By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and will somebody please call Will McEnaney, Rawly Eastwick, Clay Carroll, Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, Randy Myers, Doug Bair, Danny Graves, Jeff Shaw, Sam LeCure. . .some former relief pitcher to please, please help the Reds bullpen.
—A REDS RANT: Can anybody explain how a major league pitcher (OK, an alleged major league pitcher) throw 12 straight balls?
That’s what Cincinnati Reds pitcher Graham Ashcraft did Friday night against the Cleveland Indians (bah, humbug on that Guardians crap).
Ashcraft walked three straight batters on four balls each, 12 straight pitches out of the strike zone.
I’m legally blind and I’m 85 years old and I know I could throw a couple of pitches in the strike zone out of 12 attempts. Of course, they would be hit into Lake Erie but they would be in the strike zone.
The Reds bullpen right now is what I call a pigpen.
Ironically, it was a long time ago, but the Reds were in Cleveland and the bullpen was awful. So I wrote, “The Reds bullpen is a pigpen.”
The next day, relief pitcher David Weathers came into the clubhouse waving a copy of my story. He spotted me and confronted me, jamming the story in my face and screaming, “So we’re a pigpen, huh, we’re a pigpen?”
I tried to think quickly on my feet and say something weak like, “That’s not my story, somebody put my by-line on it,” or “I meant that as a compliment because pigs are smarter than bulls.”
Before I could open my mouth, Kent Mercker, a fellow bullpenner and close friend to Weathers, said, “Hal’s right. We are a pigpen. The only thing I ask is that Hal let me be the head hog.”
I love Kent Mercker.
On the same bullpen vein, or vain, how can a major league pitcher (well, rumored to be one), give up nine runs and five home runs in 3 1/3 innings?
That’s what Tony Santillan did during the Reds eight-game losing streak that plunged them from first to worst in the National League Central in little more than week.
What finally set me off on this rant was Saturday night when Chris Paddack, who the Reds retrieved off the scrap heap, turned over a 4-2 lead over Cleveland after five innings.
What a shocker! For Miami, was Paddack was 0-5 with a 7.63 earned run average, so the Marlins kicked him out the back door.
But on Saturday he pitched as if he was 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA.
Enter the battered, beleaguered, befuddled and bewitched bullpen. Four bullpenners gave up five runs, four hits and six walks to blow the game, 7-4.
Luis Mey, Sam Moll, Pierce Johnson and Connor Phillips all gave up at least one run, at least one hit and at least one walk.
Yep, a pigpen.
—HAVE GLOVE, WILL TRAVEL: Joel Youngblood remains the only MLB player in history to be traded and on that day play for two teams in different cities.
He was playing for the New Mets during a a day game in Chicago’s Wrigley Field and batted in the third inning. He slugged a double off Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins.
Before his next at bat, he was told he was traded to Montreal and the Expos neeed him in right now fashion.
Youngblood went to the hotel to pack, realized he’d left his glove in the dugout and returned to Wrigley to retreive it.
Then he flew to Philadelphia, partaking of an airline meal, to join the Expos. Manager Jim Fanning used him as a pinch-hitter and he singled off Hall Of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton.
Not only did he play a game in two cities on the same day, he got hits off two Hall of Fame pitchers in the same day. That, too, may be a first.
When Youngblood played for the Reds, he played every position but pitcher., Catcher? One inning.
The Reds had a big lead in a game and Johnny Bench left the game. His back-up, Bill Plummer was called out on strikes in the eighth inning and said some magic words to umpire Bruce Froemming and was ejected.
Now the Reds had no catcher. Youngblood went behind the plate and caught a scoreless ninth inning, earning the nickname of Yogi Youngblood.
—THE FAST TRACK: Aroldis Chapman still owns the fastest record pitch in MLB history, 105.8 miles per hour, thrown in 2010 with the Cincinnati Reds.
And he was so proud of it his Ohio License plate number on his yellow Lamborghini was ‘105-8.’
His fastball still comes attached to trailing flames 11 years later. Last season, at age 38, he threw a four-seamer at 102.3 mph, fastest ever thrown by a Boston Red Sox pitcher.
So who is second and third. Second is Ben Joyce’s 105.5, thrown in 2024 for the Los Angeles Angles and third is Jordan Hicks at 105.1 thrown for the St. Lous Cardinals in 2018.
