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 > 04 > Entry
It’s official: Maloney starts Saturday
Shocking! Stunning! Amazing! After much dodging of the issue, the Cincinnati Reds made it official at 6:27 Eastern time: Lefthander Matt Maloney is starting Saturday against the Chicago Cubs in Great American Ball Park.
Maloney is 4-2 with a 2.00 ERA at Louisville and pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout in his last start Monday against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Yankees’ Triple-A farm team. Maloney will be the first lefthander to start for the Reds since Adam Pettyjohn started the last game of last season in St. Louis.
And in answer to a couple of inquiries, Matt Maloney is not related to Jim Maloney, a pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. If Maloney can be half as good as Jim Maloney was, the Reds have something special. Maloney, 25, was acquired from the Phillies for Kyle Lohse on July 30, 2007. He was 11-5 with a 4.68 ERA in 25 starts for the Louisville Bats last year and was a third-round draft pick of the Phillies in 2005.
Maloney was born in Sandusky, Oh., graduated from Huron (Oh.) High School and now lives in Columbus.
WHERE DO THEY come up with this stuff? The Elias Sports Bureau does it daily. The latest concerns Brandon Phillips and his Wednesday game against the Cardinals - three hits, a home run, three RBIs, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
Says Elias, the only Reds players ever to match those numbers in all five categories in one game was George Foster in 1976 and Gary Redus in 1983. Amazing. Of course, Phillips stealing third with two outs was a foolish endeavor, but he did make it, only because third baseman Joe Thurston missed the tag.
MANAGER DUSTY BAKER’S lineup for Thursday after Wednesday’s 9-3 win over St. Louis is virtually the same - with one exception. Paul Janish ( 1 for 4, an infield hit) was not in the lineup and Alex Gonzalez was back in.
Jerry Hairston Jr. remains at leadoff, Chris Dickerson is in CF and batting second, Brandon Phillips is third, Jay (0 for 24, eight strikeouts) Bruce is fourth, Ramon Hernandez is fifth, Laynce Nix is sixth, Alex Gonzalez is seventh, Ryan Hanigan is eighth and Aaron Harang is ninth.
Harang’s opponent is RHP Chris Carpenter, 3-0 with a 0.62 ERA in five starts. Opponents are hitting .157 against him.
NORMALLY I don’t make comments or get agitated by something like Player of the Month, but I do think Brandon Phillips got hosed for May, losing to Justin Upton. Phillips hit .352 with seven homers and 29 RBIs - and he missed five games. Upton’s number: .373 with seven homers and 21 RBIs for the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks. OK, call me biased, but all three Reds beat writers voted for Phillips.
And did you catch Phillips quote Wednesday in talking about left fielder Laynce Nix: “He’s a great teammate and it is nice to have a left fielder who can both hit and catch the ball.” Do we detect a slam against Adam Dunn’s glove?
Speaking of Dunn, the Boston Red Sox are trying to acquire him from the Washington Nationals.
And Phillips took the loss of the Player of the Month award with aplomb by saying, “I only worry about things that I can control and I can’t control that.”
GREAT STORY from Reds pitching coach Dick Pole. When Ted Williams managed the old Washington Senators, he was more than 50 years old. One day he was watching a rookie struggle in batting practice, “So Ted grabs the bat from the kid and jumps into the cage and says, ‘Lemme show you.’ Williams hit one off the wall and two over the wall and said to the kid, ‘Like that!’ And Williams was over 50 years old.”
Manager Dusty Baker always has visitors from his past visit him in his office and Thursday it was former big-league pitcher Kirk Rueter, “The luckiest man I ever saw,” said Baker. “He’d win every pool there was.”
Baker said Rueter made his major-league debut in 1993 for Montreal against Baker’s Giants and afterward Baker said, “Anybody can come up and pitch well once. Let’s see where he is in five years.” Where was he in five years? “Pitching for me with the Giants,” Baker said with a laugh.
Rueter won his first 10 major-league decisions and, “I was 16-3 for the Expos when pitching coach Joe Kerrigan had me sent back to the minors because he said I still had some things to learn,” said Rueter.
And why was he so lucky, other than winning pools? “Because he kept getting people out and winning games with a bunch of crap he threw up there,” said Baker. Added Rueter, “Yeah, and I once found two twenty-dollar bills on the mound when I was pitching in a game. I scooped ‘em up after the inning and Dusty asked me, ‘What’d you pick up?’ When I told him two twenty-dollar bills, he said, ‘You have to be the only guy in major-league history to find money on the mound.’”
