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By Hal McCoy

There were four two-run home runs crushed Friday night in Citi Field, accounting for eight of the 10 runs in a wild one involving the Cincinnati Reds and New York Mets.

Unfortunately for the Reds and fortunately for the Mets, the Mets had the last one that provided the Mets with a 6-4 walk-off victory.

That one was hit by New York third baseman Mark Vientos and came in the 10th inning off Justin Wilson that walked it off.

It was the second two-run rip by Vientos as the Mets won their eighth straight and ended Cincinnati’s four-game win streak.

It went like this:

—Vientos hit a two-run homer in the first off Reds starter Fernando Cruz. 2-0 Mets

—Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz hit a two-run home run, batting from his weaker right side, off Mets starter Sean Minaea in the third. It was his first home run since August 21 and tied it, 2-2.

And it was the first home run hit off a Mets’ pitcher in six games.

—The Mets didn’t need a home run to score two in the sixth off Brandon Williamson and Buck Farmer. There were two outs and nobody on when Pete Alonso lined one to right.

Jake Fraley made a diving catch near the foul line, but when he hit the ground the ball became dislodged from his glove and Alonso reached second for a double.

Farmer replaced Williams and the Mets stroked three straight singles. Former Red Jose Iglesias batted for former Red Jesse Winker and singled home Alonso. Jose Martinez, 0 for 10, singled home Iglesias. Mets, 4-2.

—Reds center fielder TJ Friedl pulled a two-out, two-run home run off Minaea in the seventh, ending Minaea’s night. Tie game, 4-4.

Minaea entered the game 11-5 with a 3.55 earned run average. He was 3-0 in his previous four starts, giving up nine runs and 12 hits over 27 2/3 innings.

After Minaea departed, three Mets pitchers retired all 10 batters they faced, six via strikeouts.

Besides the two-run homers by De La Cruz and Friedl, the Reds had one other hit, a single by Spencer Steer leading off the second.

And there was an act of Brotherly Love in the ninth innning, baseball variety. The Mets closer is Edwin Diaz and the Reds closer is his brother, Alexis Diaz.

Edwin pitched the top of the ninth and struck out De La Cruz on a 100 miles an hour fastball, struck out Tyler Stephenson and struck out Steer on another 100 miles an hour fastball.

Alexis was not as dominant in the bottom of the ninth, but went 1-2-3 with one strikeout.

Steer, the free runner, never budged from second base in the top of the 10th. Nixing a sacrifice bunt attempt, manager David Bell permitted Ty France to swing away. He was ahead in the count 3-and-0, but Mets’ pitcher Jose Butto got it back to a full count and France grounded to short. Friedl popped to second and Santiago Espinal grounded to short, leaving it at 4-4.

Brandon Nimmo was New York’s free runner in the bottom of the tenth. With first base open, Bell decided not to intentionally walk Vientos to set up a double play, despite his earlier home run and a single.

Perhaps he feared the next batter, Alonso and his 31 home runs. But Alonso has struggled for two seasons against the Reds.

Vientos battled Wilson for eight pitches to a 2-and-2 count, then launched the ninth pitch, a fastball, into the left field seats. 6-4, game over.

The Mets are on a string of 63 straight innings during which they have not been behind in a game.

For the pitch-depleted Reds, it was another Bullpen Day with Cruz starting and pitching only one inning. He struck out three but gave up Vientos’ first two-run homer.

When the Cincinnati Reds have been forced to use a Bullpen Day with a relief pitcher ‘Opener,’ it has not been a banner day.

They are now 2-and-5 on those occasions.

 

 

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave wondering if the New Yorks Mets realize what awaits them in their series against the Cincinnati Reds. Or not.

—PAL JOEY: The first couple of years Joey Votto was with the Reds, he was a complete introvert. Interviewing him was like yanking teeth from a Sabre-Toothed Tiger.

After he won the MVP in 2010, he approached me and said, “Hal, you’ve been around this game a long time. If I ever change, please let me know.”

He changed. Dramatically. But I never said a word because the change was for the good. He became an extrovert, easy to interview and always with direct and incisive answers.

An exhibit was an interview he did this week with Chris Russo, The Mad Dog, on MLB-TV’s ‘High Heat.” He talked about his last days as a baseball player, his days at Class A Dunedin and Class AAA Buffalo in an attempt to make it back to the majors with his hometown Toronto Blue Jays and what led to his sudden retirement.

“I signed with the Blue Jays and hit a home run in my first at bat (at Dunedin) and then dinged my ankle. I stayed in Dunedein for 4 1/2 months and joined Buffalo and I played terrible,” he said.
“I played terrible. . .0 for 4, 0 for 5, two or three strikeouts, making errors at first base.

“I’ve got teammates looking at me and thinking, ‘This guy’s a major-league player, an All-Star?’ I got my poor manager penciling me into the lineup and he is looking at me thinking, ‘This guy doesn’t even belong in my lineup.’

“And you are on minor-league buses and you are in minor-league hotels and I’m looking at the ceiling thinking to myself, ‘What’s next? I can’t do this any more. I’m no good.’”

So he went on social media and announced his retirement, a wise decison. He needed to leave his legacy when he walked out the clubhouse door in Cincinnat for the last time.

And his next stop, a few years from now, is the Baseball Hall of Fame. I believe that.

—A MAGIC NUBER: Elly De La Cruz wears uniform number 44 for the Cincinnati Reds, but on Wednesday against the Houston Astros he should have worn ’61.’

