Author: Hal McCoy

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave on an off day with nothing to do but visit our family physician and she will tell me, “You’re fine and the co-pay is $50.”

—ON CRUZ CONTROL: Elly De La Cruz is a guy who can outrun the blink of an eye and nobody takes a bathroom break when it is his turn to bat. He is likely to do something you wish you hadn’t missed while zipping up your pants.

Once again he has done something no player has ever done. In his first 198 major league games he has Triple 80s. He has 84 stolen bases, 91 extra base hits and 83 walks.

No player in MLB history ever posted more than 80 stolden bases, 80 extra base hits and 80 walks in their first 200 MLB games.

Now, it is about his defense. Don’t watch. Turn your head. He leads MLB with 20 errors and it is scalp-scratching. He makes spectacular plays running into the outfield to snag pop-ups.

But routine grounders? Not so special. Like so many infielders these days, he doesn’t put his body in front of ground balls. They prefer fielding grounders to the side, like a bull-fighting matador.

That just re-emphasizes my strong belief that he needs to pull an Eric Davis or a Billy Hamilton and move from shortstop to the outfield.

With his speed, he would cover more ground in center field than the seven seas. And with his arm he would be an assists-maven in right field.

The Reds could put Matt McLain at short, his natural position and keep Jonathan India at second base.

Doesn’t that make some sense?

—BOONE-DOGGLE: Just a thought. Wonder if Aaron Boone still would be managing the New York Yankees if George Steinbrenner was still around and treating managers like disposable diapers?

There is no doubt that he would be unemployed today after the Yankees were swept by the New York Mets.

That might have been a good thing. Then the Cincinnati Reds could hired him.

Yeah, I know. I’m prejudiced. Aaron Boone saved my career. But I love his passion and like so many managers this year he is a victim of a plethora of injuries. . .and that includes Cincinnati manager David Bell.

He is being vilified by the fan base when he is being forced, due to injuries, to play a bunch of bench players and Triple-A players.
—MR. KENTUCKY FRIED: Another gem from my unpaid correspondent, Jeff Singleton. . .and where does he find this stuff?

Wade Boggs ate fried chicken before every game, but was no chicken when it came to facing major-league pitchers.

Boggs twice produced at least 150 singles, 50 extra base hits and 100 walks. No other MLB player ever did that just once.

—NAME CHANGE: Another reason why I prefer Cleveland Indians over the Cleveland – – – – dians.

Jacob Ellsbury was a first-round pick im 2005 and was the first full-blood Native American of Navajo descent to make the majors.

Before the draft, the Cleveland Indians asked him if their ‘Chief Wahoo’ logo that ‘The Tribe’ wore on their hats and uniform sleeves offended him.

He said, “No, I’m not at all offended.”

It was a few protesters that hung around outside Jacobs Field that convinced the team to abandon an iconic nickname the team carried since 1901.

Before then, they led baseball in nicknames as they previously went by Blues, Forest Citys, Orphans, Infants and Spiders.

Bring back the ‘Indians.’

—SEATTLE LIGHTWEIGHTS: This says it all about the current offensive miseries of MLB teams:

The Seattle Mariners have led the American League West for most of the season and their less than anemic team batting average is .217. Two-One-Seven! As a team!

It sounds as if the Mariners are using No. 2 pencils at the plate instead of Louisville Sluggers.

—A BUNCH OF NUMBERS: When Joe Torre managed the New York Yankees, the thick pages of analytics from Bill James and Theo Epstein were just taking a neck-strangling hold on MLB teams.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman plopped a booklet full of numbers and mind-altering abbreviations on Torre’s desk

He thumbed through them quickly and said to Cashman, “The numbers are good, but don’t you ever forget the heartbeat.”

Heartbeat? This nerdy figger-filbert gurus these days don’t even believe players have a heart.

—I DEFER TO YOU: When the Reds cut a check to Ken Griffey Jr. for $3.5 million earlier this year, it was the last deferred annuity payment. Griffey has been paid $3.5 million a year by the Reds since 2009.

But the New York Mets are still paying, $1.2 million a year to Bobby Bonilla. And they’ll pay until 2035 with payments that began in 2011.

The Mets general manager who cut that deal was Steve Phillips, who recently said, “Yeah, I made that deal. And he has never thanked me. But I did get a Christmas card from him one year.”

Wonder if Griffey has ever sent former Reds GM Jim Bowden a Christmas card. Maybe he sent him an Easter card to remind him to wipe the egg off his face.

—EYE FOR AN EYE: How the game has changed, Part XIX:

These days, if a pitcher throws an inside fastball, the batter screams epithets and acts as if he wants to fight. The eye-for-an-eye code of the distant past no longer exists.

It used to be, “If you hit one of mine, I’m going to hit one of yours.” That would happen and that would be it.

For example, Bob Gibson said he once hit a New York Mets batter. With no designated hitter, Gibson had to bat. When he came to the plate, a young Mets rookie pitcher hit him in retaliation.

As Gibson ran to first base he tipped his cap to the rookie pitcher as a display of respect for the pitcher doing what he was supposed to do.

The pitcher? Tom Seaver.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 78: Some songs with long titles:

The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (Walker Brothes), You Can Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac), With Or Without You (U2), Heaven Is A Place on Earth (Belinda Carlise), I Just Fell In Love Again (Anne Murray), I Just Died In Your Arms (Cutting Crew).

