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Give me a (All-Star) break

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, July 13, 2008, 12:21 PM

Aruba, Jamaica, it’s where I wanna take ya.

Well, not all of you. I’d take some - but it is a week without baseball and nothing around the pool but cola and lemonade. Rum? Maybe a touch.

So today is it. Last post for a week. I’m leaving it in your hands. Be nice. Treat each other with respect. Give your opinions and respect others. And I’m still hearing moans about Griffey batting third.

Quit wasting breath and finger muscles typing it. It isn’t going to change.

Now, I can’t believe none of you astute observers have wondered the last two days why Jared Burton hasn’t pitched. They’ve kept it nicely under cover, hoping the Milwaukee Brewers wouldn’t notice.

Burton isn’t available. He’s hurt. How bad? Check back after the All-Star break.

It happened last week when he was pitching against the Nationals and a dispute broke out on the field. While the umpires and the Reds argued, Burton stood and watched. Didn’t throw any practice pitches.

When the on-field discussions ended, Burton threw a pitch and, “Ow.” Something under his armpit hurt. He tried to pitch in Chicago, but couldn’t extend, so he was shut down.

“With three days of rest here (in Milwaukee) and three days during the All-Star break, that gives him plenty of rest,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We’ll have him throw Thursday and see if he is OK or if we have to disable him and get help from Louisville.”

SPEAKING OF THE All-Star break, Baker isn’t wandering far from Milwaukee. He plans to go fishing on Sturgeon Bay in Dorr County, Wisconsin.

“Maybe I’ll run into Brett Favre,” said Baker. “Never met him, don’t know him, but he has always been one of my favorite quarterbacks.”

Baker also plans a visit to Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, where he’ll admire the ghost of Vince Lombardi, one of his all-time favorite sports figures.

“I’ll walleye fish on Monday, smallmouth on Tuesday, drive to Green Bay on Wednesday and check out Lambeau,” he said. “Vince is one of my favorite coaches and favorite people. I might go there and get some of that old Packer spirit of winning - put it in a glass or a cup and bring it back here. I’m psyched. Got my camera ready.”

FIRST, THOUGH, there was the matter of meeting the Brewers and C.C. Sabathia Sunday. The lineup was stacked with as many righthanders as Baker could find, with Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Bruce taking a seat.

“Big game today,” he said. “A two-under .500 or or a four-under .500 day. We can start the second half two under or four under. And we have the ultimate challenge in C.C.

“I don’t have many lefthanders in there,” Baker added. “Lefthanders might get C.C., but chances aren’t that good. Giving Junior the day off, even though he has hit C.C. pretty good.

“C.C. and Dunn are buddies, so we’ll see who gets bragging rights right there,” Baker added. “Brandon Phillips and C.C. were teammates (in Cleveland), so there’s bragging rights challenge. Corey Patterson has hit him pretty good, although he hasn’t hit much lately.”

So why is Patterson playing?

“I figure if we’re going to beat him, it will be a low-scoring game and we have to have some good defense in there,” Baker explained.

Aruba, Jamaica, that’s where I wanna take ya. See ya all in a week.

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Hairston finds a haven

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, July 12, 2008, 11:29 PM

Jerry Hairston Jr. is not only a catalyst, he is a catalytic converter and what he does for the Cincinnati Reds is cataclysmic.

Number sometimes lie, can be construed any way the interpreter wants, but Hairston’s are dead, solid platinum.

He had four hits and scored three runs in Miller Park Friday to help the Reds bury the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-2, lifting Edinson Volquez to his 12th victory.

And Adam Dunn contributed the heavy lumber with a pair of homers and four RBIs.

How important is Hairston?

When he plays shortstop the team is 20-10. When he bats leadoff the team is 18-13. When he bats sixth the team is 3-0. When he plays center field the team is 8-2. Right field? 2-0.

“Keep that center field, right field and batting sixth stuff under wraps,” said Hairston with a laugh. He prefers shortstop and leadoff — two spots he should be every day, every night, every game.

But it doesn’t matter where he plays or where he bats, his presence is majestic.

“You think one guy doesn’t make a difference?” said manager Dusty Baker. “They tried to tell me that in Chicago when we lost Derrek Lee. I know better.”

Hairston was sitting at home mid-spring, hoping for a job, when the Reds came calling and now he is hitting .344 with a .392 on-base average.