How incredible is this? He began the game hitting .261 with 61 stolen bases, 61 RBI, 61 walks and 61 extra base hits.

And he can probably do all that when he is 61 years old.

—SOME DEBUT: Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux made his major league debut on September 3, 1986.

He had just been called up from Class AAA Wichita, where he was 10-1 with five complete games.

But if you think he made his debut as a pitcher, well, turn in your rosin bag. It was the 17th inning and his Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros were tied, 3-3.

He was sent to second base as a pinch-runner. Yes, a pinch-runner. He didn’t score and then he made his pitching debut in the 18th inning.

There was no hint of a trip to Cooperstown. He gave up a one-out home run to Billy Hatcher and the Cubs lost, 4-3.

Did that get him traded to Atlanta? And would the Reds have won the 1990 World Series without Hatcher’s seven straight hits in the first three games? Hatcher didn’t make the Hall of Fame, but that bat that whacked those seven hits did.

—TEDDY TERRIFIC: It is no shocker that a cerebral player like former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto carried a tattered paperback copy of Ted Williams’ book, ‘The Science of Hitting.”

When I was a kid I despised Ted Williams because he was always beating my Cleveland Indians, lining base hits right through the Lou Boudreau shift that is now outlawed.

Votto, though, had the right man. Votto was an on-base guy and Williams still holds the career on-base percentage record of .482. To go with that, he had a career .344 batting average, 521 home runs, 2021 walks and only 709 strikeouts;

And in the prime of his playing days he spent four years during World War II flying 50 missions as a fighter pilot in the South Pacific.

That made facing American League pitchers a rather easy mission.

—YOU COMPLETE ME: Baseball has changed so much over the years and years and seasons and season, so there are many, many records that won’t ever be broken.

The safest, by far, is the 749 complete games pitched by Cy Young.

Do you have any idea who has the most career complete games still pitching? That would be Houston’s Justin Verlander with 26. And at age 41 he’ll probably retire with 26.

—AS THE CRO’ FLILES: I am reading one of the best baseball books I’ve ever read. It’s called ‘Sluggiing It Out In Japan,’ a tome about American Warren Cromartie’s seasons of playing baseball in Japan.

It is so enlightening about Japanese-style baseball and Cromartie’s many ordeals with the Japanese way of life, on and off the field. It was published in 1991, so might be hard to find. But it’s a fabulous read for any baseball fan.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 89: With these first two I dedicate to my dearly departed canine constant companion, Paige: ‘All Dogs Go To Heaven (Chris Young) and ‘Good Ol’ Dog And God (Pryor & Lee).’ And we all know what dog spelled backward is.

And these tunes are for all us senior/senior citizens, my favorite songs from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Don’t (Elvin Presley), This Magic Moment (The Drifters), Suspicion (Terry Stafford), The Twist (Chubby Checker), 16 Candles (The Crests), Good Golly Miss Molly (Little Richard), Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Elvis Presley).

The Book of Love (The Monotones), I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash), In The Still Of The Night (The Five Satins), Searchin’ (The Coasters), Earth Angel (The Penquins), At The Hop (Danny & The Juniors), Come Go With Me (The Del Vikings),

By Hal McCoy

As one national sportscaster put it: “The Cincinnati Reds have beaten the Houston Astros eight straight times. How does that happen?”

Make it nine straight.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

It happens when rookie pitcher, Rhett Lowder, making his second major league start, throws nothing but zeroes at the Astros.

How does that happen. That’s baseball.

It happens when Ty France provides the game’s only run with a home run to provide a 1-0 Reds victory, their third straight three-game sweep of the Astros.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

It happens when a team makes at least five Gold Glove defensive plays as the Reds did for Lowder.

How does that happen when the Reds score zero runs in Lowder’s first two games over 10 1/3 innings.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

It happens when France makes a first-inning defensive dandy and with his game-winning home run he goes 9 for 11 in the ssries. That’s an .818 average, tying Cy Seymour’s record for a batting average in a series, set 123 years ago.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

The Reds faced Houston starter Hunter Brown, who looked like Hunter Greene on the mound. In his previous three starts he gave up two runs and nine hits over 19 1/3 innings.

And he was just as good Thursday. He held the Reds to no runs and four hits over six innings.

His replacement for the seventh was Bryan Abreu. His seond pitch, a 96 miles an hour fastball to France, landed in the left field seats, 383 feet away from home plate.

France was acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline and while with the Mariners he faced the Astros often.

“I’m seeing the ball well,” said France in a gross understatement during a post-game interview with Bally Sports Ohio. “I have a bunch of games against these guys so I kinda know how they’re gonna attack me.”

Of facing Abreu, France said, “I know his fastball is explosive and he can run it up to 100. I was trying to get on top of the heater. I think on that one (the homer) he mixed in a two-seamer which I hadn’t seen before and I put a pretty good swing on it.”

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

The game began with two above-and-beyond defensive plays by the Reds. To start the game, Jose Altuve scorched one into the shortstop hole. Elly De La Cruz made a diving backhanded stop, scrambled to his feet and unleashed an 86 miles an hour off-balance throw from 10 feet into the outfield grass. And France scooped it out of the soil.

The next batter, Yordan Alvarez lined one between first and scond. First baseman France leaped to his right and made a backhanded snag on which Reds broadcaster John Sadak called, “Air France.”

In the third inning, Jason Heyward rolled one slowly past the mound. Lowder got into the defensive proceedings by picking it up on the run and shoveling a backhanded toss to France.