Kiss An Angel Good Morning (Charlie Pride), Why Can’t We Be Friends (War),, Hey, Won’t You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Spmg (B.J. Thomas), Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting (Elton John), I’d Do Anything For Love, But I Won’t Do That (Meat Loaf). If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me? (Bellamy Brothers).

By Hal McCoy

Even the deepest baseball aficionado would concur that Wednesday afternoon’s Cincinnati Reds-Atlanta Braves game bordered on the bizarre.

The Braves put 14 runners on base in the first five innings and raked Reds starter Frankie Montas for 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

The Reds made three errors, two in the first inning. Shortstop Elly De La Cruz made two errors and leads baseball with 20.

Atlanta’s Matt Olson, 1 for 36, had two hits. Sean Murphy, a Wright State product, 0 for 14, had two hits.

And yet. . .

Despite sloppy defense and poor starting pitching, the Reds recorded a relatively easy 9-4 victory over the injury-stricken Braves.

It clinched a series victory for the Reds with two wins and one game remaining Wednesday night.

How?

In those first five innings, the Braves were 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.

How?

The pitch-thin Braves were forced to call up a soft-thrower to pitch this first game of a day-night doubleheader after Tuesday’s game was rained out.

Allan Winans featured an 89 miles and hour fastball and tried to rely on a bundle of hit-me change-ups. He fooled nobody, not even himself.

He was worse than Montas — 2 2/3 innings, seven runs, six hits (two homers) and three walks.

The Reds scored four runs in the first, ignited, of course, by Elly De La Cruz. He singled with one out and stole second. With two outs, Spencer Steer tripled on a two-out drive on which right fielder Adam Duvall nearly snagged with a dive. De La Cruz scored and Steer continued home on second baseman Zack Short’s too long relay throw for an error.

Winans walked Tyler Stephenson and Jake Fraley launched his second home run of the year, a drive that crashed against the right field foul pole and it was 4-0 before the Braves stepped into the batter’s box.

And despite Montas giving up four runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings, the Reds held on with some fanciful work from the bullpen.

When the day was done, De La Cruz had three hits that included two singles and his team-leading 18th home run, three runs scored and stolen bases numbers 50 and 51.

It was, once again, The Elly Element.

Steer had three extra base hits, a triple and two doubles, drove in three and scored two after entering the game 2 for 20.

Fraley contributed three hits, a run scored and two RBI.

So after getting swept three games by subpar Washington, the Reds once again have risen against a quality opponent.

“We’re finding a way to play good baseball against good teams,” said Steer in the post-game media interview room. “It is as simple as that.

“It is no secret that it’s winning time and we have to string together some good games and stay conistent,” he added. “It’s no secret it’s time to win some ball game, try to get hot and go on a streak.”

Even though the Reds gave him big leads, Montas couldn’t last long enough to get credit for the win.

He had to be rescued with one out in the fifth, two outs shy of qualifying for the win. He loaded the bases with one out with a 9-4 lead.

Sam Moll arrived to strike out Jarred Kelenic and Nacho Alvarez. Moll has inherited 17 runners this season and only one has scored.

After Moll, Lucas Sims, Tony Santillan and Justin Wilson combined to hold the Braves to no runs and no hits over the last 4 2/3 innings. Santillan pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts.

After the Reds scored four in the first, the Braves scored a run in the first and two in the second to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 4-3, but the Reds countered with three in the third on De La Cruz’s homer and a two-run, two-out double by Noelvi Marte.

And Steer’s two-out, two-run double in the fourth assured the Braves of their fourth straight loss and seventh in 10 games.

“The offense did a really good job (12 hits, six for extra bases) of jumping on them early and putting pressure on them by taking extra bases and stealing bases (seven in the two games),” said Steer.

“We had really, really good at bats up and down the order, spraying base hits,” he added. “

The degree of difficulty is much steeper when the two teams play the second game Wednesday night. The Reds must face Atlanta ace Chris Sale (13-3, 2.70), winner of his last three starts. And the Reds are utilizing a bullpen day started by Nick Martinez.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and former commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti wasn’t writing about the Cincinnati Reds when he penned: “Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.” But it sure sounds like it. Reds fans have more broken hearts than a country singer.

—BASEBALL’S MONTY HALL: With the trade deadline creeping up and the Cincinnati Reds not certain what to do. . .well, probably nothing of note. . .let’s flip it back to when a vastly underappreciated general manager did some really good things.

During Wayne Krivsky’s short stay as Reds general manager, before he was undermined by Walt Jocketty, Krivsky made two of the most one-sided trades in Reds history.

And both favored the Reds, by a whopper of a margin. And both trades came within days of each other, in the last days of spring training in 2006.

First, on March 26, he traded minor-league relief pitcher Jeff Stevens to Cleveland for second baseman Brandon Phillips. Stevens made 33 relief appearances in three years for the Chicago Cubs and was done. And everybody knows what Phillips did.

Then on April 7, Krivsky traded highly touted outfielder Wily Mo Pena for pitcher Bronson Arroyo and was burned to a crisp without benefit of a charcoal grille by fans and media.

So how did that work out? Pena hit 16 home runs for Boston over parts of three seasons and by 2010 was playing independent ball for the Bridgeport Bluefish.

Arroyo? For the next seven seasons, Arroyo made 320 consecutive starts without missing a start. And could Wily Mo Pena play the guitar and sing? Nope. Arroyo could. And did. And still does.

Through all that, Krivsky is a forgotten man and that’s a shame.

