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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 > 20 > Entry
Reds hotter than the Sonoran Desert
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while enjoying a Padron 1964 Anniversary, one of two provided by friend John Robison, who frightened the bejabbers out of me Tuesday night when he walked in the open back door (to facilitate a breeze) in the middle of the game:
One of many things manager Dusty Baker has done this season is to show faith in all of his players, regardless of perceived negative situations.
Take Wednesday night as an example, as the Reds rocked the Arizona Diamondbacks, 9-5, to complete a three-game sweep. It gives the Reds a 3 ½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals - the Reds’ biggest lead since May of 2002.
With left-hander Joe Saunders pitching for Arizona and the way Jay Bruce struggles against southpaws, wouldn’t right-hander Chris Heisey be the choice for right field? Not this night. Baker stayed with Bruce and he homered for the second straight night.
Baker dropped Bruce to seventh in the batting order and he had four hits Tuesday and two Wednesday.
And how about left field? Jonny Gomes was 0 for 16, so wouldn’t Heisey be a better option for left field?
Not this night. Baker stayed with Gomes and he singled during a four-run third inning.
And he always has the choice at catcher - Ramon Hernandez or The People’s Choice, Ryan Hanigan. On this night he chose Hernandez who then provided a three-run homer in that four-run third.
Oh, yeah. He could have played Heisey in center field in place of strikeout-prone Drew Stubbs. But he didn’t. And Stubbs had two hits and two RBIs. The man(ager) has had The Magic Touch this year.
AND HOW about Travis Wood? There hasn’t been this good of a pitcher named Wood since Wilbur Wood - and not even Wilbur started his career with this kind of success.
Wood was 0-7 in his first FIVE major-league seasons and 1-8 aftrer six years, but won 163 games in his his 17 seasons.
Wood already is 4-1 after 11 major-league starts and the Reds are 9-2 in his starts.
On Wednesday, he held the Diamondbacks to one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out six. He threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 24 hitters he faced.
AND HOW OPPORTUNISTIC are the Reds? They have two outs and nobody on in the eighth when Arizona left fielder Rusty Ryal dropped a routine fly ball that would have been the third out. The Reds then scored five unearned runs - the mark of a champion. Laynce Nix and Joey Votto (seven-game hitting streak) each produced two-run hits.
SO THE REDS are 3-0 on this crucial nine-game west coast trip, with three this weekend in Los Angeles, where in recent seasons the Reds would have been better off painting the Hollywood sign than showing up at Dodger Stadium. They’ve lost 12 straight in Chavez Ravine.
But the Dodgers are a major disappointment this season, far down in the NL West standings and there is no reason why the Reds can’t sweep through Tinseltown like a movie star’s limousine.
SO THE REDS have won six straight since the three-game fiasco at home against the St. Louis Cardinals and the infamous quotes from Brandon Phillips.
So much for those Phillips comments upsetting the harmony in the clubhouse. And Phillips is on a 53-game streak without an error and he continues to make defensive plays that can be described with words and are so good on videoptape that they seemed staged. Gold Glove. They need to create a new category for him: Platinum Glove.
THE REDS are destined to win the World Series because of new head trainer Paul Lessard. Why?
“I’m working on alphabetical World Series championships rings,” said Lessard. He won his first ring as trainer for the Arizona Diamondbacks (A), then won his second as trainer for the Boston Red Sox (B) and now he is with the Cincinnati Reds (C). If the Reds win it, the Detroit Tigers should make him an offer he can’t refuse.
IT IS A necessity that Arizona has an air-conditioned retractable dome. It was close to 110 degrees all three days in Phoenix, but the games were played in air-cooled comfort.
But they don’t have a heart for the poor baseball beat writers. As soon as games end, the air conditioned is switched off and the press box becomes a sauna as the writers toil at their laptops in soaked shirts and soggy underwear.
