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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 > 2010 > August > 21
Saturday, August 21, 2010
The Dirty Dozen (losses) ends in LA
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while swatting moths and remembering the night when Hugh Hefner walked into Dodger Stadium with six of his buxom beauties that distracted the entire male populations of Los Angeles County.
IN EARLY JULY, during a pre-game appearance on Reds Live with Jim Day and Jeff Piecoro I boldly, and probably stupidly, stared into the camera and said, “I think the Reds will win the division by four or five games.”
I could hear Day gasp and Piecoro looked at me as if I’d lost my head and it was rolling around on the desk.
How am I looking now?
By beating the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday night, 3-1, the Reds own a 4½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Reds have won seven in a row and the Cardinals have lost five in a row - and my oh my how the high and mighty have fallen.
The Reds have won eight straight road games and maybe it’s time to roll out the nickname I slapped on the 1999 Reds - The Big Road Machine.
Going into Friday’s game, the Reds had lost 12 straight games in Dodger Stadium, three each in the last four years.
THE DODGERS have fallen on hard times and the Reds took advantage of it, thanks to Homer Bailey, who appears to be right back where he was at this point last year when he finished the season with a 6-1 record and an ERA below two.
What a heavenly lift that would be if Bailey matches that streak. On Friday he held the Dodgers to one run and four hits over seven innings, walking two and striking out five.
The offense was all Brandon Phillips - three hits in his first three at-bats, driving in all three runs as the Reds won their fourth straight on this nine-game west coast trip. Catcher Ryan Hanigan had two hits and scored twice.
While sweeping three games in Arizona, the Reds piled on runs late to put all three games out of reach and make closer Coco Cordero a non-factor.
He was a factor Friday. First Arthur Rhodes took over for Bailey in the eighth and Mr. Automatic breezed through a 1-2-3 inning.
Then it was Cordero time and although nobody in the Reds dugout will admit it, nerve-wracking time.
Cordero struck out James Loney, but Matt Kemp blooped a 0-and-2 pitch into right field for a single and Casey Blake came to the plate representing the tying run.
But Cordero coaxed a 6-4-3 double play for his 33rd save in 39 opportunities.
SO SAD TO see Dodger Stadium half empty on a Friday night, one of baseball’s finest venues, a park built in 1962 and remains an outstanding facility that is so clean you can see your reflection in the concrete floors.
But they’re still doing The Wave, which is about as outdated as leisure suits and platform shoes.
AND YOU never know who is going to show up at Dodger Stadium. One night I was hard at work on deadline when somebody sat down next to me in an empty press box seat.
He began asking me questions about the Reds, Barry Larkin in particular. Because I was busy I gave him short, cryptic answers and he finally said, “Would you like a cup coffee?” To get rid of this annoying dolt, I said, “Yeah, two Sweet ‘n Lows, please.”
The guy left to fetch the coffee and a guy seated two chair down leaned over and said, “Do you know who you are ignoring? That’s Charley Sheen.”
My face was as red as the Reds’ caps.
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