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 […]
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 […]