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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 > 31
Sunday, May 31, 2009
A lost weekend in Milwaukee
The Cincinnati Reds, faced with their first ultra-important series in years, went to Milwaukee and left a big lump of cheese. The Brewers put more holes in them than a hunk of Swiss.
Three games, three losses, 3 1/2 games out of first place. And dead ahead are four games in St. Louis. Add three or four losses and the road to the top gets about as steep as the Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh.
You can’t win with the kind of pitching the Reds got in Game 2 and Game 3. In Game 2 Aaron Harang gave up eight runs and 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings. In Game 3 Micah Owings gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings — all five runs and all eight hits coming in the first three innings before the shadows in Miller Park appeared and made hitting extremely difficult.
And you can’t win with your best hitter, Joey Votto, on the DL with a mysterious malady that may or may not be solved after 15 days, when he is eligible to come back.
And you can’t win with your No. 3 hitter, Jay Bruce, going 1 for 13 with six strikeouts in the losses.
After Sunday’s 5-2 defeat, Brandon Phillips stood in front of his locker and said, with a straight face, that the Reds are better than Milwaukee. That’ll play big down on Wisconsin Avenue.
It’s nice that Phillips feels that way, but losing three straight to a team makes that team better than you, much better.
On to St. Louis - and who knows what evil lurks. For sure, it is rescue the season time again.
For me it is lunch at Charlie Gitto’s at least three times and a couple of dinners at Mike Shannon’s. Hey, when things go bad, eating is the best remedy, isn’t it?
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TweetWhy don’t you go to Great American Ball Park?
Quick Question: Why are you staying away from Great American Ball Park?
The question hit me this weekend when I saw Milwaukee Brewers fans fill Miller Park three days in a row.
Milwaukee and Cincinnati are similar cities — blue-collar towns with the same employment and economic problems. There are 2.2 million people in the Greater Cincinnati Area and 2 million in the Greater Milwaukee Area.
And yet, the Brewers, who until last year hadn’t made the playoffs since 1982, are averaging 37,089 fans with 12 sellouts, three in a row this weekend. The Reds, without a winning season in eight years or a playoff team since 1995, are averaging 22,031.
I know it isn’t marketing. The Reds are hustling as hard as they can to put posteriors in those many, many empty seats.
Somebody said maybe it is because Miller Park has a roof and fans know there will be a game rain, shine or hurricane. That isn’t the case in Cincinnati, where bad weather prospects scare some away.
I disagree. Shift now to St. Louis, which has no roof. The St. Louis metro area is much like Milwaukee and Cincinnati, same economic crises and a population of about 2.8 million. Yet the Cardinals constantly fill the ballpark, win or lose. Yes, the Cardinals are constant contenders the last 15 years or so, but they draw regardless.
I’ve often said St. Louis is the Baseball Capital of the World. The best fan support. And I’ve also heard that Cincinnati is a baseball town. Once upon a time it was. Now I wonder.
Fans have told me they are still fans — but they don’t go to games. They read about the Reds, they listen on radio and watch on TV. But they don’t go. Why? Why not now when the Reds are fun to watch and competing?
You tell me. Please. Why aren’t you in Great American? And don’t tell me it is because of the cost. Things cost much the same in Miller Park and Busch Stadium, but the seats are filled.
Sometimes in Great American, it is downright embarrassing.
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