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment |
Tweet
Comments
By napoleon 2
June 5, 2009 12:37 PM | Link to this
Ren, WADR, you missed the main point. Why does Brantley need to prematurely and unfairly disparage Maloney and Stubbs in the eyes of Reds fans before they even get to the Majors? To the less important point, someone who works with the Reds said it best- when Marty and Brantley are on the radio together, it sounds like a bad show of Hee Haw-… . . and I don’t even want to hear a good show of Hee Haw.
By Renaissance Man
June 5, 2009 9:45 AM | Link to this
Napoleon 2, Brantley is not a redneck and is actually a refreshing voice to hear — maybe he doesn’t resonate with all of the Ohio folks because he does not have a nasaly Yankee tone (“Do you heee-aaaaffff any tickets, guy?” and “Let’s get some Luh-oooooo-zzz-uhs pizza, guy”), does not view drinking cheese from a giant stadium cup as a “meal”, and does not weigh 400 pounds …
By zeke
June 5, 2009 9:15 AM | Link to this
Dunn will reply; “didn’t read it, didn’t hear it, out fishing the Potomac…
By AP-FLORIDA
June 5, 2009 7:20 AM | Link to this
How long does it take to learn not to pitch to Albert….? Is that a thick skull or what????
By Bob
June 5, 2009 12:47 AM | Link to this
Gary Redus now I haven’t heard that name in a while. Without a doubt the most awesome pop up hitter in baseball history. If you dont believe me ask Hal.
By The Professor
June 4, 2009 10:50 PM | Link to this
“We weren’t able to find a way to get Albert out”. -Baker Obviously, Rusty that is because you keep pitching to him! What might it take for you NEVER to do that again?
By brian
June 4, 2009 10:00 PM | Link to this
Matt Maloney pitched for the Ole Miss Rebels. Did good job against tough SEC teams too. I wonder if the Cowboy was “jawing” a bit since he pitched for rival Mississippi State.
By napoleon 2
June 4, 2009 9:45 PM | Link to this
Hal, since you mentioned Maloney,I would love to see him succeed, partly because he is a lefty the Reds rotation needs, and partly because the redneck,er cowboy proclaimed that Maloney does not have Major League Stuff. The only thing better than watching Maloney pitch a quality start would be for the Reds to call up Drew Stubbs too, and see him succeed,since in Stubbs’ very first ever at bat in a Major League Spring Training game in 08, Brantley proclaimed on the radio that Stubbs had a hole in his swing a maaaaal waaaaad. Way to brand these guys before they even get started, Brantley.
By W.Va. Fan
June 4, 2009 8:58 PM | Link to this
I hope Dunn is traded to the Red Sox before we play the Nats. I am glad he is gone, because his defense was atrocious, but it seems like every time we play against a guy the REds got rid of, they have great games against us. Dunn will do the same. I guess it’s revenge. But I like our current lineup - especially when everybody is healthy.
By Jimmy1Time
June 4, 2009 8:42 PM | Link to this
B.P is pure class. So what if he siad it? Listen Dunn was about Dunn. He fell in love with Jr. way of doing nothing till it was paycheck time. If Boston really wanted him they should have got him before Washington over payed for him(Bowden wasa joke). There is something special happening in Cinci. We have solid baseball players here who want to play. Ask Hal, the locker room is diffrent. Guys hustle all out! I’m tired of the Jr. and Dunn still being mentioned. If Kearns was still here he would be right there with them slacking. Thats why Washington sucks, Jr. is hitting .200 and the Reds are in the hunt. B.P. the real Reds fan got your back! You were robbed bro of Player of the MOnth. Keep grinding it out player! Great Blog Hal!!! Double Down!
By Jack
June 4, 2009 8:22 PM | Link to this
Just heard great stat on radio. Bruce batting third or fourth, under .200. Batting 2nd or 6th, over .300. where is bruce tonight.
By napoleon 2
June 4, 2009 7:59 PM | Link to this
Hal, do us a favor. Please follow up with Dunn about this next week.
By napoleon 2
June 4, 2009 7:55 PM | Link to this
Greg Spencer is dead on. Phillips has a weak act. I can see it now. Next week when the Reds play the Nats, Dunn will confront Phillips and BP will say he was misquoted or didn’t say it.
By Greg Spencer
June 4, 2009 7:05 PM | Link to this
Hal, I’d be much more impressed with BP’s comments/shot at Dunn had he made them last year while the Big Donkey was here to defend himself. Spence Edgewood,KY