—BIG NUMBERS (REAL BIG): When a long-time friend and fellow baseball beat writer Brad Schmaltz sent this, I though he was not only pulling my leg, but both legs and both arms.

But it’s true. I looked it up.

The Atlanta Braves have a 19-year-old named Francisco Vicioso pitching for their Dominican Summer League team.

He has pitched three innings and given up only two hits and struck out six. But. . .and this is a huge but. . .

Those three innings have come in 10 games during which he has issued 28 walks, thrown 35 wild pitches, given up 21 runs and his earned run average is 60.00.

The kid must throw 120 miles an hour. Why else would they keep him? His dad is not the general manager nor the field manager.

—DO AS I DO: Former Baltimore Orioles pitcher and underwear salesman Jim Palmer had a theory about giving up home runs.

“The pitcher who gives up runs one at a time wins,” he said. “The pitcher who gives ‘em up two, three and four at a time loses. I gave up long home runs that I turned around and admired like a fan. But the ones I admired were all solos.”

So did he put it into practice? You bet. Palmer pitched 3,948 innings and never gave up a grand slam home run. Not once.

—PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING: Scores of Reds fans were disturbed when the team drafted pitcher Chase Burns instead of power-hitting outfielder Charlie Condon.

Maybe they should have, but pitching is so important in baseball, number one in importance.

Somebody once asked former manager Whitey Herzog what his team needed to win. Said Herzog, “We need three things. Right-handed pitching, left-handed pitching and relief pitching.”

—HISTORY LESSON: From great buddy Andy Furman via the Wall Street Journal:

When the live ball was ushered into baseball in 1920, Babe Ruth astounded the baseball world with 54 home runs.

What folks don’t know is who held the professional record that Ruth broke.

It was a guy named Perry Werden. In 1895, playing for the Minneapolis Millers in the Western League, Werden hit 45 homers in what was described as a real bandbox, Athletic Field.

Werden played six years in the majors for the St. Louis Brown Stockings and the Washington Nationals and hit only 16 homers. But he twice led the league in triples.

He played 1,539 minor league games and stole 350 bases and hit 174 triples. And the year he hit 45 homers, he put together a 40-game hitting streak. For some reason he bounced around and during one five-year span he played for six different teams.

And, no, I didn’t cover him. Just missed him.

—WITH REGULARITY: The 2004 Boston Red Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight in the World Series to end the 86-year Curse of The Bambino.

During the ALCS, when Boston became the first pro team in any sport to come from 3-0 down to win four straight against the New York Yankees, manager Terry Francona subsisted on Metamucil to quell an always grumbling stomach.

After the World Series, Francona signed a contract with Metamucil and appeared in a full-page newspaper ad with a headline: “Congratulations Boston on your World Championship. Let’s hope it becomes a ‘regular’ thing.”

Metamucil. Regular. Get it? OK, as my great friend and author Scott Russell always puts it, “Carry on.”

—NON-ADMIRATION SOCIETY: One of my favorite quotes was uttered by umpire Doug Harvey, who was so authoritative the players called him God.

It was about players standing at home plate admiring their home runs. Said Harvey, “Barry Bonds? If he stood and admired a home run against Bob Gibson or Don Drysdale, the next time he came up they’d knock that earring right out of his ear.”

—FIRST DH MVP?: Did you know that no designated hitter has ever won an MLB MVP award? Say hello to LA DH Shohei Ohtani, the odds-on pick to win the National League MVP.

On Sunday night in Dodger Stadium, he hit a 473-foot home run that was last seen en route to Cucamonga while passing over El Segundo.

—AGAINST ALL ODDS: The U.S. Olympic basketball team was a 43 1/2-point favorite to beat South Sudan in an exhibition game. But it took a drive to the hoop by LeBron James with eight seconds left for the U.S. to avoid wretched embarrassment and win, 101-100.

Question: How can one of the world’s poorest countries field an Olympic basketball team? South Sudan is ravaged by floods and droughts. There is civil war in Suda to the north and more than 500,000 refuges have fled Sudan to South Sudan and malnutrition is rampant.

But the basketball team must eat well.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 76: Music, music, music. . .nothing goes better while you write than music.

Rumours (Fleetwood Mac), Got My Mind Set On You (George Michael), I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash), Angel (Aerosmith), Elvira (Oakridge Boys), I’d Just Love To Lay You Down (Conway Twitty), If You Could Read My Mind (Gordon Lightfoot).

Up Around The Bend (Credence Clearwater Revival), I Can Help (Billy Swan), Islands In The Stream (Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers), World Bee Gees), Last Date (Floyd Cramer), Time Of The Season (The Zombies), Wish You Were (Pink Floyd). I Can’t Help My Self (Four Tops).

By Hal McCoy

As has been their habit in this topsy-turvy season, the Cincinnati Reds resemble a World Series-bound team when they play baseball’s elite.

After enduring a three-game sweep at the hands and feet of the lowly Washington Nationals over the weekend, they played practically perfect baseball Monday night against the potent but crippled Atlanta Braves.

Not only did they beat the Braves, they assaulted All-Star pitcher Reynaldo Lopez en route to a 4-1 victory.

Lopez owned the league’s best earned run average (1.88) of all MLB starters and hadn’t given up more than three runs all year.

And in 13 of his previous 17 starts, he had given up two or fewer runs.

The Reds, though, ripped into him for four runs and seven hits in six innings to end their four-game losing streak.

On the flip side, Cincinnati All-Star pitcher Hunter Greene pitched like an All-Star. He gave up only two singles in seven innings and kicked his way out of more coffins than Bela Lugosi.