“Best I’ve played since 2003, right before I got hurt,” he said. “I really felt like I was turning the corner but I had a foot injury and when I came back I was like 4 for 50 or 4 for 70. I shouldn’t have come back.”

Volquez is 12-3 as he heads for the All-Star game and owns more confidence than any 25-year-old deserves to have. How confident? He is making predictions now.

“After I warmed up, I told Edwin Encarnacion, ‘I’m going to win this game. I’m going to have a very good game because I have great stuff.’”

Volquez said Encarnacion looked at him as if he were el loco. Then he added to the legend in the first inning with All-Star Ryan Braun batting.

“I told Edwin I was going to strike him out,” said Volquez. “Edwin told me, ‘You’re crazy, man,’ then I struck him out.”

Said Hairston of Volquez, “He is a tremendous pitcher with tremendous stuff. To think he is only 25. We are confident that we’re going to win when he pitches.”

Volquez went seven innings, giving up two runs, one earned, and six hits over seven innings, striking out 10, lowering his ERA to 2.29.

“I only told Edwin, nobody else, I was going to have a great night,” said Volquez. “All my pitches are going to be there and he was laughing at me.”

And Dunn is on one of his terror tantrums — five homers in six games.

When a writer asked about it, Dunn said, “You obviously are from Milwaukee? Yeah. You don’t see me often, dude. I got into these ruts where I take pitches that I should be hitting and swing at ones I shouldn’t.

“Right now I’m in one of those things that is just the opposite — I swing at pitches that I should be swinging at, seeing the ball good, and getting good results. I’m seeing it good and just swinging it,” Dunn added.

Seth McClung vs. Edinson Volquez seemed a monumental mismatch and it appeared to be just that in the first inning.

Hairston led the game with a single, Ken Griffey Jr. walked on a full count and Dunn propelled his 25th home run over the right field wall.

Quicker than you can say Bernie Brewer, the Reds were in front, 3-0.

Stayed that way, too, until the fourth when Hairston booted Braun’s grounder for an error and Prince Fielder launched a stand-and-watch (which he did) home run to left field, cutting Volquez’s margin to 3-2.

Volquez gave up three singles in the fifth, including a leadoff hit to McClung, breaking a streak of 0 for 38 by Milwaukee pitchers.

That forced Volquez to face Fielder, this time with the bases loaded. After he jumped ahead 2-and-0, Fielder rolled a weak grounder to second and the Brewers didn’t score.

“A change-up,” said Volquez. “My change-up hasn’t been there for three or four starts, but it was the best it has been in a long time.”

The Reds went feeble after the first, getting one hit off McClung in 5 2/3 innings after Dunn’s homer.

They broke through for a run against the Brewers bullpen in the eighth after Hairston led with a double, his third hit. With two outs and a 3-and-2 count, Griffey rolled a run-scoring single to right to make it 4-2.

Dunn’s second homer, his 26th, led the ninth against Eric Gagne, then Encarnacion pumped his 15th homer over the left field fence on an 0-2 pitch, pushing the cushion to four runs.

It didn’t stop there because Corey Patterson’s single, Hairston’s fourth-hit double and Jay Bruce’s two-run single made it 8-2.

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Day-dreamin’ and night-schemin’

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, July 12, 2008, 07:14 PM

Cease, Halt, Stop, Quit.

C’mon, guys. Act like adults. Let’s don’t get personal on this blog. Name-calling is so beneath you. I like to think my readers are intelligent - and most of you are. The few that snipe at each other irritate everybody else.

We don’t want to read it. We don’t want to hear it. State your cases without aiming it personally at somebody. We all have our opinions and we’re all entitled to it.

Aruba in two days.

Personally, I’m tired of reading about taking Ken Griffey Jr. out of third in the batting order, the 3-hole. Whatever. We all know he isn’t what he once was. We all know he isn’t as productive as he once was. We all know he should be moved in the order.

But it isn’t going to happen. Not now, probably not the rest of the year. Dusty Baker puts him there and keeps him there. Right or wrong, that’s the way it is and screaming and hollering at each other isn’t going to change it. It’s a dead issue.

Move on.

Aruba in two days.

THEY CAME to their senses - well, the official scorer did. He changed his call from Friday night. Instead of an error on center fielder Mike Cameron, he gave Cincinnati’s Jerry Hairston Jr. a triple and an RBI.

