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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 37th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > July > 08 > Entry
Just call me a sucker for a sob story
Was sitting in front of the hotel late last night, enjoying a cigar and reading, when a gentlemen sat down next to me. Introduced himself. A soldier. Just back from Iraq. We chatted and he saw my Hall of Fame ring and asked about it.
Then came the touch. He needed money for the train to New Jersey, “And a little extra, if you can spare it, for a bite to eat. The train is $13.” I gave him $20. Am I a sucker or what? He probably bought expensive vodka.
But it was worth it when he walked away and I heard him mutter, “Hall of Fame? Damn.”
WHAT I WOULD like to do right now is walk into the media dining room and kick out the plugs on three computers. Fans are voting for the final roster spot for the All-Star game and the Phillies are in an all-out campaign to get Shane Victorino on the team.
The Phillies have three young men in the dining room sitting at laptops punching in Victorino’s name every few seconds. And they are doing it non-stop, nearly around the clock. So when Victorino wins you’ll know it wasn’t a fan vote at all.
Can’t anybody do anything honestly any more? If it were up to me I’d vote for the Phillie Phanatic to be the last player on the NL roster. The guy is hilarious.
HAD MY Five Guys fix today - burger with ketchup, pickle, onion and the bag full of fries - a lunch Valhalla. And tomorrow I’m going to the Reading Terminal to get a Philly cheesesteak at Sparato’s. I’m told it is better than the touristy Pat’s, Geno’s and Jim’s. If it’s better than Jim’s I’ll be stunned, shocked and flattened.
WITH A righthander on the mound tonight (Rodrigo Lopez), Laynce Nix was in left field and Chris Dickerson was in right field, with Jonny Gomes and Willy Taveras on the bench.
“This guy (Lopez) is really tough on righthanders (.217),” said manager Dusty Baker. “Gomes and Taveras will be back in there Thursday (against lefthander Jamie Moyer).”
When Gomes went 0 for 3 Tuesday, it was the first time in his 20 starts that he did not reach base at least once. “When I was 0 for 3 in the ninth and they sent Laynce Nix up to pinch-hit for me, I was thinking, ‘Oh, no, now I can’t get on base,’ ” said Gomes.
Gomes, who fancies himself as Rocky, hasn’t run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art yet, but says he might do it Thursday instead of running the grandstand steps that he runs four or five times a week.
Hearing that, Jay Bruce said, “I ran up those steps last year. Twice.”
The only step I’ll cover tomorrow is the step up the curb and into Reading Terminal. Load up the onions, please, and don’t spare the Whiz.
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Comments
By Paul
July 9, 2009 11:50 AM | Link to this
Thanks for giving the $20. We are all called to give, and once we do it is not our responsibility what they do with it. We don’t like to give cash, so whenever we go to Red’s games we bring bags of food and McDonalds gift certificates. Nothing so humbling as seeing a woman with two children asking for help and handing them a bag and watching the children tear into a granola bar. ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’By The Professor
July 9, 2009 9:57 AM | Link to this
Taveras has emerged from his deep, deep hitting slump. He went into Wednesday on a five-game hitting streak in which he’s batted .381, and he’s hit .372 over his last 10 games. Dickerson was hitting .377 over his past 18 games. The big difference between the two players is on-base percentage. Dickerson went into Wednesday at .375; Taveras was at .287. Wednesday was the 15th time Dickerson has hit leadoff this season. Taveras has hit there 59 times. How about we platoon Dimwit Dusty and his sonBy T.B.
July 9, 2009 9:35 AM | Link to this
Hal, Tony Luke’s is the best cheesesteak I’ve had. It’s on Oregon Ave, not too far from the stadium.By Hawk
July 9, 2009 8:55 AM | Link to this
Taveras has emerged from his deep, deep hitting slump. He went into Wednesday on a five-game hitting streak in which he’s batted .381, and he’s hit .372 over his last 10 games. Dickerson was hitting .377 over his past 18 games. The big difference between the two players is on-base percentage. Dickerson went into Wednesday at .375; Taveras was at .287. Wednesday was the 15th time Dickerson has hit leadoff this season. Taveras has hit there 59 times. How about we platoon Dimwit Dusty and his sonBy RRF
July 9, 2009 8:25 AM | Link to this
Let’s see, Phillies manager is the All-Star manager and he didn’t choose his own player - Shane Victorino, so now the campaign is on to “vote” him in? It should be clear his own manager didn’t believe he deserved to be there. Let’s hope this scam to vote him in fails. I agree with you Hal, it is a farce what the Phillies are doing, stuffing the “ballot box”.By Mike
July 8, 2009 10:31 PM | Link to this
Hi Hal, great story, but why doesnt anyone talk about team fielding. Wonder where reds wud b ranked. cheers, mike Scoreboard operator, crosley field, 1955By Mike M
July 8, 2009 9:37 PM | Link to this
My brother and I hit Pt’s and Geno’s every year on the way to AC for the A10 Tournament. Where is Jim’s we will try it next year.By ohio ex patriate
July 8, 2009 9:21 PM | Link to this
Great one Hal. Your friend in Key West, Tom. PS: Speaking of the HOF, thanks again for signing the baseball.