OBSERVATIONS: Pitching teammates marvel over Wiley Wade Miley
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave. bleary-eyed from watching the Cincinnati Reds on the west coast, only to be awakened every morning at 7 a.m. by my Havanese, The Mighty Quinn, who must have a Mickey Mouse watch somewhere on his paw. —Nobody appreciates a pitcher more than another pitcher. And the […]
Change the name, but the venue’s the same
By Hal McCoy They can change the name of the baseball venue in San Francisco all they want, but Luis Castillo recognizes it. When the park on San Francisco Bay was first opened it was Pacific Bell Park. Then it became SBC Park. Then it was AT&T Park. Now, as Castillo walks to the mound […]
De Leon remembers from where he came
By Hal McCoy Jose De Leon is one thankful pitcher that there was somebody outside his highly supportive immediate family who believed in him. That person is former Southern University baseball coach Roger Cador. “Man, I am what I am today, in part, because of him,” said De Leon on the eve of his second […]
Tejay Antone: A pitcher who loves home runs
By Hal McCoy Like current-day travelers during the pandemic, travel distances by major league baseballs this season were supposed to be limited. MLB allegedly toned down the baseballs so they wouldn’t leave the playing field like launched space shuttles. Don’t try to tell that to Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Tejay Antone. He watched baseballs easily […]
OBSERVATIONS: Shortstop can be hard to play on Opening Day
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, perusing some highlights/lowlights around baseball on Opening Day. —Two errors in two innings by Cincinnati Reds ‘new’ shortstop, Eugenio Suarez, led to three runs in the team’s 11-6 Opening Day mishap against the St. Louis Cardinals. As bad as it looked, it wasn’t the worst Opening […]
OBSERVATIONS: Why oh why did the Reds leave Sarasota
By HAL McCOY UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, Siesta Key edition, as I sit under a beach umbrella on the sugary beach. —Ed Smith Stadium, spring training home for the Cincinnati Reds from 1997 to 2009, is looking strong and sturdy. The ol’ boy had a $50 million face lift after the Reds departed. […]
OBSERVATIONS: Disturbing comments filtering out of Goodyear
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave after a winter’s worth of reading about baseball and now ready for Real Baseball and here is what I’ve read: —The Spaceman Chronicles (Bill Lee), Scott Russell. —Season in Hell, Mike Shropshire. —Bill Veeck, Paul Dickson. —Tom Seaver, Bill Madden —24, John Shea. —Oscar Charleston, Jeremy […]
Votto vows to return to his personal ‘Days of Thunder.’
By Hal McCoy Joey Votto not only enjoys ‘The Bat Flip Brigade,’ he wants to join them. . .blast some baseball so hard he can nonchalantly flip his bat in celebration. “You see guys doing some real cool bat flips on Twitter that you forward to your buddy,” said the Cincinnati Reds 37-year-old first baseman. […]
Tucker, Tyler give Reds ‘Double-T’ catching tandem
By Hal McCoy The guys behind the mask this season for the Cincinnati Reds are a pair of ‘Ts,’ Tucker and Tyler. It will be veteran two-time Gold Glove winner Tucker Barnhart and rookie Tyler Stephenson performing the team’s catching duties. For Stephenson, it has been a long and winding trail for a No. 1 […]