By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, wondering that to do when Ohio State plays at noon and the Cincinnati Reds play at 1:10? I’m a monstrous OSU fans and I’m paid to watch the Reds. It was easy. Watch the Buckeyes for an hour until it’s 28-7, then switch to the Reds to watch Rhett Lowder and Elly De La Cruz.
—WAIT ’TIL WHEN?: Let’s see if we have this painfuly correct: The Cincinnati Reds are on a 29-year streak of not winning a playoff series.
And they have appeared in the post-season six times in the last 45 years, even though MLB makes it easier and easier to qualify.
Six out of 15 teams from each league make it and the Reds still can’t climb in.
For the Reds, “Wait ’Til Next Year” is as traditional as broad stripes and bright stars. But next years comes and go, comes and go, come and go and the Reds continue to play crawlball. Or is that Krallball?
Meanwhile, while the Reds were suffering a 15-3 burning at the stake from the Atlanta Braves, in Milwaukee they were sopping up champagne from the clubhouse carpets after the previous night’s celebration.
The Brewers clinched their sixth trip to the playoffs in the last seven years. This despite their much-loved manager, Craig Counsell, taking the money and running off to the division-rival Chicago Cubs.
And they traded their best pitcher, Corbin Burnes, before the season and lost their star player, Christian Yelich, for the last two months. If Pat Murphy isn’t National League Manager of the Year they should toss the trophy into Lake Michigan.
And Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell’s job hass to be in deep jeopardy.
—FOUR TIMES THREE: Lost in the barrage of six home runs hit by the Atlanta Braves during that 15-3 rout of the Cincinnati Reds was a record.
Four of those six home runs were three-run round-trippers, something that had never been done by one team in an MLB game.
The three-run rips were hit by Ramon Lareano, Matt Olsen, Jorge Soler and Michael Harris II.
—QUOTE: From noted home run hitter Babe Ruth: “I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run.” (The Braves touched 24 bases and home plate on their trots after six home runs.)
—GIDDY-UP, ELLY: People tell me I’m beating a dead horse when I insist that Elly De La Cruz should be moved from shortstop to the outfield.
A dead horse? We’re talking about a live thoroughbred. As Reds relief pitcher Emilio Pagan said, “At this point, what’s he gonna do next? I’m at a loss for words.”
It isn’t as if we’re re-inventing the flush toilet. The names of MLB stars who were drafted and started their careers as shortstops and were moved to the outfield is deep and strong.
Examples: Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Larry Doby Eric Davis, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Chipper Jones, Tim Raines, Gary Sheffield, Rick Manning. . .and some recent switches: Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Mookie Betts, and Oneil Cruz.
—SHOW ‘EM, SHOHEI: They need to dismantle Shohei Ohtani, take him apart, piece by piece, to see if he is human or robot.
How can any human being do what he does on a baseball field? Nobody can. But Shohei does.
And the way he reached his personal Fifty/Fifty Club was superhuman. He went 6-for-6 with three home runs and two stolen bases. To reach 50 stolen bases he swiped third base.
Ohtani is the 34th MLB player to hit 50 or more home runs in a year, but none of the previous 33 stole half as many bases as Shohei has.
Before arriving in this country, Ohtani played five years in Japan and showed nothing to indicate that he would tear MLB pitching into confetti.
His best season for the Nippon Ham Fighters was 2017 when he hit 22 home runs and stole only seven bases in 104 games.
—HISTORY LESSON: On August 6, 1954, Cleveland Indians manager Al Lopez made history when he sat in his Municipal Stadium clubhouse office and filled out his lineup card.
On that card he scribbled, “CF-Larry Doby, LF-Al Smith, RF-Dave Popel.” It was the first all-black outfield in MLB history.
That same year, Chicago Cubs manager Stan Hack played Ernie Banks at shortstop and Gene Baker at second base, the first all-black doubleplay combination in MLB history.
And to their credit, neither Lopez nor Hack realized the historical significance of what they were doing.
—DOG-GONE IT: The Cleveland Indians, under pressure, changed their nickname to Guardians. And Miami University went from Redskins to RedHawks. My own high school, Akron East, went from Orientals to Dragons.
Nevertheless, there are still more than 70 high schools in the state of Ohio that still use Native American nicknames. There are still many Indians, Redskins and Redmen. Others include Apaches, Arrows, Braves, Chippewas, Mohawks, Seminoles, Senecas and Warriors.
Did I hear that the American Kennel Club is protesting the use of Bulldogs, Terriers, Greyhounds, Huskies, Great Danes and Yorkies?
—ON THE SCREEN: Hello, Hollywood? What’s the deal? Why hasn’t somebody made a good baseball movie in a long, long time? In fact it has been 40-some years.
That’s true. My five favorite baseball movies were all filmed in the 1980s and while I love ‘em, I’ve watched them over and over and would like something fresh.
My Top Five: Major League (1989), The Natural (1984), Field of Dreams (1989), Eight Men Out (1988), Bull Durham (1988).
PLAYLIST NUMBER 95: Some of my middle-of-the-roaders:
My Prayer (The Platters), Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan), It’s Now Or Never (Elvis Presley), You’re The One That I Want (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John), Believe (Cher), My Sweet Lord (George Harrison), Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song (B.J. Thomas).
Mack The Knife (Bobby Darrin), Endless Love (Diana Ross & Lionel Richie), I Just Want To Be Your Everything (The BeeGees), Tossin’ And Turnin’ (Bobby Lewis), Up Where We Belong (Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warren), Lost In The Fifties Tonight (Ronnie Milsap).