Cameron lost the ball in the lights.

Aruba in two days.

HE WON’T HAVE to make a scoring change from what happened in the first inning Saturday night. Adam Dunn drove a two-out three-run home run off RHP Seth McClung. That’s 26 homers and 57 RBIs.

And it gives Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez a 3-0. Only once in his 18 starts has he given up more than three runs.

Aruba in two days.

IF I WORKED in Milwaukee and covered the Brewers I’d weigh 350 pounds. They have hot dogs, bratwurst, polish sausages, milkshakes, ice cream and all the soda pop you can drink behind the press box. You pay $8 when you walk in the door, then load up, baby, load up.

Aruba in two days.

VOLQUEZ GAVE up two hits in the bottom of the first, but struck out two and got a generous call at first base by umpire Bob Davidson on a ground ball by Corey Hart. I swear he was safe, then the replay showed they nipped him. Once again, the umpire is 99 44/100th’s per cent correct.

Aruba in two days.

MY MAN Jerry Hairston Jr. just disappointed me.

I just got off the air with Marty Brennaman and we talked about how the Reds are 7-and and have won six straight with Hairston batting first and Jeff Keppinger second.

Hairston then singled, his second straight hit. The guy HAS to be in the lineup every day. Somewhere. He is having a career year, plus he shows some fire in his belly and he is a pleasant always smiling presence in the clubhouse.

Then he tried to steal second base as Jay Bruce struck out. He stopped halfway and was caught. Instead of getting into a hot box - a pickle, as kids call it - he gave himself up, let himself be tagged, instead of running back and forth, forcing some throws. One of them might have been a bad throw.

That’s the kind of stuff that constantly bothers me with this team and I had hoped Hairston was above.

Aruba in two days.

MAYBE I should have kept my yap shut about Hairston. He just booted a ground ball for an error and Prince Fielder blasted his 18th home run to cut Volquez’s lead to 3-2. Milwaukee has hit at least one home run in 12 straight games.

Have I told you I’m going to Aruba???

THE BREWERS filled the bases in the fifth because McClung opened the inning with a single, ending a 0 for 38 streak by Brewers pitchers. With two out and two on, Edwin Encarnacion fielded a ground ball behind third and couldn’t decided whether to throw to first or run to third for the force. He chose the run to third and stumbled, failing to get there.

That, yikes, loaded the bases, yikes, for Prince Fielder, yikes. Volquez went to 2-and-0 on him, then the anxious Fielder grounder weakly and meekly to second, leaving it 3-2.

Griffey one-hopped the wall in right leading off the sixth. What did I say about umpires? Davidson called it far and Griffey was perched on second. First baseman Fielder and right fielder Hart protest vehemently, the umpires huddled, foul ball. Griffey then sturck out.

AH, THE SAUSAGE race. Back when the Brewers were a team like the Reds, consistent losers, the sausage race drew more cheers than anything in the game. Still draws big cheers. I bet on Polish. Hot dog won. I’m oh-for-Milwaukee.

Bet I win in Aruba. Not.

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Fogg-Keppinger 1-2 = 7-1

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, July 12, 2008, 05:24 PM

Something to ponder:

Since Jerry Hairston Jr. came off the disabled list, when he leads off and Jeff Keppinger bats second, the Cincinnati Reds are 6-0. Before that, they were 1-1.

So for the season, with those two batting 1-2, the Reds are 7-1.

“That’s a pretty good winning percentage right there,” said Hairston. Yeah, like about .875, which will win a pennant every year until the Apocolypse.

Nevertheless, on Saturday it was Keppinger’s turn to be the DS (designated sitter). Hairston was at shortstop and Edwin Encarnacion at third.

“Keppinger will be back in there tomorrow, said manager Dusty Baker. “C.C. (Sabathia) is a monster against lefthanders. Hey, he is a monster against righthanders, too, but he is really a monster against lefthanders, so I’ll stack my lineup with righthanders tomorrow.

As far as righthanders go, it won’t be a very high stack.

Keppinger is hitting right now - 13-61 (.213) since he came off the DL, but is what is important is the W-L work sheet?

WHEN PLAYERS arrived in the clubhouse Saturday there was a sheet of paper hanging on every locker. On it was a family photo of Jeremy Affeldt and his family from a magazine and there was a quote from Affeldt highlighted:

“Throwing a fastball over 100 miles an hour over and over and over puts a real strain on my arm.”