And in the fifth center fielder TJ Friedl sprinted in to make a sliding catch on a low line drive hit by Chas McCormick. In addition, De La Cruz made a similar roam into short left to interrupt a ball hit by Yanier Diaz and threw himm out.

That’s baseball. Defensive baseball.

“We knew they come out swinging so we knew we had to be on our toes,” said France. “Give Elly a lot of credit. He’s done that all year and it has been fun to watch.”

Lowder was the recipient and beneficiary of all the defensive shenanigans, And manufacutred some get-out-trouble pitching during his 6 1/3 innings of no run and four hits, while walking four and striking out three.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.
.

Lowder was in danger in the second when two Astros reached, with one out, but the defense struck again. De La Cruz started a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Two Astros reached in the fourth with two outs, but Lowder coaxed an inning-ending ground ball from Ben Gamel.

Tony Santillan replaced Lowder in the seventrh with two on and one out. Defense? Yes. An excellent double play started by second baseman Jonathan India. And closer Alexis Diaz closed the deal with a 1-2-3 ninth.

“They are an aggressive team and came out swinging early,” said Lowder. “I tried to use my stuff to get ground balls and get them out early.”

Of the defensive plays, especially on the first two Astros, Lowder laughed and said, “Those were huge. Getting those two guys out when they hit the ball hard and those plays were made, that felt good. Elly saved me a couple of times today.”

Lowder began the year at Class A Dayton, advanced to Class AA Chattanooga and made one start at Triple-A Louisville before, out of necessity because the Reds rotation is depletd, was promoted to the majors.

“I haven’t seen those kind of plays two or three times in the same game, it’s impressive,” he said.

So a team that scored nine runs in the first inning and 12 runs Wednesday in a sloppy 12-5 win, scored one in a practically perfectly played game and wins, 1-0.

How does that happen? That’s baseball.

 

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave on a rare off day for the Reds in the middle of a series, leaving me with nothing to do but duck chores.

—YOU HAD TO BE THERE: Clubhouse capers are rampant, so much so that one might expect to see children’s books and Legos in most MLB clubhouses.

One of the best I witnessed involved one upsmanship after Reds pitcher Scott Scudder took a pair of Norm Charlton’s new cowboy boots, filled ‘em with water and froze ‘em.

The Nasty Boys would have none of that. Charlton, Rob Dibble and Randy Myers slipped into the parking lot, jacked up Scudder’s Range Rover, removed all four wheel and place them on the vehicle’s roof.

Nasty Boys 4 (tires), Scudder 2 (boots).

Other pranks: Pitcher Bert Blyleven arrived early Sunday morning and saw a couple of dozen donuts for the players. He took a bite out of each one.

Whit Merrifield performed a similar deed when he played for Philadephia and was friends with pitcher Zach Wheeler.

Merrifield knew Wheeler’s favorite restaurant, so he had a bucket of chicken from the place delivered to him, took a bite out of every piece and left the bucket and bitten chicken at Wheeler’s locker.

Then there was Doug Rader who, when he played for Houston, took delight in sitting naked on teammate’s birthday cakes.

I wonder — were there lit candles on top?

—FALSIFYING HISTORY: One of the biggest lies ever told was the letter Cincinnati Reds general manager Dick Wagner sent to fans when he fired Sparky Anderson after the 1978 seasons and two straight second place finishes.

The letter, in part: “‘The decision we made was not a hasty one and it was not an easy one. Our ball club won in 1975 and 1976. . .and by that I mean ‘won it all.’ The past two years have been good ones by the standards of most clubs.

“But we are determined to set a higher standard. It is our decision that the move we make is in the overall best interest of making the Cincinnati Reds a better team.

“We feel John McNamara offers strong ability and outstanding major league experience. He is the man to take us in a new direction.”

There is more malarkey in that missive than Heinz has ketchup bottles. Anderson was not a yes man and Wagner was a power glutton.

What really happened is that Wagner ordered Anderson to fire a couple of his coaches and Sparky said, “If you fire them, fire me, too.”

So he did. And the new direction was down, down, down — 101 losses in 1982. In mid-1983, Wagner was dismissed, five years too late.

—THE TONY AWARD: Of all the crazy baseball minutiae, or trivia if you prefer, I find this one incredible.

Four Hall of Fame pitchers: John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez. How many times do you think each of them struck out Tony Gwynn?

***Smoltz struck out 3,084 batters. He struck out Gwynn once.

***Maddux struck out 3,371 batters. He struck out Gwynn zero times. None.

***Glavine struck out 2,607 batteers. He struck out Gwynn twice.

***Martinez struck out 3,154 batters. He struck out Gwynn zero times. None.

So in 330 games, four Hall of Famers struck out 13,216 batters and combined to strike out Gwynn three times.

If there is a more incredible stat than that, tell me what it is. Hint. There can’t be one.

—BOONE-DOGGLE: Yankees manager Aaron Boone asked somebody this question about his major league debut for the Reds on Opening Day in 1997,

“Do you know why Jeff Branson took my place at third base in the middle of the game? I got thrown out, ejected in my major league debut. It was a sign of things to come?”

As manager, Boone has been ejected seven times this season and 51 times during his managerial tenure.

—SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES: Former Montreal Expos outfielder Warren Cromartie played in Japan for the legendary Tokyo Yomiuri Giants and said every player on the team, without exception, was a chain smoker.