The Braves put their leadoff batters on base in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings. And they put their first two on in the second.

And they didn’t score.

Greene threw a season-high 112 pitches while walking three and striking out seven.

Of his team’s penchant for losing to weaker teams with below-average pitchers, but beating the best teams and best pitchers, Greene told Bally Sports Ohio after the game, “We do really good when we play up and we gotta play up all the time no matter who our competition is.

“The boys know that and we have to really tap into that mind-set and believe that before the game starts,” he added. “We play really good teams and we come out and play hard. We have to keep that consistency. Our focus is good and we gotta get back locked in.”

The Reds are catching the Braves at an opportune time. They’ve lost three straight and six of their last nine, mostly due to an injury plague.

They are missing position players Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Michael Taylor and pitchers Spencer Strider and Max Fried. And the Braves signed infielder Whit Merrifield (released by the Phillies) and on his first day in an Atlanta uniform he injured the index fingers on his throwing hand during infield practice.

Offensively, it was all about Elly De La Cruz and Will Benson.

De La Cruz set the tone in the first inning with a triple into the right field corner, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. He scored on Jeimer Candelario’s sacrifice fly,

Benson, an Atlanta native, was 0 for 10 with a .188 batting average when the game began, but he homered with one out in the third.

De La Cruz kept it going with an infield hit and showed his Olympic-style speed by scoring from first on Candelarios’s double to right field. The double ended Candelario’s 0 for 18 stretch of futility.

The Reds added their fourth run in the fifth when Lopez hit Stuart Fairchild, who was batting .133 against right-handed pitchers.

Fairchild swiped second and took third on Benson’s single. Benson then stole second and Fairchild scored on Jonathan India’s sacrifice fly.

Not only did Benson homer, single, walk and steal two bases, he made another stupefuying catch in left field to save two runs.

The Braves had two on with two outs in the second when catcher and Wright State University product Sean Murphy blistered a line drive. Benson fled toward the warning track and made a diving backhanded catch.

So what does this all mean for the Reds, other than squatter’s rights on last place in the National League Central?

Despite the glossy win Monday, it means they can hang a sign on the front of their dugout that reads: “Players for trade or sale. Inquire within.”

With their loss to Miami in the last game before the All-Star game, three straight losses after the break to Washington and despite Monday night’s big win over Atlanta, it is as clear as a starlet’s pretty face that the Reds are all but finished for the 2024 season.

Reports from several sources say the Reds are telling teams that all their potential free agent players are available.

Pitchers in their walk years include Frankie Montas, Nick Martinez, Buck Farmer, Lucas Sims and Justin Wilson.

The Baltimore Orioles, thirsting for pitching help, are said to be interested in Montas and Martinez.

Nearly all contending teams seek bullpen help, even if the Reds bullpen of late has been a pigpen.

That was emphasized again Monday in the ninth when Reds closer Alexis Diaz flirted with disaster and spoiled the shutout.

He gave up a leadoff single to Marcell Ozuna, walked Adam Duvall and gave up a sacrifice fly to Eddie Rosario. He went to 3-and-2 on Murphy with a runner on second. . .and balked him to third. Then he walked Murphy.

That put runners on third and first with the potential tying run in the batter’s box, Orlando Arcia. He flied out to left on the first pitch and it was a 4-1 Reds win.

Greene tried to pump up Diaz after the game and said, “Diaz was a little shaky tonight, but he’s an All-Star, man, he’s a fantastic pitcher. I don’t want him to forget that. He knows he is that guy. He has that confidence.”

The only Reds position player who becomes a free agent after the season is Austin Slater, but the Reds probably would be happy to discharge outfielder Benson and infielder Candelario.

Even celebrity/singer-actor Nick Lachey, a Cincinnati native and devout Reds fan, is frustrated. After the Reds were swept in Washington, he tweeted, “This is getting to be a sad, tired story. Something’s gotta change.”

By Hal McCoy

The 2024 baseball season is fast slipping toward oblivion for the Cincinnati Reds, if it is not already here.

Facing a team that firmly states it is in a rebuilding period with a lineup sprinkled with young players, the Reds were swept over the weekend by the Washington Nationals.

The third straight defeat to Washington was applied Sunday afternoon, 5-2, Cincinnati’s fourth straight loss that dropped it to six games under .500 (47-53).

The coup de grace was perpetrated by the youngest player on the field, 21-year-old James Wood, playing in his 17th major league game.

Reds relief pitcher Justin Wilson was brought in to protect a 2-2 tie with two-out and two-on in the eighth inning.

Wood, a lanky 6-foot-7 outfielder, turned on Wilson’s first pitch and whacked it 404 feet into the left field seats, a three-run game-deciding home run.

Wood must have decided to hit one where they couldn’t catch it. He lined one to left field in the fourth inning and Will Benson made a diving, rollining catch. In the sixth inning he crushed one to the wall on which Stuart Fairchild made another of his crash-against-the-wall catches.

Nobody was going to catch his home run.

It was Wilson’s second failuere in two days. On Saturday he also came into the game in the eighth inning, asked to guard a 4-4 tie. But he gave up a leadoff double and a two-out run-scoring single to Jacob Young for a 5-4 Washington lead that stood up.

On Sunday, Lucas Sims started the eighth and retired the first two. But Keibert Ruiz singled to right and Ildemaro dropped a bold, daring two-out bunt and beat it for a hit, putting two on.