Back when the Houston franchise was born in the early 1960s, they were known as the Colt 45s. They played in Colt Stadium, a minor-league park, until the air-conditioned Astrodome was completed.
It was so hot one night that Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati Post & Times Star, a mentor of mine, stripped down to his underwear to cover a game there. That beat the heat, but it didn’t beat the helicopter-sized mosquitoes.
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By Worn Cleat
August 21, 2010 11:55 PM | Link to this
And, Gomes overthrows the cutoff man ‘again’, this time vs the Dodgers in the 5th. No hit/no arm but he’s still in the lineup. Absolutely no reason at all to bash Dusty! Right.
By Bud Wizer
August 21, 2010 11:20 AM | Link to this
Where is Heisey in center? Rehire Dickerson. Still the best center fielder we don’t have.Bad trade.
By KC Bill
August 21, 2010 10:21 AM | Link to this
Reds are 7-3 since acquiring Jim Edmunds two weeks ago. Arizona’s bullpen helped, but more maturity in the locker room hasn’t hurt. Wonder how many of these pieces were Wayne Krivsky acquisitions?
By Bud Wizer
August 21, 2010 12:53 AM | Link to this
Where is Heisey in center? Rehire Dickerson. Still the best center fielder we don’t have.Bad trade.
By Worn Cleat
August 21, 2010 12:48 AM | Link to this
Great pitching tonight from Homer Bailey. Come on Reds get some runs.
By Pat Monahan
August 21, 2010 12:27 AM | Link to this
The first game it was raining outside. Not a big dome fan, but it’s a must here in the Valley of the Sun.
By Cousin of Complain
August 21, 2010 12:19 AM | Link to this
Blog cop Kyle, you really have no idea what you are talking about; and on top of that you are really ignorant about the difference between complaint and knowledge. Please play closer attention.
By Son of Complain
August 21, 2010 12:12 AM | Link to this
You people listen up:Blog cop Kyle has spoken,like he never complains on this blog…hypocrite!
By Kyle
August 20, 2010 8:43 PM | Link to this
And here I thought this was a Reds’ blog. It’s not been co-opted as a political forum. What this really says about many of you is that you’re essentially negative people. You secretly loved it when the Reds were down and out because it allowed you to whine and complain. Now that the Reds are 3 1/2 up in August, you really don’t know what to do with yourselves. You know your anti-Dusty chant rings hollow at 18 games above 500. You hope the Reds take a dive so you can be proven right. Regardless of your reasons, your constantly negative act is getting very old.
By jbabs08
August 20, 2010 7:21 PM | Link to this
Keep whining all of you Dusty bashers while the rest of us enjoy the best Reds season in 20 years.
By jimT
August 20, 2010 2:47 PM | Link to this
GEorge, I will post as long and as often as I want. If you don’t like my post don’t read them.
By jimT
August 20, 2010 2:47 PM | Link to this
GEorge, I will post as long and as often as I want. If you don’t like my post don’t read them.
By Larry
August 20, 2010 1:36 PM | Link to this
Great post as always, Hal—but did you really have to finish it by leaving us with imagining an almost-naked Earl Lawson at his typewriter? Gonna take me a while to get THAT out of my head… .
By General Eisenhower
August 20, 2010 1:30 PM | Link to this
I guess JimT wants our hearts to melt because HE was in the military for twenty years. Is that supposed to signal great intelligence? He probably thinks armies are still needed, instead of special ops, to fight Bush’s ‘Mission Accomplished’.
By Believe It
August 20, 2010 1:16 PM | Link to this
Baker’s contract offer can’t be all that great, since he is still “mulling it over”…
By Bud Wizer
August 20, 2010 1:09 PM | Link to this
As has often been pointed out on this blog, the Reds are winning in spite of Dusty Baker’s decisions. Why is that so difficult for Dusty lovers to comprehend?
By Steve F
August 20, 2010 1:06 PM | Link to this
Hal, Like Scott Rolen I think Jim Edmonds has had an impact on the younger players especially Jay Bruce.