“They would light up as soon as they reached the clubhouse and go through an entire pack by game’s end. We’d board the bullet train and everyone on the team, except me, would light up — some 40 players, coaches and other assorted personnel.

“ I had to sit there and suffer,” he said. “Outside, rice paddies were whooshing by at 95 miles an hour and inside I was choking on a haze of smoke.”

What? No cigars.

—FEWER RED FACES: The Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen takes a severe bull-whipping on social media. But here is one I didn’t believe until I checked the list and checked it twice.

The Reds have the fewest blown saves of any team in the majors with 13, even fewer than the Cleveland Guardias and their classic closer Emmanuel Clase. The Cleveland bullpen has 15 blown saves, second fewest.

It’s an Ohio thing.

—AN ‘A’ FOR THE A’s: Don’t know what this proves, if anything, other than statistics mostly are a bunch of numbers.

The Oakland Athletics are 60-78, buried near the bottom of the American League West standings and begging Las Vegas to hurry construction on that stadium.

But when the A’s own a lead after eight innings they are 52-1. Mostly that means they had a big lead after eight, but also they possess a git ‘er done closer in All-Star Mason Miller.

—A REAL LIVE ESPN: The University of Dayton football team has a linebacker named Gideon ESPN Lampron. That’s right, Gideon ESPN Lampron. His real middle name is ESPN.

What’s in a name? Well, Saturday in UD’s opening win over Saint Francis, 18-10, he did this:

Eleven tackles (six solo), forced two fumbles and recovered one, made three tackles for losses, made a tackle for a safety, made a tackle and forced a fumble that led to UD’s first touchdown and his safety tackle made it 9-0.

And he might have kept the Gatorade barrel filled and drove the team bus back to campus blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back.

The 5-foot-11, 215-pound red shirt sophomore was named the FCS National Defensive Player of the Week.

They should change his middle name to Amazon because there isn’t anything he can’t deliver.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 88: Somebody asked why my list only contains songs from the distant past. It’s because I’m 84 and living in the past and current music always sends me station-chasing.

The Great Pretender (The Platters), When I See You Smile (Bad English), Boys Of Fall (Kenny Chesney), If You Leave Me Now (Chicago), Goodbye Time (Conway Twitty), I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight (Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart).

Don’t Bring Me Down (ELO), We’re Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister), Walk Right Back (Everly Brothers), Enter Sandman (Metallica), Two Tickets To Paradise (Eddie Money), Missing You (John Waite), Thunder Struck (AC/DC).

By Hal McCoy

Houston pitcher Justin Verlander is for certain in the fast lane to Cooperstown, but he might want to burn the tape on his Labor Day in Great American Ball Park.

It was not Hall of Fame stuff for him as the Cincinnati Reds handed him and the Houston Astros a 5-3 defeat.

It ended Houston’s six-game winning streak and it was Cincinnati’s first back-to-back wins in 2 1/2 weeks.

The 41-year Verlander, a three-time Cy Young winner and seven-time All-Star, gave an early indication that it wasn’t his day.

For the first time in his illustrious 19-year career he walked the first three batters he faced — Jonathan India and Elly De La Cruz on full counts and Tyler Stephenson on 3-and-1.

TJ Friedl produced a run with a sacrifice fly and Ty France singled home a run, the first of four hits for France.

Before his 4 1/3 innings were over, Verlander had given up a season-high five runs, a season-high eight hits and a season-high four walks.

And during those 4 1/3 innings, Verlander needed a season-high 107 pitches, only 58 for strikes.

Meanwhile, once again and probably for the rest of the season, Reds manager David Bell had to use his pitching staff like a 1,000-piece jig saw puzzle.

Rookie Julian Aguiar started on only three days of rest and provided 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs, two hits and two walks.

Sam Moll pitched 1 1/3 perfect innings, Carson Spiers was in for 2 1/3 and gave up one run, three hits and walked three and Emilio Pagan provided 2 1/3 innings of no runs and one hit.

Bell took a gamble in the ninth with two outs and a runner on third. Due up was Yordan Alvarez, owner of 30 home runs and a .313 batting average.

He is left-handed and represented the tying run, so Bell brought in left-hander Justin Wilson, even though all season Alvavarez has hit left-handers better than right-handers.

It worked, Alvarez lined to center to end it, Cincinnati’s seventh straight win over the first-place Astros (American League West) over the past two seasons.

After the Reds grabbed the 2-0 lead in the first, the Astros tied it in the third, 2-2, when Bell took another chance. This one didn’t work.

With runners on third and second with one out, he ordered Alvarez intentionally walk. The problem was that it brought up Yainer Diaz, owner of MLB’s third best batting average with runners in scoring position (.363).

And he showed how and why, driving a two-run single to center to tie it.

The Reds had two outs and nobody on in the fifth against Verlander, then France singled for his third hit and Jake Fraley singled.

There was a meeting on the mound and with 99 pitches it was expected Verlander would be removed. But he used his credentials to convince manager Joe Espada to leave him in to face Santiago Espinal.

Bad decision. It was a situation Espinal has lived for and flourished in all season. After France and Fraley pulled off a double steal, Espinal blooped a two-run single to right for a 4-2 lead.

Then Verlander was removed. Espinal stole second and scored on a single by Amed Rosario.

Houston pulled within 5-3 in the seventh when Spiers issued a one-out walk to Jose Altuve and a double to Alvarez. He was replaced with Pagan and Altuve scored on Diaz’s sacrifice fly. From there, eight of nine Astros were retired.

