto just knocked in another run. 9-4. I think I’m in heaven. Scratch that..Phillips just knocked in another run. 10-4 Redlegs. this is awesome!
By MisterRedLegs
May 11, 2009 9:09 PM | Link to this
Funny clubhouse stuff. I love the gags the players pull. Writers see soo much. I guess I won’t post my blog site here and get blasted by some real fans.