By George
August 20, 2010 1:02 PM | Link to this
JimT: You NEVER respect other opinions that disagree with Baker or yourself! Take your act elsewhere. This is a blog. If you’d read more,and talk your opinions less, you might remember what blogs are about.
By Bill
August 20, 2010 12:55 PM | Link to this
“Your theory is they could be better”-BINGO! Never let it be said that JimT can’t be led to water. “They both did bad jobs”-BINGO again! Smart. I’m tellin’ ya, the guy is sharp! Except for one thing…I cannot be applying for jobs with the Reds, because I have too much fun correcting all of your know-it-all mistakes.
By jim T
August 20, 2010 12:39 PM | Link to this
Bill, I am old. Actually, old enough to have served my country for 20 years as I am retired Military. While I certainly respect the fact that you have a right to your opinion I can’t understand how former politians relate to Dusty managing the reds.If your comparison is they both did bad jobs I’m still confused because Dusty is leading the reds to a division crown. Now you may disagree with his methods but the results are very clearly there.I guess your theory is they could be better. I might suggest applying for a job in the reds front office. You surely will be given consideration if you can improve on this very successful season.Let me know how it goes.
By Bill
August 20, 2010 12:20 PM | Link to this
JimT should be old enough to understand that a lot of people hold even higher office in this world, than Rusty Dusty, and they don’t deserve to be there anymore than Baker does—as in George W. Bush and Darth Vader{alias ‘shooter’}Cheney; or Alaska’s illiterate former Governor!
By Bruce
August 20, 2010 12:07 PM | Link to this
Supposedly, Heisey didn’t play last night because he is hitting .161 vs left handers and .400+ against right handers. What a bunch of hog wash that is, to make decisions on who plays and who doesn’t. I notice no mention is made of who the LH pitchers were/when he faced them,etc!!! And what, pray tell, has Stubbs and Bruce been hitting against others to allow them to stay inserted??? Bakerisms and JimTisms are often misleading and way off the mark.
By Bud Wizer
August 20, 2010 11:47 AM | Link to this
Hey Mark: Chris Dickerson told Bruce and Stubbs that when they swing, they are supposed to hit, that which they are swinging at. We really didn’t need to trade for someone else to tell them that again. Oh and Hal:I noticed you didn’t talk about all of the games when Baker didn’t play Heisey and others, that Stubbs and Bruce failed in the lineup! You’d write anything to get Dusty a new contract! Reds have won in spite of him! He got lucky last night.
By bob
August 20, 2010 11:46 AM | Link to this
Tim, not a bad idea doubling up on Leake and Wood in same game. Beats Edison option. Oh, why did Wayne trade Josh? You win when things are going your way, like 5 UE runs that saves the loss. We still have to get through the bad times; like hitting line drives right at somesome, or 13 shutouts. If we can survive LA and SanFran, look out.
By Florida Buckeye
August 20, 2010 11:25 AM | Link to this
Jetelo, your math is correct, however; the Cards have a game that needs to be made up with the Marlins…Other than that: I hope the Reds can keep up their red-hot play and go 4-2 or better over the next two series…Go Reds!
By Mark
August 20, 2010 11:02 AM | Link to this
On a side note, I wonder if it’s any coincidence that Jay Bruce is hitting .379 and Drew Stubbs is hitting .308, since Jim Edmonds joined the club? I’ve seen both of them talking with Edmonds…it’s gotta be a huge bonus to have a respected vet like Edmonds around.
By George
August 20, 2010 10:59 AM | Link to this
Oops. Now it’s my turn. “minutiae”. Spell check wouldn’t hurt either.
