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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 > 20 > Entry
Votto sends his love from Mannywood
It’s always fun to come to LA and see all the celebrities at Dodger Stadium - Charlie Sheen and Rob Reiner are regulars. Hugh Hefner showed up once with a half a dozen of his, uh, friends and nobody watched the game.
One night after a day game I went to the Improv Comedy Club to watch a bunch of comedians I never heard of. Midway through the show, the host said, “Special treat tonight. Somebody stopped in and wants to say hello. Robin Williams.”
Williams then did about 45 minutes of stand-up and didn’t take a dime for it nor did our cover charge increase.
A HALF DOZEN Reds were taking early batting practice at 3 o’clock in Dodger Stadium when one of them, Joey Votto, looked up at the pressbox and saw a couple of writers and yelled, “Hey, say hello for me to everybody on Twitter. Tell ‘em all I’m having a fun time in Mannywood.”
NO MAJOR incidents getting to LA on American, but they pulled a fast one on some folks. I had a 2 1/2-hour layover in Dallas and heard they cancelled two Dallas-LA flights earlier in the morning (6 a.m. and 9 a.m.). My flight was 10:15 and went off as scheduled, a 757 stuffed to the rafters. And I had a middle seat, which is like sitting in the middle of the front seat of a Honda Civic, only the Civic has more room.
What ticked me off was that sitting next to me was a deadheading flight attendant, a non-paying customer with a window seat. I knew I was in trouble when she said, “I love to talk.” After Saturday night’s rain-delayed game in Cincinnati, I got home at 2 a.m., got to bed at 3:30 and was up at 8 for Sunday’s day game. Then Monday morning I had to get up at 4 a.m. to catch my flight to LA.
So I was TIRED, with a capital Z, and this woman wanted to talk. The first time she paused for breath, I grabbed my iPod, plugged in my ear plugs, put on my Oakley sun glasses, turned my head the other way and went to sleep. For three hours.
After we landed, she tells me, “I went right to sleep. Did you?”
YOU KNOW you are in LA when you have lunch in the hotel coffee shop, order a Chinese chicken salad, a bowl of Seven Onion soup and an iced tea and the bill is $30. Those two iced tea refills must have cost $5 each. Although the salad was loaded with cashews (I love cashews but they don’t love me), it wasn’t that good.
HOPE I MAKE it until the fifth inning. That’s when they put the Dodger Dogs on the media grill. Then I hope I make it back to the hotel without acid indigestion and heart burn. I can’t resist Dodger Dogs - the best hot dogs anywhere. If I covered the Dodgers and worked 81 games at Dodger Stadium, I’d break Babe Ruth’s all-time hot dog record and my stomach would look like Mount St. Helens.
ROOKIES ALWAYS have fun stories and Craig Tatum is no different.
He was called up to the big leagues Sunday for the first time and flew from Cincinnati to Los Angeles with the team. The veterans had a great guffaw at his expense when he got off the bus from the airport and waited to retrieve his suitcase.
“It’s the big show, my boy. We don’t carry our suitcases. They magically show up in our room,” he was told.
Tatum was stunned when he rode a cab from Century City, where the Reds stay, to Dodger Stadium and the fare was $60. He figured he was riding the cab, not buying it. And he said, “They don’t have traffic like this in Hattiesburg, Miss. I saw more cars than we have people in Hattiesburg.”
Then he walked into Dodger Stadium and his jaw dropped. “Never saw a baseball stadium this big. Not even close,” he said.
NOW I KNOW I’ve made it. Walked past Aaron Harang’s locker today and saw his shoes - the idential black Cole-Haan loafers that were on my feet. Of course, mine were only size 13. His had to be 16, maybe 17, and mine would fit inside his.
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By foxbase_alpha
July 21, 2009 10:17 AM | Link to this
Just curious why the Reds stay in Century City. That’s not very close to Dodger Stadium and a pretty rough commute. I’m surprised they don’t stay in one of the many hotels downtown. I agree with Aaron B. Social D on Hal’s iPod is pretty impressive. One of my LA favorites, too.
By Hal McCoy
July 21, 2009 12:18 AM | Link to this
Judy: Thanks for the kind offer, but I leave for a night game at 2:15 in the afternoon - a little early for you and hubby to hit Dodger Stadium. Hal
By Aaron B.
July 20, 2009 11:48 PM | Link to this
Social Distortion? That’s an LA Band and one of my favs, good taste Hal. As for Dodger Dogs, if you are gonn aplug em you should probably plug the brand that makes them and that would be Farmer John. I agree that they are something special although honestly I prefer kosher beef hotdogs.
By Judy
July 20, 2009 11:42 PM | Link to this
Do you need a ride to the game tomorrow, Hal? Hubby and I will be glad to pick you up on our way to the stadium.
By Redsfan4192
July 20, 2009 11:33 PM | Link to this
Glad you got some rest. I always enjoy reading your stories. What are some rookie initiation stories you’ve heard of that you can repeat?
By Hal McCoy
July 20, 2009 11:17 PM | Link to this
What’s on my iPod? More than 700 tunes, mostly from the 60s, 70s and 80s. My favorites: The Cars, Chicago, Social Distortion, Meat Loaf. As you can see, this game is driving me to distraciton. HAL
By stlredsfan
July 20, 2009 10:21 PM | Link to this
What’s on the ipod, Hal?
By Mark in Sun Valley
July 20, 2009 9:51 PM | Link to this
They steep those dogs in beer before they hit the grill. People that buy the “Dodger Dogs” in the grocery are usually disappointed because they do not know that step. I do love Kahns for a pure dog, but with the cooking technique they use, Dodger Dogs all the way. I’ll be having 2-3 tomorrow and Wednesday.
By AC
July 20, 2009 9:26 PM | Link to this
we love you back, joey!