Man Cave: Some not-so-deep thinking stuff
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while wondering when the Olympics is going to add speed texting as an event and please don’t tell me they already have. —I nearly did a back flip in my backyard when I saw Atlanta manager Brian Snitker remove superstar Ronald Acuna Jr., from a game […]
Another late Reds’ rally falls one-run short, 5-4
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — The temperature in Great American Ball Park Sunday afternoon was plus-90s with a heat index somewhat close to Dante’s Inferno. But St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty kept the Cincinnati Reds bats pretty much encased in Greenland-like ice. Only the heat could stop him, after five innings, and by that […]
Is the Reds’ current roster of position players what it should be?
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — As far as the make-up of their 25-man roster is concerned, the Cincinnati Reds have reached a point of no return. There isn’t a position player on the roster who doesn’t deserve to be where he is, no way any of them should be shipped back to Class AAA Louisville. […]
Aquino: Greek god, thoroughbred or ‘The Natural?’
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — The Legend of Aristides Aquino continues to expand like a hot air balloon on steroids. It seems that he can hit a home run any time he wants, and maybe he can. To the astonishment of everybody but himself, Aquino hot-whacked a three-run home run Saturday night that helped lift […]
Bell playing baseball poker with a short stack
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — No Joey Votto, No Eugenio Suarez. No Jesse Winker. No Amir Garrett. What is a manager to do. Since it isn’t football, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell can’t drop back 15 yards and punt. He must play it out and that is what he had to do Saturday night in […]
Cardinals crush Castillo, blast Reds, 13-4
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — For Cincinnati Reds pitcher Luis Castillo, Friday night in Great American Ball Park was the gran sueno — The Big Sleep. The St. Louis Cardinals put Castillo into an uncharacteristic early snooze en route to crushing him and the Cincinnati Reds, 13-4. The loss pushed the Reds back to 7 […]
Baseball’s Big Bang Theory: ‘Home run, home run, home run’
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — ‘The Big Bang Theory’ owns a totally different meaning when it comes to Major League Baseball. The Big Bang in baseball is home run, home run, home run. On Thursday night in Oakland the Athletics and Houston Astros combined to hit 10 home runs in a 7-6 game. In New […]
Gray & Bullpen Company shut down Cardinals, 2-1
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — It took a lot of scribbling on his lineup card by Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell and several batting order explanations to home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz. All the manipulations, though, resulted in a two-hit 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, a two-hitter painted by four Reds pitchers Thursday […]
Kuhnel: The new kid on the bullpen block, replacing Hughes
By HAL McCOY CINCINNATI — It is foolhardy to play the age-old ‘what if’ game because there is never a definitive answer to ‘what if.’ Nevertheless, with what has happened to the Cincinnati Reds’ bullpen this year, it is apropos to ask it. What if David Hernandez and Jared Hughes pitched this season the way […]