Wilson came in and threw one pitch, the pitch on which Wood put on the heavy wood. Right now, when Wilson sticks his head out of the bullpen, line drives erupt. There are some relief pitchers who should not be allowed to play with matches.

And just like what happened Saturday to Reds starter Nick Lodolo, the bullpen wasted an above-and-beyond pitching performance Sunday by Andrew Abbott.

He produced 6 2/3 innings of two-run, six hit pitching and both runs were unearned.

The Reds needed to listen to an old song by Kitty Kallen on their post-game flight to Atlanta for a three games series: “Little Things Mean A Lot.”

While the Nats executed, the Reds executed themselves.

Washingto scored two runs in the third when they should have scored none.

The Nationals had runners on third and second with two outs. Reds catcher Austin Wynns had Jacob Young easily picked off third base for the third out. But third baseman Noelvi Marte missed the throw and drew an error, enabling Young to score. Harold Ramirez followed with a run-scoring single, the only two runs off Lodolo.

Cincinnati’s two runs came on solo home runs by Marte in the second and Stuart Fairchild in the fifth off Washington starter Jake ‘Curvin’ Irvin.

Marte’s home run was just his second to go with just two walks and 26 strikeouts in 78 plate appearances. And he is hitting .176.

Irvin was coming off two horrendous starts against Milwaukee and the New York Mets — 10 innings, 12 runs, 18 hits, six walks, four home runs and two losses.

But on Sunday he had blind faith in his curveball and when Irvin makes his curveball behave he is a tough try.

In seven innings, the Reds collected the two home runs, two doubles and a single. He walked nobody and struck out seven during his 100-pitch day.

After Fairchild’s home run tied it, 2-2, in the fifth, the Reds had only one hit and two base runners in the final four innings.

Another base-running blunder by Elly De La Cruz wiped out a possible run in the sixth. He led with a double to right center. When Jeimer Candelario grounded to short, De La Cruz was caught trying to take third.

De La Cruz walked with two outs in the eighth and stole second, his MLB-leading 48th theft.

Once again Candelario had a chance to break the 2-2 tie, but he fouled out and finished the three-game series 0 for 12.

Rece Hinds, 1 for 13 with four strikeouts after his record-setting start, sat this one out.

After Wood’s home run, Washington closer Kyle Finnegan pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to record a save in all three games, pushing his total to 28. Reds closer Alexis Diaz never touched the mound over the weekend.

The Nationals have won five of their last six and own an identical record to the reeling Reds (47-53),

 

 

By Hal McCoy

Q: Is it customary for a pitcher like the Cincinnati Reds’ Fernando Cruz to apologiz to Hunter Greene when he gives up five runs to ruin Greene’s shutout? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: Depends on the person and knowing Cruz’s personality he probably apologized over and over and over again. And he probably said, “I’ll do better next time,” which he did. He helped preserve Greene’s win in his next start by retiring a batter with two on and two outs. And I’m certain Greene said, “Thank you, Fernando.”

Q: Any chance Elly De La Cruz could be a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals? PENNIE, Springfield.
A: De La Cruz is from the Dominican Republic, so he probably thinks a football is a lopsided soccer ball. But with his athletic skills, he probably would learn the game in one practice. He no doubt could win an Olymic gold medal in curling. For sure he would in the walking event. He has 44 walks. And if he would decide to try football, I’d prefer it be with the Cleveland Browns.

Q: When a player is designated for assignment, does that mean he is no longer part of his team’s organization? — BILL, Huber Heights.
A: When a player is DFA’d, he is immediately removed from the team’s 40-man roster. Within seven days, the team must trade him or place him on outright waivers, which means any other team can claim him and put him on their 40-man roster. If none of that happens, his original team can release him or offer him a spot on one of their minor league teams, but he won’t be on the 40-man big league roster. It’s better than giving a player the pink slip or his walking papers. But, as comedian George Carlins asked, “Has anybdoy ever really, actually received or even seen a pink slip or walking papers?”

Q: Who were the best players you ever saw who wore glasses when they played? — JEFF, Beavercreek.
A: Let’s start with Chris Sabo, who wore goggles when he played third base for the Reds. Manager Pete Rose called his Specs. The best? Had to be pitcher Greg Maddux, who wore glassses to spot the corners of home plate. Unbelievably, Dayton native Steve Yeager wore glasses when he caught. And it is said that pitcher Ryne Duren, who wore bottle-bottom glasses, hit a batter in the on-deck circle. Broadcaster Jack Brickhouse asked Earl Torgeson why he wore glasses and he said, “Because I want to be able to see.” Denny McLain won 31 games wearing glasses. Other Reds: Tom Hume, Kent Tekulve, Leon Durham, Jerry Hairston. Only three players who wore glasses are in the Hall of Fame: Maddux, Reggie Jackson and Chick Hafey, the Reds’ first All-Star. And I need glasses to read what I just wrote.

Q: Whatever happened to Scooter Gennett after a couple of good years with the Reds? — SCOTT, Vandalia.
A: Gennett, the first ‘Scooter’ in the majors since Scooter Rizzuto, played two full years with the Reds in 2017 and 2018 but was injured and played only 21 games in 2019 before he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. The Reds sent the Giants a Scooter and some cash for the always mysterious PTNBL (player to be named later). The one indelible mark Gennett left was hitting four home runs in one game. After that historic event, he said, “It’s not how big or strong you are, it’s how efficient and sometimes lucky.” But he didn’t survive the season as the Giants released him in August and nobody picked him up. It’s a tough game.

