Category: Uncategorized

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, finally home after a 19-day trip to Greece and Italy that was a combination of great and the trip from hell.

Athens and Naples you can have. Santorini and Mykonos in Greece are great. Rome and the Amalfi Coast are fabulous. The Amalfi Coast has to be the most gorgeous place on Mother Earth.

But. . .

On the night we were scheduled to return home, my wife, Nadine, couldn’t breathe and was taken to a Rome hospital. They wouldn’t let me ride in the ambulance, a city law, they said. And they didn’t tell me what hospital they were transporting her to.

So I sat in the hotel lobby from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. sobbing — Where is my wife and what is wrong? I foolishly did’t have a European plan for my cell phone so she couldn’t calle me.

We were scheduled to leave for the airport at 3 a.m. At 2:30, she texted our friend and co-traveler Mike Snyder, that she would be released in 20 minutes, despite severe bronchitis. She made it to the hotal at 3:03 and the van waited.

Me? I fell twice, both times in Rome. The second time was on a narrow sidewalk in front of a cafe. The owner was on the ground tending to some flower pots. his leg protruding.

I trippe over his leg and fell backwards, taking Nadine down with me. I broke two flower pots and a rib, which shoots pain through my body every time I sneeze or cough, which I’ve done often since our return.

We offered to pay for the flower pots. but the guy refused, although I’m certain he said something about Ugly Americans in Italian, which the only things I know are pasta, pizza, croissants, buongiorno and Sophia Loren.

—What I missed while I was gone:

—THE WORLD ‘SERIOUS’: I missed the first three World Series games during which the New York Yankees couldn’t stop LA’s Freddie Freeman with two silver bullets and a wooden stake.

I like the fact that two division winners made it to the World Series. . .no wild card teams that didn’t earn it during the season. I don’t like the fact that two of the three richest franchises made it and the richest, the New York Mets, nearly made it.

As long as there is no salary cap — and the players’ union won’t permit one — there will never be parity in major league baseball. And it is inflicting deep injuiry to the game’s popularity and fan interest.

—WINSTON FOR WATSON: Nobody wants to see anybody hurt and Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was lost for the season while I was gone.

During his five-game losing streak, he threw nothing but short lateral flair passes and spent more time on the seat of his pants than a sitting judge. I kept writing, “Bench him. Don’t play him just because he is guaranteed $256 million,” It is one of the worst contracts since the Philadelphia Eagles donated $128 million over four years to quarterback Carson Wentz. That deal was a wince.

Jamies Winston stepped in for Watson last Sunday, a Winston for a Watson, and passed for 331 yards on 27 for 41 and three touchdowns with no interceptions during Cleveland’s 25-21 upset of the Baltimore Ravens.

And he actually completed some down-the-field passes instead of thoses perplexing flair heaves in the flat.

Unforunately for the Browns, it was too late. They are 2-6 and still last in the AFC North.

—DO THE BUCKS STOP HERE? I did get to listen on Nadine’s iPhone to Ohio State’s slim as a whisper late-game 21-17 win over Nebraska. Nebraska? The same team that lost the week before to Indiana, 56-7.

If they play like that Saturday it won’t be a happy day in Happy Valley for the Buckeyes against Penn State. But there is a report that Penn State quarterback Drew Allar might not play.

Allar injured a knee in the first half of Penn State’s 28-13 win over Wisconson. Cagey coach James Franklin said it will be a game-time decision.

Maybe the Buckeyes would prefer Allar. Back-up quarterback Beau Pribula stepped in for Allar in the second half and was 11 of 13 for 98 yards. And he led the Nittany Lions to a fourth-quarter game-clinching touchdown.

Be careful what you wish for.

—FLYERS FLY LOW: I missed the University of Dayton’s two exhibition games, a loss to Xavier and a limping pedestrian win over D-II Ashland, 65-58.

Those UD exhibtions against D-II and D-IIl teams usually are side-splitting laughers. In the previous four the Flyers won each by 30 or more points. There was no laughter against Ashland.

Coach Anthony Grant was deadly honest about it and said, “We didn’t do the things we worked on over the last 24 practices. It was an opportunity for our team to look in the mirror to where we need to continue to grow.

“We have to do some things better, like shot selection and we didn’t have a flow from an offensive standpoint.We gotta get better,” he added.

In short, the second half resembled a summer pick-up game on a schoolyard during which each player rejected team play in favor of doing their own thing and playing too much one-on-one.

The Flyers open the regular season Monday in UD Arena against St. Francis (Pa.), a team that finished 8-22 last year and lost its last five games.

—ROSE SALUTE: Who can ever get enough of Pete Rose?