The Reds could have made it easier on themselves, but left 14 runners on base, at least one in all eight innings. From the first through the eighth it was two, one, two, two, one, one, three and two.

The day, though, was biggest for France, a frequent positive contributor since the Reds acquired him at the trade deadline from Seattle. His four-hit day was the fourth time in his career he had a four hits in a game.

“This game gets harder by the day and four hits don’t happen every day and when they do they’re fun,” said France during a post-game interview with Bally Sports Ohio.

That France had two hits in two appearances against Verlander was not surprising. He has had career-success against Verlander.

“When you are going up against a guy of his calibre, it brings out the best in you,” said France. “I’ve had a good handful of at bats against him and had some success. He is on his way to the Hall of Fame so any time you get the opportunity to step in the box against a guy like that, you want to take advantage of it.”

France was a lost soul in Seattle, played little, but he is getting regular playing time at first base with the Reds.

“Yeah, it’s been great here,” he said. “These group of guys welcomed me, the environment is incredible, it’s nice playing in a hitter’s park, for sure. Baseball is fun again, it’s been nice.”

By Hal McCoy

Q: When Reds pitcher Hunter Greene was placed on the injured list, was there any doubt his season was over? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: I never though about it that way because after two medical opinions showed no damage to his elbow, the Reds say he’ll be back. My thoughts? Why? Why take a chance? The Reds have zero chance of making the playoffs, so why not shut him down and make sure he is strong and healthy for next season. But the last time the Reds took my advice Abner Doubleday was in kindergarten.

Q: With all the catches over and above fences and the diving catches, are outfielders better than they were in the past? — RICHARD, Brookville.
A: Don’t ask the fans of Willie Mays, Andruw Jones, Roberto Clemente or Stan Musial that question. As Jim Murry once wrote about Mays, “His glove is where triples go to die.” It’s all about gloves. In the game’s early inception, they played barehanded. In the late 1800s some players wore hand-fitting winter gloves to save fingers. Baseball gloves evolved, but they were as flat as flapjacks with no pockets and no webs. In 1957, Rawlings came out with the A-2000, a 13-inch glove with a huge web and flexible fingers to wrap around the ball when it hit the pocket. Nowadays an outfielder could snag a Piper Cub if it flew low enough over the stadium.”

Q: Who were some of the Clubhouse Guys you can recall? — DEAN, Monroe.
A: By Clubhouse Guys, you must mean the leaders, the guys other players respect and follow. And to me it is ultra-important and it is usually a veteran who, as they say, “Has seen it all and done it all.” The best I saw was Scott Rolen, the ultimate professional who did everything right, off-and-on the field. The most intimidating leader, and highly respected, was Greg Vaughn, who would threaten bodily harm to lazy teammates. Ron Oester was a vocal and physical leader whom I once witnessed pounding on the muscular Cesar Cedeno. The Big Red Machine? They all led in different ways, but the most respected was Tony Perez because he was able to control some massive egos while he had none himself.

Q: Which was the worst trade, when the Cincinnati Reds traded Frank Robinson or when the Cleveland Indians traded Rocky Colavito? — THAN, Urbana.
A: Depends upon your point of view. If you were an Indians fans, it was Colavito. If you were a Reds fan, it was Robinson. They both were bad. The Indians received a fast-fading Harvey Kuehn. The Reds received pitchers Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson. None helped the Reds and Robby won the Triple Crown with the Baltimore Orioles. The Robinson trade must be one of the worst of all time because in the movie ‘Bull Durham’ Annie Savoy, played by Susan Sarandon, says, “Bad trade are a part of baseball. I mean, who can forget the Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas trade, for gosh sakes.”

Q: Does the runner actually get to a base quicker by diving head first? — JANET/DAVE, Beavercreek.
A: I’m sure some advisory group has done some expensive research for MLB, but I haven’t seen a report. Did you ever see Pete Rose do anything but high-dive into a base? Me neither and that’s good enough for me. Those who go head first say when they run their upper body is tilted forward and momentum makes it easier to go head first. I see it for second, third and home. But sliding into first base head first has to slow you down when you can run full speed through the bag. And head-first slides used to produce a lot of finger and hand injuries,. No more. Oven Mittens have taken care of that.

Q: How far could former Reds manager Lou Piniella throw one of the bigger bases they use now? — JAMES, Tiffin.
A: You are referring to the day umpire Dutch Rennert missed a call at first base. During the dispute, Piniella yanked first base out of its moorings and hurled it into right field. Unhappy with his distance, he ran to the base, picked it up, and flung in farther. I’m certain that in his day he could discus-throw the new base just as far. Later that season, the base-throwing caper came up and he told me with a smile, “Hal, my wife wouldn’t speak to me for two weeks after I did that. If I had known that, I would have done it sooner.”

Q: Do you believe that because the Cincinnati Reds paid Joey Votto $154,000 a game it had an impact on the prices of hot dogs, beer and a bag of peanuts? — RICHARD, Tipp City.
A: Votto was a bargain when you consider that the Los Angeles Dodgers are paying Shohei Ohtani $434,000 a game. Nevertheless, of course baseball salaries impact prices. You forgot ticket prices, parking, ice cream in a plastic replica of the team’s hat, bobbleheads, cotton candy and Cracker Jack. Not only is it a rich man’s game for the players, it is a rich man’s game for the fans.

Q: The Reds keep running from third base on ground ball contact and getting thrown out at home, so why doesn’t this situation ever improve? — KEITH, Brookville
A: Winston Churchill never played shortstop but he knew what he was talking about when he said, “Those who cannot learn from the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat them.” He wasn’t talking about baseball, but it applies to the Reds getting thrown out at home plate on ground balls at least a half-dozen times with one success. It has to be their philopshy, because they keep doing it. Somebody needs to hang Churchill’s quote on the clubhouse bulletin board.

Q: If you had to guess, how many articles do you think you have written in your career? — SHAUN, Vandalia.
A: Let’s just take baseball, which I have covered for 51 years. It is safe to say that I have written more than 26,000 baseball stories. That figures out to probably more than 23 1/2 million words. I’ve worn out at least five laptops. Those numbers don’t include 1962 to 1972 when I covered other sports and not baseball. Man, I’m tired.

By Hal McCoy

It took 11 innings, some rock solid pitching, a couple of defensive dandies by Jonathan India and the reliable bat of pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal.

It took all that, and more, for the Cincinnati Reds to walk off with a 4-3 victory over their constant tormentors, the Milwaukee Brewers, Sunday afternoon in Great American Ball Park.

When Espinal came to bat in the 11th with one out and a runner on third, the Reds were 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position. That was after they were 1-for-10 in Saturday’s 5-4 loss.

Espinal’s hit traveled all of 60 feet, bouncing off the body of pitcher Bryson Wilson, and free runner Rece Hinds scrampered home with the game-winner, Espinal’s first career walk-off.

Espinal was batting for Noelvi Marte and manager David Bell said, “Nothing against Marte, but Espinal is exactly who you want in that spot. He has been so good the last couple of months and you know he is going to put the ball in play.”

India was on deck when Espinal walked to the plate and he told him, “Man, you’re going to win this game for us.” Said India, “I just knew he was going to do it.”

India was given Saturday off and was refreshed, contributing three hits, a sacrifice fly and a run scored.

On this day, his glove and arm at second base overshadowed his bat.

In the eighth, with the score 3-3, India did a Luke Skywalker imitation to leap high and snag a bullet train line drive smashed by Willie Contreras.

That bigger one, though, came in the 10th. The Brewers had free runner Andruw Montesario on third with one out. Brice Turang bounced one high to India’s left.

Once again he leaped to grab it on a high hop and threw a strike to catcher Tyler Stephenson. With the infield drawn in, the catcher is permitted to block home plate. Stephenson impeded Montesario’s trip to the plate and tagged him out, preserving the 3-3 tie.

Three Reds players came off the injured list to play Sunday — pitchers Brandon Williams and Brent Suter, plus outfielder Jake Fraley. All made large contributions.

The victory stopped the Brewers from a four-game sweep. The only time that has happened to the Reds in Great American Ball Park was in August, 2003. And, of course, it was the Brewers who did it.

“We always play the Brewers like this, always close through the seventh and eighth innings,” said India during a post-gme interview with Bally Sports Ohio.

With a playoffs out of the reach of reality, India said the team’s goal is still lofty, considering its 65-73 record.

“Our goal is to finish strong, get to .500 and go into the off-season with our heads held high.”

India’s praise of Espinal was as high as his leap to snag that line drive.

“He is one of the most pure hitters I’ve seen in a while,” he said. “He is such a great hitter and he doesn’t crumble in big situations. He loves those situations.”

When the day began, nobody knew who would start for the Reds and it was a surprise. It was left-hander Williamson, out all season with a shoulder problem. And he had made only one rehabilitation start at Triple-A Louisville.

But his presence was needed and he came through, 3 1/3 innings, two runs, four hits, no walks and four strikeouts.

“I had some nerves early, but I was pretty excited and hadn’t had nerves for a while,” said Williamson. “I settled in nice (1-2-3, all strikeouts in the second inning) and it was good for us to get a win.”

Of his surprise start, due to the depleted pitching staff, Williamson said, “I tried to do my job and get as many outs as I could. Hopefully I can do that every five days for a while.”

After Williamson left, former Brewer Jakob Janis, Suter and Alexis Diaz held Milwaukee to one run and one hit over the final 7 2/3 innings.

Junis provided 3 2/3 innings of one run and one hit pitching. Suter, just off the injured list, added three perfect innings, nine up and nine down. And Diaz, hit hard in his previous two appearances, pitched a 1-2-3 11th.

The Reds faced Tobias Myers. On August 12, he held the Reds to no runs on three hits with nine strikeouts during a game the Brewers won, 1-0, on a late-inning home run by Rhys Hoskins off Tony Sanguillen.

The Reds had three hits in the first off him Sunday, but didn’t score. India led the game with a single and was balked to second. For some strange reason, Elly De La Cruz tried to bunt and missed badly. India was trapped off second.

The Reds scored two in the second, an inning that began with Fraley at the plate for the first time after 10 days on the injured list. He ripped the first pitch he saw into the right field seats.

Amed Rosario singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pickoff throw by Myers and scored on India’s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

Milwaukee scored a run in the third on three straight singles and a sacrifice fly by Blake Perkins.

The Brewers tied it 2-2 in the fourth when Willy Adames homered for the fourth straight day, his 20th career homer against the Reds. He isn’t even into double figures against any other team.

Milwaukee forged ahead, 3-2, in the fifth on a double by Joey Ortiz and a single by Brice Turang.

The Reds drew even in the fifth on India’s single, De La Cruz’s double and TJ Friedl’s sacrifice fly and it was 3-3.

That’s the way it stayed until the 11th and the Reds had only two hits from the sixth until Espinal’s 60-foot game-winner in the 11th.

After his homer, the Reds finally silenced Adames. He flied deep to left, lined one to the wall that Friedl caught and made Milwaukee’s final out in the 11th, a pop out to first with the go-ahead run on third.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and if you are at the Holiday At Home parade in Kettering Monday morning, please wave as I ride by in the back of an El Camino right behind grand marshal Gary Sandy.

—XXXXXXX: It is time for baseball commissioner Rob Mafraud, or somebody, to banish position players from pitching.

It is a total farce and turns a baseball game into Comedy Central.

The latest example was Cincinnati Reds catcher Luke Maile’s lob ‘em in performance Friday night. He entered the game with the Reds down 8-0 in the ninth inning.

His first two pitches were ripped for a triple and a double and he later gave up a home run. Before getting the final two outs, he gave up six runs and six hits, five in a row.

They might as well let the batters toss the ball up in the air and fungo hits all over the park because that’s what the Brewer did to Maile.

What is so embarrassing about it all is that it was the fourth time this season manager David Bell cried uncle and sent Maile to the mound.

It is sort of like an NFL team sending its punter to play quarterback when the team is down 49-0 late in the fourth quarter.

—QUOTE: From the movie ‘Little Big Man:’ “Baseball was made for kids and grown-ups only screw it up.” (The commissioner’s office is Exhibit A, B and Z.)

—FAR, FAR AWAY: Another reason why it can always be worse, even for Cincinnati Reds fans. The Chicago ShySox are 38games behind. . .behind fourth place Detroit Tigers.

The ShySox (31-106) need the Hubble Space Telescope to see the tail-lights of the first-place Cleveland Guardians, 46 1/2 games away.

In addition to their historic 21-game losing streak, the Shysox have lost 14 straight, eight straight (current), seven straight, six straight, five straight and four straight six times.

What do the Shysox have to play for? Well, the 120-loss New York Mets finished only 18 games behind the next-to-last Chicago Cubss and 60 1/2 games behind National League champion San Francisco (There were no divisions in ’62).

Their longest winning streak? Four straight and, believe it or not, they weren’t against the Northwestern University softball team.

—QUOTE: From ShySox outfielder Andrew Benintendi after the team lost it’s 100th game: “We’ve talking about it all year but at this point it is like beating a dead horse.” (The ShySox horse would have been sent to the glue factory two month ago.)

—UP ON THE ‘HILL’: When the Red Sox want tosign pitcher Rich Hill, all they need to do is call
him and play Dave Loggins’ ‘Please Come To Boston.’

Hill has signed with Boston four different times and he hasn’t missed many teams during his 20 year career.

His stops: Chicago Cubs, Baltimore, Boston (1), Cleveland, Toronto, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees, Boston (2) Oakland, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, New York Mets, Boston (3) , Pittsburgh, San Diego, Boston (4).

That’s 13 different teams for the 44-year-old and how in the name of Cy Young has he missed the Cincinnti Reds, the kings of retread pitchers.

It shows that if you are lefthanded, can stand upright on the mound and can breathe through your nose, some MLB team has a pitching roster spot for you.

Hill is one shy of tying the record for most different uniforms worn. Edwin Jackson pitched for 14 teams and did it in 17 years. And somehow he, too, missed the Reds.

—QUOTE: From Nolan Ryan, who pitched into his late 40s and makes Rich Hill seem like a kid: “You are not defeated when you lose. You’re defeated when you quit.” (And Ryan and Hill don’t know the meaning of the word quit.)

—DOUBLING UP ON HOMERS: Where to they find this stuff. When Milwaukee’s Willy Adames and William Conntreras both him home runs in both ends of Friday’s doubleheader against the Reds, it matched something that had only been done once.

They were only the second teammates to hit home runs in both ends of a doubleheader, matching two guys from the same team. Brewers Robin Younr and Rob Deer in 1989.

Of course, doubleheaders are rare these days, but they used to play ‘em every Sunday and holidays And they were true back-to-back games, one admission.

Now doubleheaders are usually split, one early in the day, one at night and the stadium is cleared after one game and fans are charged to get back in for the second game.

And another one. When Oakland’s Lawrence Butler hit three home runs in a game last week against the Reds, it was his second three-homer game of the season.

Only one person had ever hit three homers in a game three times in one season, Sammy Sosa in 2001.

Mookie Betts owns six three-homer games and counting, tied with 10-time All-Star Johnny Mize for the most.

—QUOTE: Pitcher Jim Maloney, whom I consider the best Reds pitcher ever, on catcher Johnny Bench: “He would come to the mound and treat me like a two-year-old, but so help me I liked it.” (At least he didn’t catch your fastball barehanded like he did to Gerry Arrigo.)

—PLAY AND PRAY: Ohio State entered its season opener against the University of Akron as 48 1/2-point favorites. The Zips were 2-10 last year.

The Buckeyes nearly covered the spread (52-6, but not that impressive) and Akron returned home with $600,00 appearance check and an injured quarterback that may be out for the season..

Just 10 miles from Akron is the campus of Kent State and the Golden Flashes sold their souls this year for the almighty dubloons.

Kent State was willing to travel to Pittsburgh (55-24 loss), Tennessee and Penn State and take three beatings and return home with $3.1 million for being cannon fodder.

