By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, a special ‘quickie’ edition featuring Terry Francona and Pete Rose, via Dave Bristol.
—ONWARD AND UPWARD: With the hiring of Terry Francona to a three-year contract, the Cincinnati Reds finally sent an ultra-positive message to the fan base: “We are in it to win it. We are all-in.”
When MLB-TV’s Mark DeRosa heard about it on MLB Central, he said, “Francona’s coming back? The Reds will win the 2025 World Series.”
He was being facetious, but there is no way the 65-year-old Francona would emerge from retirement without assurances from the front office that the team is dedicated to doing something other than give away bobbleheads, have fireworks shows and promote post-game concerts.
And you can be certain Francona has insisted upon having a say in personnel decisions and to have a hands-off promise from the front office on line-up construction and to have total on-the-field control.
This hiring is on the level of Sparky Anderson, Davey Johnson, Jack McKeon and Dusty Baker. Francona is on the same plateua as those managerial legends.
And he comesd in with almost a turnkey operation. He has an on-the-rise young pitching staff, several young up-and-coming stars and some fast-rising players in the minors.
All the club needs is an established, productive veteran or two to provide guidance and leadership.
What player wouldn’t want to play for Terry Francona? How long until spring training?
The Reds will introduce Francona as manager on Monday morning in a press conference.
But in a release, Francona said, “I am so excited and honored to join an organization with the tradition and history of tha Cincinnati Reds. I only played one season for the Reds in 1987 but in that season I learned that Cincinnati is a graeat baseball city. I can’t wait to start meeting and interacting with these good young players of ours.”
—PETE’S PASSION: Few people knew Pete Rose better than former Cincinnati Reds manager Dave Bristol.
He managed Pete in the minors. And he was Rose’s manager with the Reds from 1966 through 1969 in old Crosley Field.
Bristol is 91 and when I talked to him on the phone he was on his way to play golf. Knowing him, he probably shoots below his age.
And he is a straight shooter when he talks baseball, especially about Pete Rose. And Rose loved Bristol, talked about him even more than he talked about Sparky Anderson.
“When I managed Pete in Macon in 1962, we played the Greenville Dodgers and Pete went 0-for-2 in the first inning. and was mad as hell,” said Bristol. “He ended up the game 5 for 7.
“With the Reds in 1968 he was going for the batting title on the next to last night of the season,” Bristol said. “After that night game I told him, ‘Your swing is horse-crap right now. Be at the park early tomorrrow for some extra hitting.’
“It was a day game but he took extra hitting — I probably threw more batting practice to Pete than anybody ever did. Then in the game he had to face Gaylord Perry and he hated to face Gaylord Perry.
“He had three hits and doubled. After he slid into second base Giants infielder Hal Lanier told him that Matty Alou Alou had three hits. So his next time up he got his fourth hit, a single off Ray Sadecki and won the batting title (.335).ain”
It happened again in 1969.
He and Roberto Clemente were neck-and-neck on the last day of the season. We were in Atlanta and he already had four hits and he was in the on-deck circle when a fan seated near the dugout told him, ‘Clemente has three hits.’
“He walked to the plate and put down the prettiest bunt you ever saw. They couldn’t even make a play on it.” And he won the batting title (.348).
Not only would Rose walk through hell in a gasolin e suit to play baseball, he’d crawl through hell in a gasoline suit for a a base hit.
These stories fit with the advice Rose always gave to young kids.
“Three things,” he said. “One—Be aggressive. Two—Be more aggressive. Three—Never be satisfied. I was never satisfied. If I had four hits, I wanted five.”