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 […]
OBSERVATIONS: It’s Robbie Robot behind the plate (ugh!)
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, pounding out some off-day notes awaiting a trip to the Oakwood Club for a strip steak and French onion soup. The Pepcid comes later. —The first report on automated/robotic umpiring is out and it is a gasser. The box score is a laugh riot. The automated […]
OBSERVATIONS: Striking out is not like striking up the band
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave on a dreary off day from baseball, and an off day from baseball is like a day without my morning coffee. . .it’s no fun for those around me. —Maybe Cincinnati Reds shortstop Eugenio Suarez needs to re-bleach his hair blond, the way he had it […]
OBSERVATIONS: Winker making Bruce’s prediction come true
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, slaying time before the 10:10 p.m. start of the Reds-Dodgers game by reading Dave Parker’s autobiography, Cobra. It is worth the read and Parker pulls no punches. —It was a balmy spring morning in Tempe, Ariz. in 2015 and the Cincinnati Reds were in Diablo Stadium […]
OBSERVATIONS: Baseball is truly a ‘Family Affair’
By Hal McCoy UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, wondering if the Cincinnati Reds can find six more like Nick Castellanos. —Baseball is, indeed, a— Family Affair, like the old TV show, although I doubt that ‘Jody’ ever played baseball. Start with the Bells — Gus Bell, Buddy Bell, Mike Bell and David Bell. Mix […]