On the day he broke Stan Musial’s National League career hits record, Rose faced Nolan Ryan.

Let Ryan take it from here:

“First pitch of the game, a fastball, bam, line drive hit to left field,” said Ryan. “The naxt three times I struck him out, the last time on three straight curveballs.

“I looked in the Reds dugout and bats were flying and helmets were bouncing. Rose was angry and frustrated. Then he looked at me and gave me a salute.

“It was the greatest compliment I ever received from a hitter.”

—YOGI ON DEATH: Who can ever get enough of Yogi Berra?

At an Old-Timers game in Yankee Stadium, Berra was sitting next to Reggie Jackson.

Let Jackson take it from here.

“Every year they scroll on the scoreborad the names of all the players who passed away that year. As the names scrolled, Yogi looked at me and said, ‘I hope I never see my name up there.’”

Yes, Yogi is a comedian without realizing it, but there is nothing funny about his incredible accomplishments as a player.

Berra and Roy Campanella are the only catchers to win MVP three times. He was the first player to hit a World Series pinch-hit home run. He is the only catcher to catch a World Series perfect game (Don Larsen, 1956). He led the New York Yankees in RBIs from 1949 through 1955. He led all major-league catchers in home runs and RBIs for nine straight seasons. In 1950, he struck out 12 times in 597 at bats.

Defensively? He led the American League in assists five times and threw out 49 per cent of would-be base stealers, He once went 148 games without an error.

Berra did all this with a face only his mother or a moose could love and he once said, “So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.”

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 102: And the hits keep on coming after a three-week hiatus:

Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Fire And Rain (James Taylor), Me And You And A Dog Named Boo (Lobo), Waterloo (Abba), Drive (The Cars), She’s Somebody’s Babe (Jackson Browne), Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet), When Will I See You Again (The Three Degrees).

Baby Come Back (Player), Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty), Being With You (Smokey Robinson), Take It On The Run (REO Speedwagon), Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car (Billy Ocean), Kokomo (Beach Boys), I’m Not In Love (10cc), That’s What Friends Are For (Dione Warwick), Higher Love (Steve Winwood), Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel).

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave — the last one before a 19-day hiatus in Greece and the Italian Amalfi coast. See ya all on the flip side.

—ELEMENTARY WATSON: Who thought any organization could waste more money than the U.S. governent. But the Cleveland Browns succeeded.

They would have been better off filling trash bags full of $234 million and tossing them into the Little Cuyahoga River than give it to so-called quarterback DeShaun Watson.

Every week one thinks, “He has to get better.” He gets worse. On Sunday, against the Washington Commodores the Browns trailed, 24-3 — a disjointed, undisciplined, ill-prepared team.

The Commodores are paying rookie Jaden Daniels $37.75 million and getting every nickle’s worth.

In the first half, Watson was 8 for 18 for 67 yards. On one play, Daniels completed a 65-yard pass.

Watson is the 38th different quarterback since 1999, the year the expansion Browns were born, to start a game.

They need to make it 39 and pronto. Wonder what Baker Mayfield is doing?

The Browns lost, 34-13. And the Bengals lost in overtime to Baltimore, 41-38, when a rookie placekick holder bobbled the snap and the Bengals miss a potential game-winning field goal.

How do you lose when your quarteback, Joe Burrow, throws five touchdown passes and throws for more than 400 yards?

You lose when your defense is worse than the Maginot Line.

As former Bengals lineman Tom Dinkel put it: “Not sure if the Bengals uniforms can get any uglier. Black jerseys and orange pants. (They) look like a bunch of Cleveland Browns.”

—GOOD & BAD: The good news is that players will wear their team uniforms for the 2025 All-Star game instead of that gaudy and ugly softball-style garb they’ve won the plast few years.

The bad news is that every team in the post-season is wearing advertising on their batting helmets. All helmets, on both sides, carry the name ‘Strauss,’ a German apparel company. And next season, all minor-league teams will have ‘Strauss’ on their helmets all season long.

MLB has not disclosed how much Strauss is paying. The sleeve advertising patches most teams wore this year average aobut $8 million per team, with the New York Yankees pulling in $25 million from Starr Insurance.

The Yankees won’t put their players names on their uniforms, but they sold out for $25 million to wear ‘Starr’ patches.

Baseball uniforms continue to come closer and closer to NASCAR drivers’ jump suits.

—CRUZ CONTROL: Elly De La Cruz could race a cheetah in a 100-yard dash and it wouldn’t be wise to wager against him. He says running is the favorite part of his game.

