OBSERVATIONS: Is Elly’s Start A Harbinger?

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave as the excitemant mounts as Opening Day creeps closer and closer and I plan to be sitting in the Great American Ballpark press box that day.

—CRUZ CONTROL: Cincinnati Reds manager Tito Francona, The Great Motivator, had a 20-minute heart-to-heart discussion with Elly De La Cruz a couple of days before spring exhibitin games began.

“I want you to be the best player in baseball,” Tito told
Elly. “I want you to be the best player in baseball on the best team in baseball.”

To that, every Reds fans should raise a glass of Tito’s & Tonic to second that emotion. “I told him, ‘That’s my goal,’ and he got a big smile on his face.”

So how did it start for De La Cruz in his first spring exhibition game against the Cleveland Guardians:

First time up. . .home run, batting lefthanded.

Second time up. . .home run, batting righthanded.

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was impressed and said, “I was just thinking there’s no better way to start your season than to go deep from both sides of the plate. That was pretty impressive.”

Pretty impressive?

Is this an indicator for what’s ahead for Mr. Eletricity? If it is, the Reds will be plugged in positively for the 2025 baseball season.

And maybe they’ll do something about their abysmal playoff record, the worst in MLB since the league expanded to 30 teams in 1998.

That’s 27 years ago and the Reds have won two post-season games. Two. Just two, the fewest of the 30 teams.

As expected, the New York Yankees own the most, 111 wins. Second is Houston with 77 and third is the Los Angeles Dodgers with 73,

The Reds have fewer than Pittsburgh (3) and Baltimore (6). Those two wins came in 2012 when they won their first two games in San Francisco, then lost three straight at home and were eliminated.

Since then, zero, zip, nada.

Want something positive to dream about? On August 3, 1988, the Reds set a record that still stands — most run scored in the first inning. They scored 14 runs in the first inning against the Houston Astros and won, 18-2.

Eric Davis had two hits, two RBI and two runs scored in the inning and Ken Griffey (Sr.) hit a three-run home run. The first eight Reds reached base.

—HAIR DOWN TO HERE: Hal Steinbrenner lifted the ban on facial hair and long hair that his father, George, imposed on the New York Yankees back in the 1970s.

And Lou Piniella probably wishes he could have played for Hal instead of George.

When Piniella was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Yankees he wore long, long hair. When he reported to Yankee Stadium, his name was on a locker but there was no uniform.

The clubhouse attendant told Piniella, “Mr. Steinbrenner wants to see you in his office.” Piniella reported and George’s first words were, “Get a haircut.”

Said Lou, “But I like my hair long and Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, had long hair and look what he accomplished.”

Steinbrenner bolted from his chair and led Lou to a nearbvy swimming pool and said, “Now if you can walk across that water to the other end without getting you hair wet, you can keep it as long as you want.”

Piniella’s next stop was a barber’s chair and he wasn’t singing the lyrics to the song in the Broadway rock musical Hair: “Long beautiful hair, shining, gleaming, flaxen, waxen. . .down to here, down to there.”

—CASEY AT HIS BEST: Before he managed the New York Yankees, Casey Stengel was a daffy manager of a daffy Brooklyn Dodgers team.

After a long losing streak, he sat in a barber’s chair and told the barber, “Don’t cut my throat. I may want to do that myself later.”

Once when he thought a game should be terminated because of rain, he walked to home plate to discuss it with the umpire while carrying an umbrella.

And before MLB parks had lights, Stengel once wanted a game call due to darkness and he walked to home plate to discuss it with the umpire while carrying a lit railroad lantern.

Can you picture Sparky Anderson or Joe Torre or Walter Alston doing something like that? Me neither.

—THE LIGHTNING ‘ROD’: When talk surfaces about great hitters, one man should dominate the conversation and that name is Rod Carew.

During his 19 seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Califronia Angels, he made the All-Star team 18 times. His career batting average is .328. He was Rookie of the Year in 1968 and he won seven American League batting titles.

The man walked 1,018 times, nearly as many as his 1,028 strikeouts. His number 29 is retired by both the Twins and the Angels.

So why would the Twins ever trade Carew to the Angels? Carew and Twins owner Cal Griffith had an acrimonious relationship and after the 1978 season Carew said he would leave the Twins via free agency after the 1979 season.

“I love the Minnesota fans and like living here,” Carew said. “But it was no longer any fun.”

To get something for him, Griffith traded him to the Angels for four players — Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens and Ken Landreaux. You won’t find any of them in the Hall of Fame, where Carew landed on his first ballot.

—QUOTE: From pitcher Ken Holtzman about Rod Carew: “He could move the bat around as if it were a magic wand.”

—WHAT LOU DID: All baseball junkies are aware of Babe Ruth’ alleged ‘Called Shot’ in the 1932 World Series.

Facing Chicago Cubs pitcher Charlie Root, Ruth pointed toward Wrigley Field’s center field bleacher and then deposited a 450-foot home run right where he pointed.

What most don’t know is what happened next. Lou Gehrig, the next hitter, did exactly what Ruth did. . .a 450-foot home run to the same spot where Ruth’s landed.

What’s the point? Gehrig did not point.

—UECKER’S FIGHT ETIQUETTE: Catcher/comedian Bob Uecker on baseball fights:

“I was always a sucker puncher. I liked to roam the perimeter of a fight and punch guys in the back of the neck.

“I always kept my mask on during fights, but one time one guy held my one arm and another guy held my other arm. Then a third guy lifted my mask and punched me in the chops. That kind of aggravated me because all three were my teammates.”

I once asked Uecker about his press box clothing and he said, “It’s a lot like Ralph. Not Ralph Lauren, more like Ralph Kramden.”

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 148: As art historian Jean Paul Friedrich Richter put it, “Music is the moonlight in the gloomy night of life.”

—For Your Precioud Love (Jerry Butler), Kiss On My List (Hall & Oates), More Than I Can Say (Leo Sayer), Still The One (Orleans), I Love You (Climax Blues Band), Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham), One Hundred Ways (Quincy Jones & James Ingram), With Or Without You (U2), Thunder Island (Joe Ferguson).

—Dixieland Delight (Alan Jackson), We Just Disagree (Dave Mason), You Belong To Me (Carly Simon), I Won’t Hold You Back (Toto), Stumblin’ In (Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman), Foolish Heart (Steve Perry), Strange Way (Firefall), Queen of Hearts (Juice Newton), Hard Day’s Night (Beatles), Little Darlin’ (The Diamond),