—THE WRONG DRAFT: In 1969, young men were being drafted for the Vietnam War. When the Reds selected Ken Griffey Sr. in the 29th round.
They sent Griffey a letter informing him of his selection. He opened the letter and exclaimed to his mother, Ruth, “Hey, mom. I’ve been drafted.”
And she nearly fainted and said, “Oh my God, no.”
Griffey then signed for a Reds’ jacket, five pairs of socks, no bonus, and a salary of $500 a month.
—WHAT’S A STRIKEOUT?: When Joe Sewell played for the Cleveland Indians, he was the epitome of ‘put-the-ball-in-play.’
From 1925 to 1932, here are the number of times he struck out in each season: four, six, seven, nine, four, three, eight, three, four.
Add those up and it’s 44 total strikeouts in nine season. His three strikeouts in one season is an MLB record that will stand until the end of time.
And he has a record of 115 straight games without a strikeout. For his 13-year career over 7,132 at bats, he struck out 114 times. In 2009, Mark Reynolds struck out 223 times. . .one year.
Amazingly, Sewell used the same bat for all of his 13 seasons. It must have been made out of redwood.
—GUYS NAMED CHASE: Before the 21st century, how many MLB players were named Chase? None.
But the name is now extremely popular with 15 MLB players named Chase, including Cincinnati’s Chase Burns. And there will be another when Chase Petty is called up.
Some of the guys named Chase: Utley, Headley, Anderson DeLauter, Whitley, Wright, Lee, Dollandeer and Meidroth.
Another 21st century first name? Travis. Again, 15.
—FOUR POINTS?: Was channel-surfing Saturday afternoon and for some reason stopped at a Louisville Kings-D.C. Defenders UFL football game.
It was just in time to see Louisville’s Tanner Brown kick a 60-yard field goal. And they put four points on the board. Four?
That’s right. In UFL games any field goal 60 yards or longer nets four points. Brown’s kick would have made it from 67 yards.
And then they said it was illegal to punt when a team is in enemy territory. That’s right, when a team crosses the 50 it is not allowed to punt. The team must go for it on fourth down or kick a field goal if it is inside the 50.
Very intriguing. Sounds like a couple of rules the NFL could implement
—WAS HE TEED OFF?: The PGA is certainly a stickler for rules.
South African golfer Garrick Higgo shot a 67 in the first round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink that would have led the tournament. Would have.
But Higgo was less than 30 seconds late for his tee time and was handed a two-stroke penalty and his official score was 69.
Wonder what his penalty would have been if he had been five minutes late?
—QUOTE MACHINE: Baseball people say the darndest things:
—FROM former Reds center fielder Cesar Geronimo, when it was pointed out he was the 3,000th strikeout victim of both Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan: “I was just at the right place at the right time.”
—FROM Pete Rose on why he always slid head first: “It gets my picture in the paper.”
—FROM Cincinnati Reds manager Tito Francona: “You always think you are going to win until you lose.” (Yogi Berra couldn’t have said it better.)
—TRIVIA TIME: Stuff that interests me and all baseball seamheads:
—When Joe Morgan retired, his career walks totaled 1,875, behind only Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Since then Barry Bonds walked 2,558 times and Rickey Henderson 2,190, dropping Morgan to fifth.
—Did you know that the original Cincinnati franchise is now in Atlanta. The original franchise, the first professional team, dissolved in 1870.
Founder Harry Wright moved to Boston and re-organized there as the Red Stockings,
using some of the original Cincinnati players.
The team name was eventually changed to the Boston Braves and the franchise moved to Milwaukee and then to Atlanta.
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 177: As novelist/poet George Eliot put it, “Life seems to go on without effort when I am filled the music.”
—The McCoy (Ventures), My Dream (Platters), In Dreams (Roy Orbison), Dream Lover (Bobby Darin), Dream Weaver (Gary Wright), Dream On (Aerosmith), #9 Dream (John Lennon), Sweet Dreams (Beyonce), Daydream Believer (Monkees), Dreamer (Supertramp), Dreamlover (Mariah Carey), Dreams (Cranberries).
—Surfin’ Safari (Beach Boys), Honey (Bobby Goldsboro), Cool Change (Little River Band), In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel), No One Is To Blame (Howard Jones), It’s Sad To Belong (England Dan & John Ford Coley), Baby Come Back (Player), Sunshine Of Your Love (), Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple).