By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, wondering if the red-hot Reds want the days off for the All-Star break. Rece Hinds said he doesn’t want it. No kidding?
—A ‘PAT’ ON THE BACK: When somebody asks for a photo of a ‘baseball lifer,’ they should be shown a picture of Pat Kelly.
The man has devoted most of his life to baseball, all of it in the minor leagues. That seems strange to me because the man has more baseball knowledge in his index finger than most major league managers.
And his players love him and he is one of the nicest guys I’ve run across in my 51 years of covering baseball.
Take a deep breath when you read what’s next because it is a list of the cities in which he has managed minor league teams and you’ll turn blue before you finish. Ready?
Charleston, SC, Reno, Wichita, Las Vegas, Rockford. Chattanooga, Harrisburg, Ottawa, Lynchburg, Billings, Bakersfield, Richmond, Syracuse, Indianapolis, Sarasota, Pensacola, Louisville.
Did you count ‘em? Seventeen, right. Mostly he rode buses. He should be at least executive vice president of Greyhound.
The list sounds like the song ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ by Johnny Cash.
He is managing now in Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds’ Class AAA affiliate. Last week he won his 2,000th minor-league game.
And you want to talk humble. During a celebration he said, “What nobody is saying is that I lost 2,000 before I won 2,000.”
He played in only three major league games as a catcher. And his only sniff of the majors as a coach came in July of 2007, when the Reds fired Jerry Narron. They named Pete Mackanin as interim manager. Kelly was the bench coach.
I thought they should have named Mackanin manager for the next season, but they named Dusty Baker and he brought in his own coaches.
So it was back to the bushes and buses for Kelly.
One question: Why have the Reds not given Kelly a chance to manage the big team? The man more than deserved the chance.
DOWNER FOR DARON: Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad news. DaRon Holmes II is out for the year. . .won’t play a game for the Denver Nuggets in his rookie season.
Holmes tore his Achilles tendon Friday night in Denver’s first summer league game.
It is a crusher to the young man, but knowing him, he’ll face it with a smile on his face and work hard to get back as quickly as medical science and the Almighty permits.
—OH, THAT MARGE: Loyal reader Will Terwort texted me a copy of a column written in 1991 by Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer. I had forgotten about it, but I know it’s true.
As Daugherty wrote, Reds general manager Bob Quinn attended the General Managers meetings in Toronto, on a mission to trade for a starting pitcher.
Not only did he not find a pitcher, he had to pay his own way to Toronto for a business trip. Owner Marge Schott refused to reimburse his air fare, hotel bill and meals.
Quinn should have done an American Express credit card commercial: “Don’t leave home without it.”
—SHUT ‘EM DOWN: A sign of the times in baseball and what do these games, all played on the same day, have in common?
Arizona 1, Atlanta 0.
Seattle 11, LA Angels 0.
Boston 7, Oakland 0.
Chicago Cubs 8, Baltimore 0.
Pittsburgh 1, Milwaukee 0.
Yes, they are all shutouts, five of the 15 games played last Thursday.
But what is mind-boggling is that there was not a complete game among ‘em. And Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was pitching a no-hitter when he was yanked after seven innings.
Skenes needed only six pitches to cover the seventh inning and was at 99 pitches when manager Derek Shelton pulled him. Was it the dreaded, silly 100-pitch count?’
“He was tired,” said Shelton. “It really didn’t have anytning to do with the pitch count. Everybody makes it about pitch counts. It was about trusting your eyes.”
Shelton needs his eyes checked.
The Pirates have won four 1-0 games and Mitch Keller’s was the only complete game.
—WHY IS VADA EVADED?: Why is former Reds outfielder Vada Pinson treated like Darth Vader? He has Hall of Fame statistics and has a great first name.
Pinson had the sixth most hits before he was 30 in MLB history (1,881). Four of the guys ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame and one, Alex Rodriguez, isn’t because of his PED history.
The other four: Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Rogers Hornsby and Henry Aaron.
—DRESSING DOWN: Both the National League and American League are wearing ugly and gross City Connect-like uniforms for the All-Star game.
Whose goofy idea was it? Wasn’t it better when the players wore their own team’s uniforms? I think so. . .and get off my devil strip (If you know what a devil strip is, you might be from Akron).
Innovative owner Charlie Finley came up with double-knit uniforms and advocated the sleeveless jersey. And he said this:
“The day that Custer lost at Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876), the Chicago White Stockings beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2. Both teams wore knickers and they’ve still wearing ‘em today.”
—HOT CORNER HOTTIES: It is generally acknowledged that Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson, ‘The Human Hoover,’ was the best all-time defensive third baseman.
Just ask Johnny Bench, whose memory of the 1970 World Series is of Robinson the Robber taking away several base hits from the Cincinnati Reds catcher.
Fine. But do you know who holds the all-time record for most assists by a third baseman in a season? No, not Robinson. And not the current high water mark third baseman, Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The record goes back to 1971 and it is owned by New York Yankees third baseman Graig (Why not Greg or Craig) Nettles. He had 412 assists.
Nettles also holds the single-season record for for third basemen starting 5-4-3 around-the-horn double plays with 54 that same season.
Robinosn, though, holds the career record for the most 5-4-3 double plays started with 618. The National League’s best was Dayton-native Mike Schmidt with 450. Robinson, though, played five more years than Schmidt, 23 to 18.
—WHERE’S THE BUNT?: If you’ve seen an MLB player try to bunt, a rare sight, it’s like somebody trying to stab a hummingbird with a butter knife. It isn’t pretty.
Analytics tell managers that sacrifice bunts are for losers, so don’t do it.
Pete Rose on the subject: “Bunting’s gone from the easiest thing in the game to the hardest. When I came up everybody could do it. Now ain’t nobody can do it.”
And here’s one stunner. Harmon Killebrew batted 8,157 times. Sacrifice bunts? Zero.
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 72: My dad played the guitar and sang country music, so I have a bit of a country flavor to me:
Please Come To Boston (Dave Loggins), Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley), Heard It In A Love Song (Marshall Tucker Band), Same Old Lang Syne (Dan Fogelberg), I’m All Right (Kenng Loggins), Working My Way Back To You (The Spinners).
I Will Be There (The Scorpions), One More Day (Diamond Rio), Not A Day Goes By (Lonestar), Don’t You Ever Get Tired (Ronnie Milsap), In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins), Every Time You Go Away (Chris Young).