By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and, no, my laptop is not going on the cruise with me next week. I fear that after a couple of days at the blackjack table I might havve to hock it. But this UO is extra-long to make up for the upcoming week’s hiatus.
—DID THE REDS UPGRADE?: As I search for a cigar store in some back alley of Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic, I’m thinking about what the Cincinnati Reds did in the off-season.
Good? Bad? Indifferent? President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall appeared to sit on his hands most of the winter, then took off the gloves and finished with a flourish that should help.
For sure, they did enough to improve upon the 77 wins they posted last season — and they did that without two top hitters, Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. And nearly every starting pitcher missed time with injuries.
They are in the weak National League Central where 85 to 87 wins might put them atop the standings. Did they do enough to accompish that? Yes.
**Lured Terry Francona out of retirement with a lot of promises and hopefully they’ll keep those promises. Francona is one of the best in the business, but he is no Miracle Worker. He needs the right parts.
**Re-signed pitcher Nick Martinez, a stellar move. He came out of the bullpen because of all the injuries and on most days he resembled Pedro Martinez.
**Signed outfielder Austin Hays to a one-year $5 million deal. One year? Yep, Hays is using the Reds as trampoline to bounce back. He was an All-Star in 2023, but was nagged all season by injuries. If he does bounce back, the Reds made a profitable signing. . .and then he’ll be gone next year.
**Traded for lefthanded relief pitcher Taylor Rogers, a big plus because the bullpen needs help. Rogers is good and the Reds hope they didn’t trade for the wrong Rogers instead of Taylor’s righthanded twin brother, Tyler.
**Traded Jonathan India for starting pitcher Brady Singer, an excellent veteran presence to help the young staff of Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Rhett Lowder and Graham Ashcraft. Too many? Never too many starting pitchers as the Reds discovered last season as starter after starter lapsed onto the injured list.
***Traded for infielder Gavin Lux. Too many infielders? Perhaps so, but will McLain and Encarnacion-Strand survive the season? And Lux can play the oufield if needed and the Reds remain questionable in the outfield.
**Signed catcher Jose Trevino, a defensive dandy and an accomplished handler of pitchers. He was the New York Yankees No. 1 catcher two seasons ago. He will be a solid back-up to Tyler Stephenson and enable Francona to ‘rest’ Stephenson and playl hie some games at first base or as a designated hitter.
While Krall didn’t make any headline-splashers, his dipped his toes in the shallow end enough to find some usable players that will make the Reds a competitive team. . .and perhaps a division-winner.
And I refuse to believe ‘Baseball Prospectus’ and its Pecota projection that the Reds will win 73 games and finish last.
—DEVIN-STATED: It was Groundhog Day Sunday and that reminded me of the second most famous person from Punxsutawney, PA.
The first, of course, is Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog that emerges from hibernation every February 2 in search of his shadow.
The next famous is catcher Devin Mesoraco, the Cincinnati Reds No. 1 draft pick in 2007 out Punxsutawney.
Mesorraco was in search of the sunshine on a baseball field, but injuries lurked in the shadows and he never blossomed.
He is the only MLB player to use bats cut from the Pennsylvania woods near his home and some folks thought they were infected by termites.
Actually, he was an All-Star in 2014 and hit .272 with 25 homers and 80 RBI in only 114 games. The Reds then signed him to a four-year $28 million contract, but shoulder surgeries and a myriad of aches, pains, hurts and injuries hit hard. He played only 109 games over the next four seasons and faded away.
—OH-FOR-2024: Pitcher Mike Soroka won as many games last season as the Venus de Milo and the Statue of Liberty.
Zero. He was 0-and-10 with a 4.74 earned run average. So what did he get for that? He was rewarded with a one-year $9 million contract by the Washington Nationals,
But in fairness, put an asterisk by it. He pitched for the Chicago White Sox, a team that was 41-121, 51 1/2 games out of first place.
—A BUS(C)H MOVE: For those who like Busch Beer (Yech, goat urine), it had an interesting birth.
St. Lous Cardinals owner Augie Busch was told by MLB he couldn’t name his new stadium Budweiser Stadium. But he received approval to name it after his family.