He is also sniffing for that extra base — turn a single into a double and a double into a triple. Sometimes it works. sometimes it fails.

“It feels great, feels great when you’re safe,” he said. “If I’m out, it doesn’t feel great. It feels great when you are running around the bases and you make it.”

Asked if at times he needs to dial back his aggression, De La Cruz said, Yeah, sometimes I gotta be smarter. If you know you’re not gonna make it, you gotta shut down.”

—WHO’S BEST WITH RISP?: Somebody asked me if I knew what player had MLB’s highest batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP).

I didn’t get it even after I was told he played for the Cincinnati Reds. I guesed Spencer Steer. No. TJ Friedl? No. Jonathan India? No. Tyler Stephenson? No. Certainly not Elly De La Cruz? No.

It was Stuart Fairchild. He hit .465 with runners in scoring position. You could have given me three more guesses.

—SHILDT TO THE HILT: After the dust-up/skirmish between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS, Padres manager Mike Shildt was asked how his team is going to react.

With a deadpan response, he borrowed a line from the movie ‘Anchorman’ and Ron Burgandy.

“Stay classy, San Diego,” he said.

That was good because he could have borrowed a line from the movie ‘Network’ and said, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore.”

—MOVE, MOVE, MOVE: What do these baseball teams have in common — St. Louis, Tampa Bay, San Diego, Cincinnati, Boston, New York Mets, Arizona, Chicago White Sox and Kanssas City?

The answer is that outfielder Tommy Pham has played for each of those nine teams. Five have reached the playoffs, including Kansas City this year.

And he has played for those nine teams in an 11-year span. Perhaps he should check his deodorant.

—KNIGHT MOVES: One of the great sports motivators of all-time was former Indiana baseball coach Bobby Knight.

And what did he say about motivatation?

“The greatest motivator in the world is your ass on the bench,” he said. “Ass meets bench, bench retains ass, ass transmits signals to the brain, brain transmits signals to the body, body gets ass off bench and plays better. It’s a hell of a sequence.”

As only Knight could say it.

—CHARLEY TO K.C. TO CASEY: With the New York Mets in the post-season, it conjures memories of when Casey Stengel managed the 120-loss 1962 Mets and said things like, “The only thing worse than a Mets game is a Mets doubleheader.”

As manager of the New York Yankees and the Mets, Stengel was thought of as a clown and talked in his own language called Stengelese.

What isn’t generally known is that Stengel was a better than average MLB player. He made is debut in late September of 1912 with the Brooklyn Superbas (later the Dodgers).

In his first game, he went 4 for 4 with a walk and two stolen bases against a good Pittsburgh team led by Honus Wagner.

At the time he was Charley Stengel. But because he was from Kansas City, the veteran players called him K.C. and it evolved to Casey.

—ROSE REQUIEM: Searching the brain and old notebooks for Pete Rose quotes, realizing that the notebooks are more reliable:

***(This one is for Terry Francna.) “The manager of a team is like a stagecoach, he can’t move unless he has the horses.”

***”There is an old saying that money can’t buy happiness. If it could, I would buy myself four hits every game.”

***”I haven’t missed a game in 2 1/2 years, even though I’d be sicker than a dog and come to the park and feel better until I saw you guys (beat writers) and get sick all over again.”

***”I owe baseball. Baseball don’t owe me a damn thing.”

***”I slide head-first for several reasons, one of them being that I get my picture in the paper.”

***“You know what God told the Chicago Cubs? Don’t do anything until I get back.”

***”I’m pretty fast. I ain’t no Joe Morgan, but I’m pretty good for a white guy.”

***”Tony Perez pulled a muscle? How can he pull a muscle, he’s too slow to pull a muscle?”

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 101: When I began these lists, I could not imagine. . .

It’s So Easy (Buddy Holly), What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted? (Jimmy Ruffin), Mandy (Barry Manilow), One Toke Over The Line (Brewer & Shipley), So Far Away (Carole King), Don’t Worry Baby (The Beach Boys), Ghostbusters (Ray Perkins Jr.), What’s Up? (4 Non Blondes)

I Wonder Why (Dion & The Belmonts), Paint It Black (Rolling Stones), Before The Next Teardrops Fall (Freddy Fender), Fire Bird (Lynyrd Skinner), I’m Leaving It All Up To You (Donny & Marie Osmond), Let You Love Flow (The Bellamy Brothers), Lola (The Kinks).

By Hal McCoy

Q: Do players who wear their uniforms daily for many years still find themselves gazing a mirror in awe? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: I never saw a full-length mirror in any clubhouse, just small shaving mirrors above the sinks. Most players don’t even need that because they don’t shave. And players don’t need to wear their uniforms to admire themselves. They stare more at their paychecks than their visages and see more zeroes than the holes in the middle of a box of a dozen donuts.

