Madison graduation 2012
Warren County CC graduation
New Miami graduation 2012
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 > June > 03
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Does Bruce need refreshing in Louisville?
CALL ME CRAZY, call me nuts, call me demented, but does anybody else out there think maybe Jay Bruce needs a dose of Louisville and Drew Stubbs deserves a dose of Cincinnati? After Wednesday’s game, Bruce is 1 for 24 with eight strikeouts on the trip.
Johnny Cueto pumped up a good one Wednesday in Busch Stadium, giving up one run and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings during a 9-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Cueto’s first win in four starts. Timely, though, right?
I’M NO baserunning coach, but I don’t think it is good when you have two runners picked off first base by the catcher in a three-game span, as the Reds have had done to them in St. Louis. Chris Dickerson beat out an infield single in the first inning and catcher Yadier Molina picked him off first.
And the run back to the dugout is one of the most embarrassing trots in sports.
ALL FOUR REDS runs scored with two outs Wednesday and the Reds have scored 101 of their 223 runs this year with two outs. On the surface, that’s good, right? I mean instead of making the third out, somebody drives in a run. But, hey, why not do it with no outs and/or one out and probably score even more runs? Just a thought.
LAYNCE NIX gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in the second with a home run, then when former Reds pitcher Kyle Lohse, now wearing Cardinal red, gave up a bunt single in the third to pitcher Johnny Cueto, Cueto’s third bunt hit this year, Lohse vacated with stiffness in his pitching elbow.
The Reds then scored two runs, one on a two-out single by Brandon Phillips, who then stole second, stole third and scored on Ramon Hernandez’s single.
AND I TOLD you Nix is an outstanding outfielder. Did you see that running, backhanded snag he made on the run in the sixth inning on Ryan Ludwick? Then he pushed off the left-field fence and threw a strike to second base that doubled off Albert Pujols - except umpire Jim Joyce was looking at something else and called Pujols safe. Does El Hombre get all the calls his way?
Then Nix hit another home run in the eight, a three-run blast that clinched the victory.
FORMER REDS (among many other teams) pitcher Kent Mercker filled in on the radio broadcast with Marty Brennaman on Wednesday. Mercker is one of the smartest and most humorous players I ever dealt with. He was a guy who got it.
The guy worked the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in about an hour, but it was his funny lines that I’ll always remember. Oh, and he could pitch a little bit, too. Threw a no-hitter once.
My two favorites:
Asked what he was going to do when he retired, he said, “I’m going to turn vodka into urine.” And former pitcher Chris Hammond was constantly reading the Bible in the clubhouse. One day Mercker walked by, saw him reading the Bible, and said, “Haven’t you finished that book yet?”
Oh, and one more classic. “You know you’re getting old when you run in from the bullpen and your breasts jiggle.”
SOME OF YOU questioned my use of ketchup on my hot dogs. You kidding me? I put ketchup on hot dogs, french fries, scrambled eggs, omelettes, steak (meat of all kinds) and if my wife dared to serve me asparagus I’d put ketchup on that, too.
BEFORE THE sixth inning Wednesday, the Busch Stadium fans sang happy birthday to Rachel Kohl. It was her 100th birthday. Man, she was born before both Wrigley Field and Fenway Park were built and before the Titanic took a ten-count from an iceberg.
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TweetBruce batting fourth? Uh, why?
I’m no hitting coach, but when I saw tonight’s Cincinnati Reds lineup I did a double take. Jay Bruce is batting fourth. So far on the trip Bruce is 1 for 20 with eight strikeouts. Why would he be batting cleanup?
Manager Dusty Baker has another odd twist. Jerry Hairston Jr. is batting leadoff, with Chris Dickerson second. Also, Paul Janish is at shortstop in place of Alex Gonazalez, who is not hurt or ill. His bat, however, is in critical condition. And he had started 11 straight games and, actually, he is hitting .300 over his last 13 games. His glove, though, has been magical.
GREAT STORY at lunch from George Grande. When he was with ESPN he was in the New York Yankees clubhouse when Deion Sanders was called up for the first time. In his inimitable way, Neon Deion said out loud, “Hey, clubbie, you know I want a single-digit number, right?”
The “clubbie” was a long-time equipment manager who nearly bit the stub of his cigar off when Sanders said he wanted a single-digit number. Said the so-called clubbie in a loud voice so everybody could hear, “Would you like No. 3? Ever heard of Babe Ruth? Would you like No. 4? Ever heard of Lou Gehrig? Would you like No. 5? Ever heard of Joe DiMaggio?”
Nearly every single-digit number for the New York Yankees is retired, but Sanders didn’t understand.
WAS SITTING outside the hotel after midnight Tuesday night, puffing my cigar and reading a book by the light of a street lamp, when four guys walked by. Two were wearing Reds jerseys, one a Cardinals jersey and one a Dodgers shirt.
As they started by, one stopped and said, “Hey, guy. Guess who this is? It’s Hal McCoy.” We all shook hands and chatted about the Reds for about 20 minutes and then the guy said, “You probably don’t remember, but about 15 years ago I sat next to you at the blackjack table at the Casino Queen. And you were very nice to me. Never forgot that.”
Well, uh, no I didn’t remember. I’ve probably sat next to enough people at a blackjack table to match the population of Bombay, India. If I was nice to him, it must have been one of those rare nights when I actually won a couple of bucks.
ON MONDAY, it was 92 degrees in St. Louis. Right now, as I sit high above Busch Stadium in the press box that is in danger of getting hit by an incoming American Airlines flight, it is 61 degrees. Are we back in Milwaukee? On the field, Edwin Encarnacion is taking ground balls at third base, Wilkin Castillo is taking ground balls at second base and Adam Rosales is taking ground balls at first base. Where’s Jonny Gomes?
FOR THOSE passing around rumors that Joey Votto’s problem is something authoress Erica Jone wrote about years and years ago, A Fear of Flying, it’s not true. Like a lot of us, he might not LIKE to fly, but he doesn’t have a fear of it to cause stress anxieties.
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