A hundred miles an hour?

“That was when I threw 98,” Affeldt said in self-defense.

Said catcher Javier Valentin, “Yeah, 98 in the dirt, then 98 over somebody’s head, then 98 three feet outside. What good does that do?”

MUCH WAS MADE of the error charged to Milwaukee’s Mike Cameron Friday when he obviously lost Hairstron’s ball in the lights and the game-tying run scored.

Everybody but the official scorer thought it should have been a hit, which is usually what is called when a ball is lost in the lights and the player doesn’t touch it.

Said Cameron, “I’d like to take the official scorer out on the field and hit him a bunch of fly balls in those lights and see how many balls he catches. I had two choices - duck away at the last minute or keep my head up and get hit in the face.”

Baker thought Hairston should get a hit.

“I knew right away what happened,” said Baker. “He lost it in the lights. Don’t they usually score that a hit?”

Ken Griffey Jr. appeared to lose two balls in the light - one he caught and they other whizzed over his head for a run-scoring double by Casey Hart.

“This park has more little nuances for a center field to consider and battle than any park I’ve played in,” said Cameron, one of the players the Reds sent to Seattle for Griffey.

Milwaukee manager Ned Yost was talking about his Brewers, but he could have been talking about the Reds, too, when he said, “The All-Star break is like a milestone. You go strong uphill from there or you go strong downhill from there.”

Baker rolled out something he said earlier about the approaching break:

“This game tonight is big, really big. We have to play hard through tomorrow. As I said before, this is like a basketball game - we need to hit a three-pointer, steal the inbounds pass and hit another three-point and run to the lockerroom at halftime (the All-Star break), then come back smokin’ and catch (the New York Mets) when they’re easing back into things.”

Let’s hope nobody gets called for an offensive foul.

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Coming out of the Fog(g)

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, July 12, 2008, 02:25 AM

The sea gulls outside my hotel window are raising a ruckus. Sea gulls? In downtown Milwaukee? Makes me feel as if I’m in San Diego.

And the game tonight made me feel as if I am in San Diego. The Milwaukee Brewers played like the Padres - three errors, giving up a run without giving up a hit in one inning, an error by center fielder Mike Cameron (he lost it in the lights) gave up the tying run and a wild pitch let in the winning run.

The Milwaukee Padres?

Hey, the Cincinnati Reds take any charity given these days, including victories gift-wrapped in blue and gold ribbon.

There was something noteworthy in this game.

I liked the way Josh Fogg pitched. When he filled in last Saturday for Aaron Harang, he shut down the Washington Nationals. That was a big ho-hum. Eric Milton could shut down the Washington Nationals.

And did you hear the New York Yankees are interested in signing Milton? Man, the Bronx Bombers are desperate. But then maybe Milton is another Ryan Dempster or Kyle Lohse. Take him out of a Cincinnati uniform and he might become a lefthanded Bob Gibson.

On Friday, Fogg was facing The Big, Bad Brewers in their own playpen, a lineup of big-time hitters.

Fogg gave up a home run in the first, then nothing more. No more hits for 5 1/3 innings. That was enlightening.

Maybe the Reds have found their No. 5 starter. Maybe they should keep him. It certainly doesn’t cost much.

I was as dubious as anybody else when he went 1-2 with a 13.09 ERA in his first three starts, then was banished to the bullpen to collect rust.

He made note of that after Friday’s game - he was only given three starts. Homer Bailey was given three starts before he was dispatched back to Louisville. Daryl Thompson was given only three starts before he was re-routed back to Louisville.

Maybe the Reds are rushing to judgment on some of these guys. And maybe not. But here is what Fogg said and it carries some merit.

It was Fogg’s second straight solid start since spending an inordinate amount of time on the disabled list with a back that recovered long before he was permitted to come back.

He made five rehab starts in the minors to prove his back strong enough for the rigors of the majors and has made the most of it.

He made three starts earlier this season and was 1-2 with a 13.09 ERA, then handed a hall pass to the bullpen, where he wasn’t used much.

In his last two starts he has pitched 11 1/3 innings, giving up four runs and seven hits.

“The key to my success is I’ve been getting ahead of hitters,” said Fogg. “If I’m falling behind, it’s going to be a long night.