Q: What is the most home runs ever hit in a nine-inning game? — JEFF, Union.
A: In June of 2019, the Arizona Diamondbacks started a game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Bank One Ballpark with the first three batters hitting home runs. That was harbinger of homers. Before the game was over, the two teams combined for an MLB record 13 homers. The D-Backs hit eight. No Arizona player hit more than one. Philly’s Scott Kingery hit two of his team’s five and one was hit by former Reds outfielder Jay Bruce. One team? In 1987 the Toronto Blue Jays hit 10 homers in one game against Baltimore. Orioles pitchers were treated the next day for shell shock.

Q: Whenever The Big Red Machine is brought up, members of the pitching staff are rarely mentioned. Why? — MIKE, Middletown.
A: That has always perplexed me, too. The other nickname for that team is The Great Eight and when there is a reunion or a functin, the eight position players are featured. The BRM’s pitching staff was exceptional: Don Gullett, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Freddie Norman, Pedro Borbon, Clay Carroll, Rawly Eastwick, Will McEnaney. Without those guys, the Big Red Machine is missing about eight spark plugs. Why are they ignored? All the big egos and all the big talkers were the position players.

Q: In your illustrious career, who is the youngest athlete you ever interviewed that went on to stardom in their sport? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: In 1976, at the zenish of The Big Red Machine, there was this 7-year-old kid running around the outfield snagging fly balls like a big leaguer and after batting practice he would be in manager Sparky Anderon’s office grabbing red pop out a mini-refrigerator. Because of who he was, I interviewed him for a little feature story and got maybe 10 words out of him. Twenty-four years later I interviewed him as a player with the Cincinnati Reds and still couldn’t get more than 10 words an interview out of him. He hated to talk about himself. His name (in case you haven’t already recognized him): Ken Griffey Jr. And I’m still interviewing him, ten words at a time.

Q: In your opinion, who are the top five players born in the Dayton area to play in the majors and I’m sure Craig Stammen will be in that list? — ROB, North Star.
A: While I love Craig Stammen and he pitched for the University of Dayton, his native North Star is a ‘fur piece’ from Dayton. My list starts with Mike Schmidt and Jesse Haines, both Hall of Famers. Roger Clemens was born in Dayton, but left very young. So did Chris Chambliss, so neither is on my list as truly Dayton-bred. Steve Yeager was born in West Virginia, but came to Dayton at an early age. He is on my list. So are true Dayton-borns Ron Nischwitz, Fred Scherman and Jeff Reboulet.

And don’t forget: Bob Borkowski, Mike Maddux, Duffy Dyers, Mickey McGuuire, Cal Hogue and Ducky Holmes.

By Hal McCoy

It was a Battle of the Bullpens Saturday night in Nationals Park and the Cincinnati Reds came up unarmed.

Four Washington Nationals relief pitchers, including two former Reds, held the Reds to no runs and two hits over the final six innings in a 5-4 Washington victory.

On the other side, Reds relief pitchers Fernando Cruz and Justin Wilson gave up two late-inning runs as Cincinnati fell to 8-19 in one-run decisions,

And it ruined a good performance by Reds starter Nick Lodolo. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up six hits while walking one and striking out eight.

The Reds led, 4-3, after six innings, but number nine hitter Jacob Young singled to open the seventh. Manager David Bell permitted Lodolo to face left-handed CJ Abrams and he flied to left on Lodolo’s 104th pitch, the most he has thrown this season.

Bell brought in Fernando Cruz to face Lane Thomas and Young stole second. On a 3-and-2 count Thomas blooped a game-tying double down the right field line and it was 4-4.

Justin Wilson began the eighth and was greeted with a double to left Ildermaro Vargas. Rookie James Wood, 21, Washington’s version of Elly De La Cruz, moved the runner to third on a fundamentally sound grounder to the right side.

Trey Lipscomb grounded to the mound for the second out and Vargas had to hold third.

But it was that number nine hitter again. . .Young. He picked on Wilson’s first pitch and singled to left, driving home the winning run.

Washington closer Kyle Finnegan recorded hios 27th save with a 1-2-3 ninth that began with a strikeout of De La Cruz. Jeimer Candelario concluded a 0-for-5 night by lining out to center and it ended on Spencer Steer’s pop-up.

Former Red Dylan Floro pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth (one hit, one walk) and former Red Derek Law pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth (one hit, one walk).

It looked as if the Reds would run away with it early when Washington starter MacKenzie Gore had no idea where home plate was located. If there had been a quarter on top of the plate, he could have found it with a metal detector.

His first seven pitches of the game were balls and he walked both Jonathan India and De La Cruz. Both scored. India scored on Spencer Steer’s single and De La Cruz scored on Austin Slater’s sacrifice fly.

It took Gore a career-worst 48 pitches to get through the first, the most pitches he ever threw in one inning.

The Reds were on a streak of 19 straight games without giving up a run in the first inning. That ended with one swing of the bat.

Lodolo gave up a leadoff infield single to Abram and struck out the next two. But Harold Ramirez launched a 1-and-1 fastball 429 feet into the left-center stands to tie it, 2-2.

Gore’s miseries continued in the second after he retired the first two Reds. He walked India again and De La Cruz doubled him home.

Gore was done after two innings and the Reds scored another run in the third against relief pitcher Jordan Weems. It came off the bat of
Tyler Stephenson, a 426-foot homer to left, his 11th homer and fifth in eight games.

