By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, trying to convince Parker and the Milghty Quinn that the fireworks are over and the world isn’t ending.
—TELL ‘EM HERBIE: Kirk Herbstreit is a Centerville native, a former Ohio State football star, a top-shelf TV football analyst. . .and a gargantuan Cincinnati Reds fan.
On a recent podcast, he warned other teams about the Reds, “MLB teams should not take this team lightly.”
And future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy knows why. He praised manager Tito Francona. One future Hall of Fame manager should know all about another future Hall of Fame manager.
“He is just so good at what he does,” said Bochy. “ He knows how to run a game.”
This comes from a guy who wears a size 8 1/8 hat, so you know his assessment comes from a large brain.
—SHEF IS COOKIN’: Former MLB outfielder Gary Sheffield isn’t in the baseball Hall of Fame. In his final year of voting eligibility he received 63.5% of the required 75%.
And he is unhappy with the Hall of Fame, but not for that reason. He is unhappy with the handling of the Dave Parker and Pete Rose situations.
A veterans committee voted Parker in and he died recently, about a month before he was to walk across the stage in Cooperstown for his induction.
“I’m upset with Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame and it’s not funny any more,” said Sheffield.
Was it ever funny?
“They are playing with people’s livess who should be in the Hall of Fame and have a chance to walk across that stage,” he added. “That bothers me to the core. At least Dave Parker knew he was going in.
“Pete Rose? I understand the mistake that he made, but Pete Rose is baseball to me. When Pete Rose died and didn’t get a chance to walk across that stage, I had that same emotion as I have with Dave Parker,” he said.
Amen and amen.
—KKKK Kershaw: That was quite the emotional on-the-field celebration in Dodger Stadium when Clayton Kershaw slipped a call third strike slider past Vinny Capra of the Chicago White Sox.
It was Kershaw’s 3,000th career strikeout, only the 20th pitcher to reach that plateau.
But he is even more elite company. He is only the fourth left-hander to do it, joining C.C. Sabathia, Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton. And even more elite, he is only the third player to do it for one team, joining Walter Johnson (Washington Senators) and Bob Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals).
Kershaw’s first strikeout of his career was 17 years ago and was Skip Schumaker of the St. Louis Cardinals. And it became a habit. Schumaker was 0 for 7 with six strikeouts in his career against Kershaw.
And Capra, who was 12 years old on the day Schumaker was Kershaw’s first victim, becomes a trivia question. So is San Francisco’s Brandon Belt, No. 1 on Kershaw’s list. Kershaw struck him out 30 times.
—QUOTE: From Clayton Kershaw: “I’m a big Taylor Swift fan. I really like her son ‘Mean.’ (No surprise there. He is a God-loving super gentleman off the mound. On the mound? He is a mean machine.)
And a line from that song: “You’re so mean, why ya gotta be so mean?”
—HOW SOON THEY FORGET: There is a Boston broadcaster who shall go nameless here but should have his microphone taken away and locked in a box.
During the Reds-Red Sox series he talked about the death of Dave Parker and said — get ready for this — “The Reds are wearing number 14 on their sleeves in honor of Dave Parker.”
Hey, we all know that Dave Parker wore number 39 and the 14 on the Reds sleeves is to honor the Cincinnati native, the legendary. . .Don Zimmer. Right?
—CHICAGO FIRE: The St. Louis Cardinals have one request: “Please don’t schedule us to play the Chicago Cubs on the Fourth of July.”
When Michael Busch hit three home runs against the Cardinals in Indepence Day this season, he was the third Cubs hitter to hit three in a game against the Cardinals.
And all three have come on The Fourth of July; Hank Leiber in 1939, Moises Alou in 2003 and Busch this year.
Talk about lit fuses on The Fourth of July.
—MR. NOTHING?: It was 1967 and future Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver was managing the O’s Triple-A affiliate in Rochester.
Baltimore pitcher Jim Palmer was sent to Rochester to rehab a sore arm. In one game he loaded the bases against Buffalo, Cincinnati’s Triple-A team.
Weaver strutted to the mound and said, “Throw the ball over the plate and challenge this guy. This guy’s nothing.”