“I didn’t get in the groove early-on, didn’t have enough starts to get in the groove,” he said. “I got taken out after three starts and didn’t have a role in the bullpen and wasn’t really utilized.

“To be able to go down and get those five starts in the minors on rehab was big for me. I got my command back and got in my groove on the mound,” he said.

In other words, Fogg is not longer in a fog.

Unlike me and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, trying to find our way around Milwaukee’s five years of construction-destruction.

They are re-doing the interstate interchanges downtown and, frankly, you can’t get nowhere from here. Even a cab driver told me, “The traffic pattern changes every day. They close different streets every day. You just can’t find your way around.”

Sheldon and I discovered that Friday trying to get from Miller Park to downtown. We wandered through some seedy parts of town before we found our way.

We finally did. Maybe Fogg has, too.

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Call him Bad Luck Bailey

By Hal McCoy | Friday, July 11, 2008, 06:19 PM

Homer Bailey says he is not a gambler, but when he arrived in Milwaukee early Thursday he went to the Potawatami Casino, close to downtown, for some entertainment and the removal of $200 from his wallet.

“It just shows I still have bad luck,” he said with a laugh.

What irritated him, a smiling irritation, was that he watched Milwaukee All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun walk up to the roulette table and place one $25 chip on ‘8.’

“That’s it. One bet. Twenty-five bucks on ‘8,’” said Bailey. “What happens? It hits. More than $800 for him. I never have that kind of luck. I’m donating money.”

What brought it up was that Bailey was talking about his luck, the lack thereof this season both at Class AAA Louisville and with the Reds.

I didn’t even get the question out, but he knew what I was going to say when I started my question with, “I know numbers are not that important in the minors, but how frustrating is it…”

I never finished.

“Very,” he said. “It is frustrating.”

I was going to ask him about the frustration of not winning a game in either the minors or the major since April 27. He knew the question.

“You are out there and you are throwing better than you have in a long, long time and there is a broken bat hit here, a missed communication there and you’re getting ‘Ls’ even though you’re feeling better than you ever have,” said Bailey. “You start questioning yourself.”

Bailey was in the clubhouse Friday, two days before he faces C.C. Sabathia Sunday afternoon and he appreciates that the Reds brought him in early this time.

“Last time they called me up it was a day game in Philadelphia and I got in at 1 that morning,” he said. “It’s much better this time and this way.”

When it was mentioned about his matchup, he laughed and said, “Oh, yeah. Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter.”

During spring training, every time it was Bailey’s turn to pitch it was against the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox.

For those screaming for the head of pitching coach Dick Pole on top of a base, Bailey is crediting him with a major turnaround.

“I’ve thrown a lot better since I went back,” he said. “I’ve cut down on walks and I’ve had more strikeouts,” he said. “I’m feeling a lot better about the way I’m throwing.”

And his velocity is up.

“Before I went down I worked on a few things with Dick Pole and that has a lot to do with it,” he said. “My off-speed pitches have been better, too. Dick and I worked on my balance and if you’re in balance I guess everything gets a little better.”

The last time Bailey pitched, he threw 82 pitches in six innings - an economical outing, but his bad luck persisted.

“I had a lot of bad luck the last inning, then I got pulled for a pinch-hitter because we were playing a National League team (No DH). We were down by one and it was my turn to bat so I was pulled for a pinch-hitter and I hadn’t even gotten loose yet.”

His luck certainly didn’t change when he drew Sabathia.

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Strain for Harang, off to DL

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, July 10, 2008, 05:38 PM

They held the news until the last pitch of Thursday’s game, but at least it was semi-good news.

The MRI on Aaron Harang’s sore right forearm came back negative and was diagnosed as a strain. He will be re-evaluated next week.

But he also will be placed on the disabled list, said general manager Walt Jocketty, who was pleased with the diagnosis.

If he recovers, he can come off the DL, which means he would miss one turn after the All-Star break.

“The MRI was negative, classified as just a strain of the forearm,” said Jocketty. “So that’s good. We’ll shut him down, put him on the disabled list, let him rest. He was told not to throw for a week, but we’re confident he’ll get right back into it.”

Said manager Dusty Baker, “That’s great news on Aaron. This is what the doctor thought. Just a strained muscle. That’s huge news. He was instructed not to pick up a ball for a week. Rest it. Treat it. Work out. Train. And come back smoking.”

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