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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 > July > 04
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Masset: The Man of the Moment
With his rugged good looks and his chiseled frame, it is no surprise that Nick Masset is a tough guy. He is the kind of guy you like walking with you on a dark night in a big city’s seedier parts - although I don’t inhabit those kinds of places.
‘And it isn’t often I get to extoll the virtues of a middle relief guy. Usually he gets interviewed when he screws up. But when a pitcher stares down Albert Pujols with the game on the line, that guy is worth writing about.
Sometimes a baseball game is reduced to one at-bat, one confrontation, one me-against-you moment.
On the Fourth of July it was Nick Masset vs. Albert Pujols, mano y mano, in the seventh inning.
The Cincinnati Reds owned a three-run lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, but the Cardinals had two men on base with two outs.
The batter was Pujols, arguably baseball’s best hitter, especially in crucial times, and the memory of his Friday night grand slam was still on the surface of every brain wearing a Reds uniform.
Manager Dusty Baker brought Masset in from the bullpen and the battle raged and waged until the count was 3-and-2. Pujols then grounded to second base. Battle over. Game over.
The Cardinals never threatened again and the Reds pocketed a 5-2 victory in Great American Ball Park.
That Masset was even able to walk to the mound was a shocking surprise. That Masset walked into Baker’s office in the morning and said, “I’m ready, I’m a go,” was a shocking surprise to Baker.
On Friday, Masset started the ninth inning and Yadier Molina scorched one directly into the biceps of Masset’s pitching arm. He picked up the ball and threw out Molina, but left the game, his arm dangling like wet linguini.
“I had him as a ‘no’ for today originally,” Baker said of Masset. “This guy wants to pitch and is a tough guy. And they gave him some kind of miracle patch that stops swelling, bleeding, bruising and everything else. I was real shocked that he could pitch. I’m glad he was able to pitch.”
Masset had extra incentive. His parents and grandparents were in the stands, so what’s a little pain in the biceps and what’s a big pain in the batter’s box like Pujols matter?
“It hit me flush on the muscle and it was really sore this morning,” said Masset. “But when I started moving it around it wasn’t as tight as I thought it would be. Some heat made it fine.
“As long as I’m not ill or dying, I’m going to be out there to try to help the team,” he said. He wore a large flesh-colored patch on his arm, but laughed at Baker’s reference to a miracle patch and said, “Just something to keep the inflammation away.”
Of his confrontation with Pujols, Masset said, “I tried to stay away from his power zone and throw my best stuff at him.”
Masset and everybody in the baseball world knew what Pujols did to David Weathers Friday with the grand slam that turned Cincinnati’s 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit, but Masset blanked it out. Well, he said he did.
“I never think about what happened in the past, just the present,” he said. “I don’t even think about facing Pujols. I just think about throwing my best stuff at whoever is batting. I had a plan and I executed it and I was excited because my pitches end up where I want them to be and he did exactly what I wanted him to do.”
After Masset, Arthur Rhodes pitched a scoreless inning and Coco Cordero pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 20th save.
Bullpens learn to forget.
“You really don’t want to face Pujols in any situation, but Albert is going to make an out sometime. You have to face him sometime. But that’s nothing you want to do too often,” said Baker.
“The life of a reliever is to forget yesterday if it was bad,” Baker added. “Build on it if it is good. Bullpen work is tough duty. You are either a hero or zero. All the good relievers I’ve been around have an ability to forget yesterday.”
Even if a baseball nearly tore your arm off and left Bud Selig’s signature stenciled on your biceps.
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TweetTo pitch or not to pitch to Pujols.
One of the clubhouse attendants, Brian, was getting his kicks before today’s game by walking through the clubhouse and wishing a happy Fourth of July to all the non-Americans - Canadian Joey Votto, Dominican Johnny Cueto and Venezuelan Ramon Hernandez.
They all smiled and shook their heads.
Even more entertaining was former Reds media relations director Jon Braude, who now does work for Fox. He brought a bat into the clubhouse. Calling it a bat is like calling a Rembrandt a finger painting. It was a bat once used by Lou Gehrig to hit a home run. Braude’s parents were friends with the Gehrig family and they gave the Braudes the bat.
Asked if he ever had it checked for monetary worth, Braude said, “Yes. Priceless.”
Most of the Reds players held the bat, swung it, admired it, posed for pictures with it - except one, who shall remain nameless. When asked to pose, he said, “Why? It’s just a bat.” Yeah, like the sword Alexander the Great used was just a big knife.
Aaron Harang hefted and swung the bat and said later, “My mom once got an autograph from Ted Williams in a store in San Diego. He was just walking around in the store and my mom saw him. She ran to sporting goods and grabbed two baseballs and Williams signed them for her - even before she paid for them. She was afraid he’d leave while she was paying for them. After he signed, then she paid.”
SOME WORDS about Homer Bailey from Albert Pujols: “He threw an unbelievable game. He has electric stuff. He is going to be around a long time.”
Said Bailey, hearing that, “Coming from a guy with his stature, that sinks in deep. Somebody sent that quote to me via e-mail last night. Usually people just send stuff when something bad is said about me.”
SOME WORDS about Albert Pujols from Jerry Hairston Jr.: “I know Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were great righthanded hitters, but I can’t imagine a better righthanded hitter than Albert Pujols.”
I HAVE THIS question for all of you out there:
With the Reds leading, 3-0, and the bases loaded with one out in the eighth inning, would you intentionally walk Pujols? I saw it done once and I know it has been done at least twice - walk a home run hitter intentionally with the bases loaded.
With a 4-1 lead, I saw Sparky Anderson walk Willie McCovey when the Reds led, 4-1. That forced in a run to make it 4-2, but the Giants didn’t score again. Arizona manager Buck Showalter walked Barry Bonds intentionally with the bases loaded in the ninth jwith a 3-0. That worked, too. The D-Backs won, 3-1.
Would I have walked Pujos with a 3-0 lead and the bases loaded. Even before he hit the grand slam off David Weathers, I was saying to my companions, “Walk him. You better walk him.”
And what does Reds manager Dusty Baker think about it?
“Maybe with two outs. Maybe. But you have to think about the guy batting behind him. He’s an RBI man, too.” On Friday, that was Ryan Ludwick, owner of 41 RBIs to 82 for Pujols. “You ask yourself do you want to take a chance on one hit beating you or two hits beating you.”
Me? I walk him. But the next game I manage will be the first game I’ve managed - other than my slow pitch softball team about 25 years ago. How about you?
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