The next pitch landed far over the left field wall. A grand slam. The guy Weaver called ‘nothing,’ was Johnny Bench.
“That’s the first thing I learned about Earl Weaver,” said Palmer. “He didn’t know a thing about pitching.”
—WHY PITCHERS SHOULD HIT: Hall of Famer George Brett collected 3,154 hits and hit 317 home runs his career. But he liked to tell people, “I was not even the best hitter in our family growing up.”
He was referring to his brother, Ken Brett. He was a pitcher in the big leagues for 14 years.
George might have been right. Ken once hit a home run in each of four consecutive starts, the only pitcher to do that. And with the dastardly designated hitter, that record will stand in perpetuity.
—QUOTE: From Hall of Fame Geroge Brett: “If a tie is like kissing your sister, losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out.”
—WALK ON BY: There have been nearly 20,000 guys play major league baseball. There is only one player in that group to hit 350 homers, steal 200 bases, bat .300 with a .400 on base percentage. Who is it?
After 1,000 guesses, you probaably didn’t get it. I wouldn’t. Unbelievably, it is Larry Walker (383 homers, 230 stolen baes, .313 batting average, .400 onbase percentage).
—QUOTE: From Hall of Famer Laryy Walker: “I struck out in my last at bat and that sucks.”
—TRIVIA TIME: Where we find obscure stuff:
—Former manager Earl Weaver managed 28 years in the minors and in Baltimore. His first year, at Class D Fitzgerald, Ga. in the Georgia-Florida League, he had a losing record. Then he had 26 straight winning seasons until his last season with the Orioles, a losing season.
—The New York Yankees were the first team to retire a player’s number. Who was it? If you said the obvious, “Babe Ruth’s number 3,” you are wrong. It was Lou Gehrig’s number 4.
—There is only player in MLB history to hit a grand slam home run in his first major league at bat. Not only did Daniel Nava of the Boston Red Sox hit a grand slam during his first MLB at bat, he did it on the first pitch in a 2010 game against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Wonder if he returned to the dugout and said, “This game is easy.”
—The last survivor of the 1953 St. Louis Browns, before they moved to Baltimore in 1954, was All-Star shortstop Billy Hunter. He passed away this week at 97.
—JEALOUSY, JEALOUSY: Most of the WNBA players disgust me with their abject jealousy.
As it should be, Indiana’s Caitlin Clark received the most fan votes for the All-Star game. The players voted her the seventh best guard.
How stupid can those players be to not realize it is because of Clark that WNBA attendance is way up, salries are way up and TV ratings are way up?
But those jealous players are way, way, way down.
—QUOTE MACHINE: Baseball people say the darndest things:
—From catcher/broadcaster/comedian Bob Uecker: “Manager Gene Mauch used to send me up to the plate without a bat and told me to try for a walk. And in 1967 I set the all-time record for passed balls and I didn’t even play every game.”
—From former pitcher Jack Harshman: “If at first you don’t succeed, you must be a pitcher.”
—From former manage Whitey Herzog on playing for manager Casey Stengel: “On a hit-and-run I struck out and Casey says to me, ‘Next time, tra-la-la.’ I didn’t know what tra-la-la was. Next time up, I lined into a double play and Casey says, ‘Like I said, tra-la-la.’”
—From Reggie Jackson on an offer of $1 million to play in Japan when he didn’t like Japanese cuisine: “For a certain amount of money I’d eat Alpo.”
—From former pitcher Jim Kern on getting taken out of a game: “I told the manager I wasn’t tired and he said, ‘No, but the outfielders sure are.’”
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 184: As German poet/author Berthold Auerbach put it, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
—Angel (Aerosmith), We Don’t Need Another Hero (Tina Turner), Hard Habit To Break (Chicago), More Than Words (Extreme), Love Is A Wonderful Thing (Michael Bolton), Shining Star (Manhattans), I Can Dream About You (Dan Hartman), That’s All (Genesis).
—Smooth Operator (Sade), It’s So Easy (Buddy Holly), King Of Wishful Thinking (Go West), Hold Your Head Up (Argent), Blaze Of Glory (Jon Bon Jovi), Tequila (The Champs), R.O.C.K In The USA (John Mellencamp), The Power of Love (Huery Lewis & The News).