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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 > June > 13
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Baker, Phillips disagree on 3-and-0 swing
JUST WHEN YOU think you’ve seen it all, something head-shaking happens. In the fifth inning Saturday of the Reds 7-4 loss, KC pitcher Kyle Davies walked two. Brandon Phillips was up and had a 3-and-0 count. Take one pitch? Take two pitches? Naw, he swung away and flied to right. Un-beeeeee-leeeee-vable. And at the time Davies had thrown 93 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.
Was he given the hit-away sign. Was he given the take sign. He was given the take sign and ignored it. Didn’t even look for the sign.
Manager Dusty Baker was not happy and said Phillips missed the take sign, but Phillips said, “Why shouldn’t swing in that situation? To tell you the truth, I didn’t even look for a sign.
“Honestly, in that situation, why wouldn’t I swing at a 3-and-0, that’s just my opinion. We only had two hits at the time and our offense stinks right now. I respect my teammates and they see what’s going on. We haven’t faced anybody that overmatched us. If we’re facing No. 1 pitchers, but we’re not and our team is too damn good to be making outs against the pitchers we face. We should be undefeated on this trip.”
Baker disagrees about Phillips swinging at the 3-0.
“That was the big play and Brandon was supposed to be taking,” he said. “That could have been the ball game. We had the pitcher on the ropes, he had just walked two and thrown nine balls, then threw three more balls and we gave Brandon the take. Said he didn’t see it. In that situation, you have to know to take that pitch even if you didn’t see the sign.”
Phillips disagrees with that, too.
“We were struggling getting men on base and we’re not hitting with runners in scoring position,” Phillips said. “I had the opportunity, I swung at 3-0. I was trying to make something happen and it didn’t happen. If I would have come through it would have been the best play of the year. For future reference, I will not do it again. I apologized to everybody.”
I still say, un-beeeeeee-leeeeee-vable.
ON DAYS Bronson Arroyo pitches, maybe they should start closer Coco Cordero and have David Weathers or Arthur Rhodes pitch the second, THEN bring in Arroyo.
Arroyo’s first two innings are notoriously hideous. If he gets past the first and second, look out. But lately that hasn’t happened.
He got the first two outs of the game Saturday against the Royals, then loaded the bases, but escaped damage. No such luck in the second and third — five runs, 11 hits.
The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the second and then, get this, the Reds had only one hit in the third, but scored thee runs - which these days is the only way they can score three runs. Then Arroyo gave up two more runs in the third, giving up four hits in each of the second and third after giving up three in the first.
So, after three innings, the Royals had outhit the Reds, 11-1, but led by only 5-3.
REPLAY, REPLAY: In the fourth inning, KC’s Billy Butler hit one into the left field seats. Umpire Tony Randazzo called it foul. KC manager Trey Hillman challenged the call and asked for a review - the only challenge allowed in baseball (home run or not a home run). Umpires checked the replays for three minutes and upheld the call - foul ball. It was the first challenge ever in Kauffman Stadium.
WILLY TAVERAS just popped up and is now 0 for 30, hasn’t hit the ball out of the infield in eight at-bats. And he hasn’t walked in 12 games. Is that good for a leadoff man? Uh, no. Taveras tied Jason LaRue (2006) for hitless longevity and next on the list was Alex Ochoa, 0 for 31 back in 2001. the only thing I remember about Ochoa is that he looked like Denzel Washington
But wait. It gets better. The Reds had a runner on first with one out in the seventh. Taveras up. First pitch. Swing. Grounder to short. Double play. Move over Denzel. And keep all sharp objects and dangerous liquids out of Taveras’ reach. Then he grounded out in the ninth and is now 0 for 32, one away from a 36-year-old record - 0 for 33 by Denis Menke in 1973.
And to think Menke was later a hitting coach for the Reds. And he was hitting coach when Ochoa went 0 for 31.
Of course, those are numbers for position players. Pitcher Aaron Harang went 0 for 49 and once said, “They’re making Catch of the Day plays on me all over the place.” To that, manager Jerry Narron said, “What? The catcher is catching the ball?”
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READY FOR THIS one, Redleg fans?
The Saturday lineup/batting order is almost identical to the one that came up with three hits against Kansas City’s Luke Hochevar, he of the 1-2 record and 7.85 ERA, the guy who beat the Reds, 4-1, on 80 pitches.
There was two slight tinkers. Manager Dusty Baker flip-flopped Ryan Hanigan and Adam Rosales. Hanigan is batting ninth instead of eighth and Rosales is batting eighth instead of the ninth. And Jonny Gomes, who had two of the three hits as DH, is batting fifth instead of seventh.
Any brilliant ideas as to what alternatives Baker has - other Chris Dickerson for Willy Taveras, which I agree on? The lineup is below with some notations next to the n ames that reveals why the Reds are hitting .175 over their last eight games.
The order: Willy Taveras (0 for 28), Alex Gonzalez, Brandon Phillips, Laynce Nix (3 for 22), Jonny Gomes, Jay Bruce (5 for 47), Ramon Hernandez (0 for 18 and 2 for 29), Adam Rosales (3 for 32), Ryan Hanigan.
AMAZING WHAT you learn when they bring a tour group through the press box a few hours before the game.
There is a red chair (every other seat in Kauffman Stadium is blue) right behind home plate and a tourist asked, “Why is that chair red?” Said the guide, that’s the chair occupied by former Negro League star Buck O’Neill. He was a scout for us and always at in the chair until he died a couple of years ago. Now that chair is occupied by some fan who has done something for his or her community above and beyond and we recognize them by letting that person sit in that seat.”
At the time, some Royals players were taking ground balls and a tourist asked, “Who is that hitting the ball?” Said the tour guide, “That’s one of our coaches.” Just at that time, a fielder booted the ball and the tourist said, “Who just missed the ball?” Quickly, a fan wearing a Royals tee-shirt said, “That’s one of our, uh, alleged infielders.” Tough crowd.
JEFF BRANTLEY said he fulfilled a lifelong dream by catching a foul ball. He did it Friday night while broadcasting a Reds game.
In my 37 years I’ve caught two, ducked hundreds and was nearly skulled a couple of years ago when Jim Edmonds of the St. Louis Cardinals fouled one into the Great American Ball Park press box. I was looking at my laptop screen at the time when Reds Media Relations Director Rob Butcher yelled, “Look out!” I ducked my head and felt the baseball part my hair in the middle as it slammed into a back wall.
I did catch a foul ball in the booth in Yankee Stadium during the 1996 World Series, hit by Derek Jeter. Still have the ball.
The other was in Dodger Stadium and nearly cost me my 1976 World Series ring, which I used to wear. It was loose on my finger and when I threw my hands up in the air to catch the ball my ring flew off my finger and tumbled into the stands. I looked over the the pressbox railing and spotted where it landed. I hustled into the stands and the fans were passing it up a down the row looking at it. They gave it back to me with no argument and I was just lucky it didn’t skull anybody.
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