By George
August 20, 2010 10:51 AM | Link to this
LOL - isn’t nice to know your readers pay so much attention to minutae; at least we read and care. Keep up the good work and you are spot on about Dusty, the team, etc., etc. How about the Cards picking up Pedro Feliz? Strikes fear into the hearts of the rest of the NL Central, eh? A career underachiever now on a team which (as a team) has underacheived except for one small series in Cincy.
By Hal McCoy
August 20, 2010 10:23 AM | Link to this
To all my geography instructors: Thanks much. I’ve been to both Sonoma and the Sonaran Desert, so I DO know the difference, but when it is 2 a.m. after getting three hours sleep because the new puppies get up at 6 a.m., I’m a bit bleary-eyed when I write my post-game reports. I changed the headline. Thanks for pointing it out and forgive me my trespasses.
By Jason
August 20, 2010 10:17 AM | Link to this
I find it funny that the same people who were bashing Dusty for sticking with guys who are performing dismal now think he is a genius for doing it. Credit goes to the players IMHO not Dusty. Dusty is just lucky that the guys he has now can rise to the occasion. It just goes to show you that winning causes short memory and cures all ills. I’m still no fan of Dusty Baker. His situational decision making is still questionable. Credit goes to Jocketty in bringing in the right guys to create the right atmosphere for winning and resiliency.
By jim T
August 20, 2010 9:57 AM | Link to this
Hal, nice article. Your right on target with your comments on Dusty.Dusty takes a lot of flack from people who think they know baseball and have never been a ML manager let alone a successful one.He is raked over the coals daily, all the while giving his critics the best season they have had in 9 years.You also never hear Dusty respond to these critics. He lets his record speak for itself.Its very apparent the team has his back.They recognize Dusty is a true professional with a tremnedous amount of class and they are lucky to have him. Dusty, I for one am grateful for your efforts.Haven’t had this much fun following the reds in years. Thank You and I hope you return.You deserve the opportunity.
By zeke
August 20, 2010 9:55 AM | Link to this
Actually, Hannigan, in half the AB, has only 10 less RBI’s than Ramon. Both are very good hitters for part time players at the C-spot.
By Steve M.
August 20, 2010 9:36 AM | Link to this
I think the kid has a ways to go before I’d rank him above Kerry Wood, but let’s hope he gets there. I suppose it’s a measure of how bad Johnny Gomes has been lately that you’d use a one-hit night as vindication for his being in the lineup. Heisey should be playing regularly.
By jim T
August 20, 2010 9:29 AM | Link to this
Dusty lets try not to over react. Both Bray and Smith been on good runs. The last outing by bray and the last few by Smith have been bad. Do you think they should come in and throw 0’s everytime? History tells me it won’t happen.Both guys have given this team a lift. When Daniel Ray couldn’t get my sister out and Owings was pitching himself to unemployment status Smith and Bray gave us quite a few good innings. 162 game season lets keep things in perspective.
By WillBill
August 20, 2010 9:01 AM | Link to this
Here it is late August and the Reds are red hot! Who would have thunk it in April?Go Reds!!!Dusty-MGR of the year??
By florence ky
August 20, 2010 8:56 AM | Link to this
Dusty for manager of the year. Mediocre everyday talent and solid pitching. The coaching staff is outstanding Berry, Hatcher, Price, JJacoby, and Speier. Outstanding job. Hernandez is a MUCH better hitter then Hanigan. A RBI machine.
By Dusty
August 20, 2010 8:39 AM | Link to this
Hal, the problem with L.A. is Disneyland. Every trip, two or three players get on the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups ride and come off with twisted necks. It can’t be avoided. I nominate Bill Bray and Jordan Smith this trip - keeping them out of the games should mean fewer runs given up in late innings.
By George
August 20, 2010 8:20 AM | Link to this
Hal knows baseball, but once again he needs a geography lesson. He was baffled why Aroldis Chapman did not have a Spanish surname even though his family originally came from Jamaica and needed to be shown that while Cuba was settled by Spain, Jamaica was settled by the British. Anyway, I think he means the Sonoran Desert in Arizona; not the Sonoma wine region of northern California. A little fact checking wouldn’t hurt, even for the title of a blog.