So he quickly ordered his brewery to create Busch Beer shortly after Busch Stadium opened.
That Augie was a real conniver but I still believe Busch Beer comes out of a goat.
—GO JOE, GO: One reason and one reason only to root for the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl and it is not Taylor Swift.
It’s Joe Thuney.
Thuney is a Centerville native and helped Alter High School to a D4 state championship. His senior year he was president of the senior class and the Greater Catholic League Lineman of the Year.
If the Chiefs win, it will be Thuney’s fifith Super Bowl ring, second only all-time to the seven won by former teammate Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.
Most importantly, Nadine taught at Our Lady of the Rosary school with Thuney’s sister, Megan. And what Nadine and Megan did is more important than one Super Bowl ring.
—MILES OF MYLES: They used to call old Cleveland Stadium ‘The Mistake on the Lake.’ Now the Cleveland Browns are ‘The Mistake on the Lake.’
The Browns’ best player, defensive tasckle Myles Garrett is finally fed up enough to ask for a trade. Hearing that, the line outside general manager Andrew Berry’s office probably stretches to East 8th Street with teammates with the same demand.
But the Browns still have DeShaun Watson.
—WHISTLE BLOWER: Cincinnati native Terry Killens is an NFL official, an umpire, and worked last year’s Super Bowl.
Killens was a defensive back in his playing days for the Tennessee Titans and is the only person in history to play in a Super Bowl game and officiate a Super Bowl game.
He won’t officiate in Sunday’s Super Bowl because officials are not permitted to work back-to-back Super Bowls.
But he did work the last week of the season in Denver —Broncos versus the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs needed to beat the Broncos for the Cincinnati Bengals to make the playoffs.
But the Cheifs already had clinched the No. 1 seed for the AFC playoffs and rested their regulars and lost, 38-0.
“Of course, Bengals fans blamed me,” said Killens. And fans believe the officials are giving KC all the calls during the playoffs, insisting the games are scripted.
“I couldn’t leave my office without somebody saying, ‘You look good in red,’ or ‘Aren’t you wearing your Kansas City varsity jacket?’”
And his comeback? “Hey, the games aren’t scripted. Kansas City is a very good team and good teams seem to have good luck. . .and it’s better to be lucky than good. But it isn’t my fault the Chiefs played their jayvees against Denver.”
—LAKERS=DODGERS?: The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers must work off the same blueprint. . .steal the best players from other teams.
In the past, the NBA’s Lakers have pried Kareem Abdul-Jabbar away from Milwaukee, Kobe Bryant away from Charlotte and LeBron James away from Cleveland.
And this week they traded for Luka Doncic, a seven-time All-Star and defending NBA scoring champion. But it was an honest trade. To get him, the Lakers sent Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks.
It is the first time two current all-NBA players were traded for each other.
Wonder what LeBron James feels about the deal and can two super-studs co-exist?
And how did the Mavericks react to losing Docic? In their first game after the trade they gave up 90 pointss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. . .in tbe first half. They lost 144-101.
—THE UECKER CORNER: Unfortunately, we are fast running out of Uecker-isms, but here are three more:
—“Do female writers look and gape when they are in the clubhouse? Of course they do. How else do you explain the capital letters in the middle of words in their stories?”
—When told he was a good actor on the TV series ‘Mr. Belvedere and his Miller Lite commericials: “Of course I was. I was acting when I played baseball.”
—“People ask me, because I didn’t hit alot, how long my bats lasted. Well, depending on the weight and model, I would say eight to ten cookouts.”
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 145: As singer Marilyn Manson put it: “Music is the strongest form of magic.”
Magic (The Cars), This Magic Moment (The Drifters), Strange Magic (Electrtic Light Orchestra), Do You Believe In Magic? (The Lovin’ Spoonful), Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf).
Puff The Magic Dragon (Peter, Paul & Mary),
Black Magic Woman (Santana), Magic Man (Heart), Everything’s Magic (Angels & Airwaves), Everything She Does Is Magic (The Police), Magic Bus (The Who).