OBSERVATIONS: Pitchers who were/are must-see attractions
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from the Man Cave, shivering in my La-Z-boy wondering where summer went after only one day. —There are certain pitchers in my lifetime that are don’t-miss attractions, guys you want to watch deliver every pitch. For me it was Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Greg […]
OBSERVATIONS: Hey, Mr. Doubleday, please come back
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, getting ready to stay up until the wee hours to see the Cincinnati Reds on the west coast and see if what they are doing is live or Memorex (Look it up on Google, kids). —Dear Abner Doubleday: It is fortunate you are not around to […]
OBSERVATIONS: Votto better be ready for St. Louis
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, some voices from St. Louis and from a past Reds manager: —When the Cincinnati Red return to St. Louis in mid-September, Joey Votto can expect a raucous reaction in Busch Stadium III, maybe even hostile. As one might expect, Votto’s expletive-dripping rant against Cardinals fans after […]
OBSERVATIONS: A big, big day for Johnny Bench’s back-up
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave on a hot summer morning, sitting on the patio reading Cobra, the lengthy but fascinating autobiography of Dave Parker. He originally asked me to write it for him but I declined because I was writing my own book ‘The Real McCoy.’ —As the Cincinnati Reds punished […]
OBSERVATIONS: Rob Dibble takes on the commissioner
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, devouring snicker doodles from Dorothy Lane Market, which are almost as good as DLM’s strip steaks. Expensive? Yeah. Worth it? Double yeah. —Rob Dibble was the most volatile and cantankerous of the famous/infamous Nasty Boys, the three dominant occupants of the Cincinnati Reds 1990 bullpen. Dibs […]
OBSERVATIONS: Was Joe West putting a ‘cap’ on his career?
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while sitting through one of those infernal rain delays, this one a Cincinnati Reds-Washington Nationals game. Every baseball park should have a roof. —Umpire Joe West has done many things during his 48-year career, but earlier this week he scored the hat trick. When St. Louis […]
OBSERVATIONS: The Cincinnati Reds are one big enigma
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave after a great weekend for left handed senior citizens. Thank you, Phillip Alfred Mickelson. —For the Cincinnati Reds, ‘E’ doesn’t stand for error. It stands for enigma. That, so far, describes the team on the banks of the Ohio River. And on their just-completed homestand, the […]
OBSERVATIONS: Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame teammates
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, wondering if Colorado manager Bud Black has any hair left after watching his treacherous bullpen blow up game after game. In 48 years of covering baseball, I had never seen the tying run scored on a passed ball and the winning run score on a wild […]
OBSERVATIONS: Me and ‘The Mick’ have something in common
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave at 6:15 a.m., watching MLB-TV’s Quick Pitch, not because I want to, but because my hyperactive Havanese, The Mighty Quinn, has a built-in clock that goes off every morning at 6 a.m. —Mickey Mantle and I have something in common and it has nothing to do […]