By Cowboy
August 20, 2010 8:13 AM | Link to this
Oh, billy, billy, billy…a 3 game sweep without having to see Coocoo Cordero. Doesn’t get much better. Aaron Harang - please stay away.
By tim
August 20, 2010 7:41 AM | Link to this
Have the Reds considered using Leake and Wood and a “two-headed starter”, ie starting Leake and having him go 4 innings, then inserting Wood and having him pitch 4. In 5 days do the same but reverse the order, or choose order by matchups of the team being played. This would conserve innings but keep them consistent and sharp. Also, it may keep them from getting hit so hard the third time through the batting order, which has been happening. It may satisfy the need to keep a long in guy in relief as well.
By Mike-Cinci
August 20, 2010 7:22 AM | Link to this
jetelo, the Cardinals have a make-up game with the Marlins due to a rainout that has not been re-scheduled yet.
By Bill
August 20, 2010 7:07 AM | Link to this
These Reds were able to handle Roy Oswald this year. Maybe these Reds will have the same success with the men in Dodger Blue. Just as long as the Dodgers don’t paint “Cardinals” on their chest…
By jetelo
August 20, 2010 6:58 AM | Link to this
Seems like the Cardinals are always having days off, and now they have played 3 games less than the Reds. Looking over their schedule, they have 43 games left, and have played 118. Am I missing something? That adds up to 161. They have 12 left in August, 28 in September with 2 days off, and 3 in October. The Reds have 11 games and 1 off in August, 27 and 3 in September, and 3 in October. Do they have a scheduled doubleheader I missed?
By steven ross
August 20, 2010 6:45 AM | Link to this
Hal, are we sipping big-boy sodas in the Man Cave? That would be Sonoran Desert. I live near Sonoma and nearly spit out my coffee seeing the headline Sonoma Desert! Global Warming is here!!! Yes, Heisey should have been in the lineup but Dusty always buries somebody. On to LA.
By ohdave
August 20, 2010 6:06 AM | Link to this
I don’t get the Dusty detractors. How can you argue with success? One thing he seems to do well is show confidence in young players and has extraordinary patience with them, even when it isn’t deserved (Cory Patterson). That has been great for guys like Bruce who is now back up to a semi respectable 260 BA… And Heise and Stubbs are stars in the making. I predict Edmonds and Heise in the lineup vs. the Dodgers Friday.
By WhatDoUKnow
August 20, 2010 2:53 AM | Link to this
Sonoran Desert it shall be. The largest city in the Sonoran Desert is Phoenix, Arizona with a metro of 4.6 million.
By pgraham5870
August 20, 2010 1:52 AM | Link to this
Sonoma Desert? They grow grapes in Sonoma. Sonora Desert? That’s where the Coyote used his Acme arsenal against the Road Runner. Meep-meep!!
By pgraham5870
August 20, 2010 1:51 AM | Link to this
Sonoma Desert? They grow grapes in Sonoma. Sonora Desert? That’s where the Coyote used his Acme arsenal against the Road Runner. Meep-meep!!
By mamapo
August 20, 2010 1:40 AM | Link to this
So nice to have these late games worth watching! Actually nice to have the whole season worth watching. They keep this up, they’ll be the “Big Road Machine.” They seem to like playing on the road this year.
By mary ann
August 20, 2010 1:09 AM | Link to this
Ramon is on fire at the plate. I’d like to see him catch Homer tomorrow. Nice to see Bruce come out of his slump. Go reds!
By Jake
August 20, 2010 12:58 AM | Link to this
it seems majority prefer hanigan; but, i dont care who is back there. considering handling the staff/calling a game, wOBA, and defense, i consider our duo pretty much equal in overall talent. fans shouldn’t pick one, just know the reds will get solid play, no matter who is back there