In 2019, Miami of Ohio was the play-for-pay-and-pray victims at Ohio State. Miami, though, quickly scored a safety and a field goal and led, 5-0, with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first quarter.

Miami athletic director David Sayler, sensing the inevitable, snapped a picture of the scoreboard for posterity: ‘Miami 5, OSU 0.’

Final score: OSU 76, Miami 5. Sayler snapped no additional photos.

And did Ohio State’s NIL people actually spend $20 million to their multitude of transfers?

—94 AND MORE: An excellent read is the book
Larry Doby In Black And White, the autobiography of the first black player in the American League.

It is written by Jerry Izenberg, who is 94 and still writing a sports column and books. Izenberg is a fabulous story-teller and said, “I don’t want to take any stories with me to the grave.”

I’m 84 and feel the same way, Jerry.

Izenberg is a fearless writer, not afraid to criticize the high and mighty when necessary and he said, “And I tell ‘em I’ll go to hell and I’ll write what I want.”

And I’m with you on that one, too, Jerry. Rock on.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 87: Looking for songs in all the wrong places:

Paint It Black (The Rolling Stones), Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper), I Can Only Imagine (MercyMe), Open The Eyes Of My Heart (Paul Baloche), Leader Of The Band (Dan Fogelberg), Wildfire (Michael Murphy).

She’ Not There (The Zombies), Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks), It’s A Heartache (Bonnie Tyler), Paradise By The Dashboard (Meat Loaf), I Who Have Nothing (Tom Jones), Lookin’ Out My Back Door (John Fogarty), Authority Song (John Mellencamp).

 

By Hal McCoy

Another day, another loss, another one-run loss, another loss to the Milwaukee Brewers for the star-crossed Cincinnati Reds.

The Brewers were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position. And won.

The Brewers struck out 14 times. And won.

It was Milwaukee 5, Cincinnati 4, Saturday night in Great American Ball Park. The Reds are 11-26 in one-run games.

The deciding blow was a ninth-inning solo home run off Justin Wilson by rookie Jackson Chuorio, the 19th home run given up by Reds pitchers in the last six games.

And the Reds almost walked it off in the ninth inning. Almost.

They loaded the bases with two outs against the near-invincible Milwaukee closer Devin Williams.

First baseman Jake Bauers struck out four times, but saved the game. Ty France ripped one headed into right field for what looked as if was a game-winning walk-off hit. Bauers, though, made a diving backhanded stop, scrambled to his feet and beat France to the bag to end it.

And the Reds are now 0 for their last 36 against Williams.

The Reds had runner on base in eight of the nine innings but could score in only two as they lost for the seventh time in eight games and for the 12th time in 16 games.

In addition, they have lost 37 of the last 50 games againts the Brew Crew.

To rub salt into their gaping wounds, they faced Frankie Montas, their Opening Day starter who was traded to the Brewers with his 4-and-8 record and 5.05 earned run average.

Montas pitched six innings and gave up all four Reds runs and seven hits. He did not get the win, but the Brewers have won five of his six starts.

Once again, the pitch-thin Reds used a Bullpen Day, starting relief pitcher Fernando Cruz. He pitched two scoreless innings and gave up a hit and a walk, but five of his six outs were strikeouts.

Buck Farmer replaced him in the third and Milwaukee scored three times on a double by Jackson Chuorio a walk to William Contreras and a three-run home run to Reds nemesis Willy Adamas.

It was his third home in the first three games of the four-game set and his 18th career homer against the Reds. And it was his 12th three-run home run this season, one shy of the 13 Ken Griffey Jr. hit for Seattle in 1996, the all-time record.

The Reds had two-out runners on in the first and second with no damage. They had runners on third and first with no outs in the third.

Spencer Steer hit into a 5-4-3 double play, a ball on which Noelvi Marte should have scored from third. But he stood at third like the Statue of Liberty and didn’t budge. And he stayed there as Elly De La Cruz flied to left for the final out.

Montas issued a two-out walk in the fourth and nothing came of it.

Finally, after 18 straight scoreless innings, the Reds broke through in the fifth with solid fundamental baseball.

Will Benson walked on a full count and Marte beat an infield single. Luke Maile dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to third and second and both scored on Spencer Steer’s solid single to left, cutting Milwaukee’s lead to 3-2.

In the Milwaukee fourth, a stranger trudged to the mound for the Reds, a 35-year-old fellow named David Buchanan, called up from Louisville prior to the game.

Buchanan was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 and was 8-17 with a 5.01 earned run average in 35 games in 2014 and 2015.

And that was it. The Phillies let him go and he pitched eight total years in the minors, seven years in Japan and Korea and one year in independent ball.

So it was his first major league appearance since 2015 and he gave the Redsw 3 2/3 solid innings — one run, two hits.

The one run came when Adames did what Marte didn’t — score from third base on a ground ball. Adames singled to lead the inning, took third on a double by Blake Perkins and scored on Garrett Mitchell’s grounder to short to push the Brewers ahead, 4-2.

The Reds tied it in the sixth on Amed Rosario’s two-run home run. And Marte nearly put the Reds ahead with a drive to the center field wall. But Perkins leaped high over the wall and brought it back, his fourth home run robbery of the year, the most in MLB this season.

Tony Santillan replace Buchanan and gave up a hit and a walk in 1 2/3 innings, recording all five outs on strikeouts.

But Chourio’s ninth-innning home run off Wilson and the Reds’ near-miss in the ninth against Williams turned into just another frustrating evening for the Reds.