That made it 4-2, but the Reds hit the snooze button from there — no runs, two hits over the final six innings. They were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.

Washington scored its third run in the fourth inning, but Lodolo escaped when it could have been worse.

He walked Riley Adams to start the inning and Vargas singled. Wood forced Vargas at second as Adams took third. Lodolo struck out Lipscomb for the second out.

That brought up the pesky Young and Lodolo hit him with a pitch on a 1-and-2 count, filling the bases.

Abrams beat out a slow roller to first baseman Candelario, scoring Adams and the bases remained full. Lodolo kept it at 4-3 when he retired Thomas on a comebacker.

But the bullpen couldn’t hold it and the offense couldn’t add-on as the Reds lost to the Nationals for the second straight night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Hal McCoy

It was not the way the Cincinnati Reds hoped to start the season after the All-Star break.

In fact, there was no hope for the Reds Friday night in Nationals Park, a should-be embarrassing 8-5 loss to the Washington Nationals.

The score is misleading. The Reds trailed, 8-1, after eight innings and staged one of their many ninth-inning rallies that falls short.

They scored four in the ninth and had two on with two outs and Elly De La Cruz at the plate. A home run would tie it. He grounded to second to end it.

The Reds faced left-hander Patrtick Corbin, who walked to the mound with a 1-9 record, the highest earned run average (5.57) of any MLB starter and the highest opponent’s batting average of any starter.

And the Reds scored one run and produced three meagre singles against Corbin during his six innings, helping him celebrate his 35th birthday.

Meanwhile, Reds manager David Bell started Frankie Montas, his starting pitcher with the worst record (4-7) and highest earned run average (4.38).

Corbin helped the Nationals start the second half with a win after they lost six of eight before the break. Entering the game Corbin was 17-33 over his last 82 starts over 3 1/2 seasons.

He probably wondered if maybe he should have stuck to basketball. In high school he could dunk effortlessly and set a school record with eight three-pointers in one game.

On Friday, he stuffed the Reds.

For three innings, Montas was in control — no runs, no hits and two walks.

The Reds gave him a 1-0 lead in the third on Stuart Fairchild’s single and stolen base (after he was picked off first, but made it to second) and a run-scoring single by Jonathan India.

After issuing back-to-back walks in the first, Montas retired nine straight. But he walked former Reds outfielder Jesse Winker on a full count. Juan Yepez singled and the runners took third and second on a wild pitch.

James Wood, a 21-year-old rookie, pushed a two-run single past first base and the Nationals led, 2-1.

It quickly became 4-1 when Keibert Ruiz pulled a two-run home run into the the right field seats.

The ugliness worsened in the fifth when Montas gave up a two-out, three-run home run to Yepez and it was 7-1.

The Reds handed the Nationals another run in the seventh. Jacob Young opened with a double off Buck Farmer. He stole third, his second theft of the night and 22nd of the season.

With two outs, Winker was walked intentionally, the fourth straight time he reached base. He stole second and continued to third on catcher Tyler Stephenson’s error that enabled Young to score Washington’s eighth run.

Winker, one of baseball’s slowest runners when he played for the Reds, shed 25 pounds and he has stolen 14 bases this season. Washington swiped five bases.

As so often happens with the Reds when they are getting their doors blown off, they staged an uprising in the ninth.

They scored a pair of runs on a two-run double by Austin Slater, his second hit in 14 at bats since the Reds acquired him in a trade with the San Francisco Giants.

After Slater’s double, the Nationals brought in former Reds relief pitcher Derek Law and he did the near-impossible. He walked Noelvi Marte, Marte’s second walk this season in 71 plate appearances.

With two on, Rece Hinds struck out. He doubled in the eighth, but he has cooled off — only 1 for his last 9.

Pinch-hitter Jake Fraley doubled for two more runs and it was 8-5, forcing Washington manager Dave Martinez to bring in his closer, Kyle Finnegan to face India with two outs and a runner on second.

Finnegan, an All-Star, walked India on a full count, bringing the potential tying run to the plate in De La Cruz. De La Cruz extended his hitting streak to seven games with an infield single in the sixth.

De La Cruz worked it to a full count before he grounded to second to end it, 8-5.

It was the first game of a nine-game trip through Washington, Atlanta and Tampa Bay that takes the Reds to the July 31 trade deadline.

The results probably will determine whether the Reds seek help with trades or dump players or remain status quo.

The awful start to the trip does not bode well for the Reds, now four games under .500 (47-51) and 8 1/2 games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, waiting to see which Cincinnati Reds team shows up for the ‘second half’ and, actually, waiting to see which players show up.

—SOME HINDS-IGHT: Rece Hinds: The man, the myth, the legend.

In one week, the Cincinnati Reds outfielder is treating MLB as if he is playing Little League in Williamsport, PA.

In seven games he is hitting .423 with five homers, three doubles, a triple and 11 RBI. He also has two singles and a couple of stolen bases. And most of his home runs cover more air than United Flight 393.

Great stuff. . .and the kid is humble.

But everybdoy, take a large gulp of fresh air. It can’t continue. As the poet Yeats wrote, “Not a finish worth the start.” Let’s let this play out. He was only hitting .201 at Triple-A Louisville when he was an emergency call-up when Stuart Fairchild was injured.

Remember Aristides Aquino? When the Reds called him up in 2019, he tore it up for a month. But that was it. He was up-and-down between Louisville and Cincinnati the next three years, never making an impact.

This isn’t to say Hinds is another Aquino. It is just a reminder that high expectations and pressure can weight too heavily on young shoulders.

Let’s see how this plays out over the long haul, and a baseball season is a long, long, long haul.

—FINDING FUN: How did I fill an empty Wednesday night with no MLB on television except the fifth re-run of the MLB All-Star game, the eighth re-run of the Home Run Derby and the 10th re-run of the All-Star ‘Celebrity’ Softball Game?

Stumbled upon an WNBA game and, sure enough, it was the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark against the Dallas Wings. Clark scored 24 points, but once again displayed how much she is a team player with 19 assists. She accounted for 66 points, an all-time WNBA record.

Nineteen assists? Yep, a WNBA record. And she could have had 10 more, but teammates missed open shots after she passed to them. But it wasn’t enough to win the game. Dallas, with 6-foot-7 center Kalani Brown, won, 101-93.

And it is a poor taste joke that Clark is not included on the women’s U.S. Olympic basketball team. That’s like as if the U.S. Men’s team did not include Steph Curry.

THEN I STUMBLED upon an All-Star baseball game, one better than the MLB All-Star game. It was the West Coast League, a summer college league.

With the South leading, 2-1, in the bottom of ninth, the North had the bases loaded, two outs, 3-and-2 count on the batter. A grounder was hit to deep short. With a full count, everybody was running and the runner on third scored and a kid named Gavin Jones scored from second — a two-run walk-off infield single and a 3-2 North victory.

Some of the team names: Walla Walla Sweets, Portland Pickles, Dub Sea Fishsticks, Port Angeles Lefties, Santooth Sockeyes, Redmond Dudes, Kamloops NorthPaws, Bellingham Bells, Springfield Drifters.

—EXPRESS-LY SPEAKING: The Legend of Nolan Ryan is not a legend, it is as real as sore feet and maple syrup.

And I never get tired of finding unbelievable things Ryan did. . .as in a game in 1974 against the Boston Red Sox.

Ryan faced 54 batters in a 13-inning game and struck out 19 and walked 10. He struck out leadoff hitter Cecil Cooper six times. And he threw 278 pitches.

A 100-pitch limit? They didn’t even have a 200-pitch limit and probably not 300.

And he pitched again four days later.

—ROSE-Y OUTLOOK: The Legend of Pete Rose is not a legend, it is as real as back taxes and pork rinds.

Every baseball fan worth a called strike three knows The Hit King amassed 4,256 hits.

Some things you probably did not know about Rose’s 24-year career: 63 four-hit games, 107 times hit by pitch, 198 stolen bases and 149 times caught stealing, 56 sacrifice bunts, 79 sacrifice flies, intentionally walked 167 times and grounded into double plays 247 times.

And he hit .303 against 22 Hall of Fame pitchers.

—A BUNCH OF OH-FERS: Speaking of great hitters, there were periods when they weren’t so great. They all suffered a period of oh-fers.

The longest of Babe Ruth’s career was 0 for 21. Lou Gehrig’s was 0 for 20. Barry Bonds struggled through an 0 for 23 (while he played for Pittsburgh and before his PED episodes). Tony Gwynn’s was 0 for 19. Ty Cobb and Ted Williams endured 0 for 17s.

—THE FELTON FAILURE: A fellow named Terry Felton pitched from 1979 through 1982 and is still looking for his first major league win.

Felton, a right-hander who was a No. 2 draft pick, appeared in 49 games and ended his career 0-and-16 with a 5.53 earned run average.

He started10 games and pitched in relief 39 times. Total failure? Well, he did have five saves.

—TERRY THE TERRIFIC: Before manager Terry Francona led the Boston Red Sox to a World Series title in 2004, the Bosox had lost four straight World Series — 1946, 1967, 1975 (to the Cincinnati Reds) and 1986. There was a common denoninator. They lost all four in the seventh game.

Although I never covered one of his teams, Francona was one of my favorite baseball people.

The Reds and Cleveland Indians/Guardiansw share a spring training facility in Goodyear, Az. Even though I didn’t cover Cleveland, several mornings I would stop in at the then-Indians complex just to listen to Francona’s morning media sessions. They were always a hoot.

There was a game in which outfielder Oscar Gonzalez, thinking his catch was the third out, flipped the ball into the stands, enabling a runner to advance from second to third because it was only the second out.

At the end of the inning, when Gonzalez arrived in the dugout, Francona said to him, “I haven’t been to Triple-A in a while. Do they make you get three outs there?”

—JOEY’S OH-FER: For those wondering about Joey Votto’s progress. . .uh, not much.

In a low-Class A game last week, Votto had to take off his Dunedin Blue Jays cap and put on a golden sombero. He batted four times and struck out four times against the Tampa Tarpons. Tampa won, 10-0, as Dunedin got one hit. And Votto is hitting .211 with 14 strikeouts in 38 at bats.

—WRIGHT IS RIGHGT: From my favorite dead-pan comedian, Steven Wright: “My friend is an illiterate so he does judge a book by its cover.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 75: Onward and upward (and some even downward):

Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham), Somebody To Love (Jefferson Airplane), Light My Fire (The Doors), Hello, Good-Bye (The Beatles), Livin’ On A Prayer (Bon Jovi), Darlin’ (Frankie Miller).

Thank God I’m A Country Boy (John Denver), You’re No Good (Linda Ronstadt), I Started A Joke (BeeGees), Green, Green Grass Of Home (Tom Jones), Wicked Game (Chris Isaak), Every Day People (Sly & The Family Stone),