Q: What is your best memory of Pete Rose going out of his way to help someone? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: Oh, so many. I once witnessed him at an autograph show talking to a kid about 10. He asked about hitting and Pete said, “Do you know the difference between hitting .250 and .300?” The kid shook his head. “One hit a week,” said Pete. Then he got out of his chair, got into a batting stance and gave the kid about 10 tips on hitting. The kid stood wide-eyed with mouth agape. “Now,” said Rose. “Go back and hit .300, just like me.”

Q: Pete Rose was handed a liftetime ban, so now that he has passed does that mean the lifetime ban is over or is lifetime forever? — DAVE, Cincinnati.
A: Unfortunately, in this case lifetime is forever and death does not do it part. Just ask the family of Shoeless Joe Jackson, given a liftetime ban for being a part of the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal. He died in 1951 and is still banned. And unless the baseball commissioner lifts the bans, neither Jackson nor Rose is eligible for Hall of Fame enshrinement. Baseball is a sport with no pity.

Q: Is there anyone playing today that reminds you of the way Pete Rose played? — JASON, Beavercreek.
A: Nobody. And nobody ever will in my mind. He was one of a kind forever. Nobody approaches his combination of passion, hustle and total concentration on every pitch of every game. There were three players from the Cincinnati Reds who gave hints of Pete — Ryan Freel, Chris Sabo and Chris Stynes. They all played hard, played all-out and it was no coincidence they all worshipped Pete Rose. They just didn’t have his ability. But they tried.

Q: Have any of Pete Rose’s Big Red Machine teammates spoken publicly against Rose being in the Hall of Fame? — DICK,Hendersonville, Tenn.
A: A few years ago Johnny Bench was on Dan Patrick’s radio show and was asked if Rose would ever be put on a ballot and he said, “No.” Then he flippantly said they should name Pete Commissioner of Baseball Gambling. Bench then said, “People who say, ‘Yes, he should be,’ I tell them to go home and tell your kids there are no more rules.” To his credit, Bench, Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt visited commissioner Bud Selig right after Pete was banished and asked what Pete needed to do and made two other visits. Selig gave them three things, the first of which was that Pete had to admit he gambled on baseball. Rose, of course, wouldn’t do it and since then Bench pretty much has washed his huge hands of the controversy.

Q: Did you ever eat at one of Pete Rose’s restaurants in Florida? — SCOTT, Miamisburg.
A: I certainly did, but Pete didn’t pick up my bill. It was Pete Rose’s Ballpark Cafe in Boca Raton just off the Florida Turnpike. The Cincinnati Reds trained in Plant City, Fla. and had an exhibition game nearby. It was the spring of 1993 and the restaurant was fairly new. They lined up out the door to get in and even though it was well-staffed it took more than an hour to get our food. The heftily-spiced french fries were scrumptious. Rose did a radio show from the restaurant and at the time he was not speaking to me and did not acknowledge my presece. I’m not sure, but he might have had the server double my bill.

Q: Let’s say Pete Rose makes the Hall of Fame, who should or would make his acceptance speech in Cooperstown? — ALAN, Sugercreek Twp.
A: Saying that is most likely is fool’s gold. It is doubtful that will happen, but stranger things happen in baseball. It’s for sure commissioner Rob Manfraud wouldn’t do it. It probably would be one of his sons, Pete Rose Jr or Tyler, who was taking care of him in Las Vegas. And one of Rose’s closest friends and Hall of Fame supporter, Dayton’s Mike Schmidt, would be outstanding. Unfortuntely, I dont believe even crossed fingers are going to get it done.

Q: Are three wild teams in each league good for the game? — GEORGE, Morton Grove, Ill.
A: It is not good for the game, just good for the fans of the wild card teams that make it. It keeps interest alive for teams striving to make the playoffs, as we saw this season when it went down to the last day — actually as extra day when the Mets and Braves had to play a make-up doubleheader from postponed games to see who quaified, one of those teams or the Diamondbacks. White it is exciting to see teams like Detroit, Kansas City and Baltimore rise from the weeds to make the playoffs, it is watered-down baseball and too often makes the hard work of teams that win their divisions almost meaningless at post-season time.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave as I prepare for vacation. . .and it’s all Greek to me.

—A WHO’S WHO: What do these former great baseball managers have in common: Casey Stengel, Billy Martin, Tommy Lasorda, Whitey Herzog, Lou Piniella, Davey Johnson, Earl Weaver, Buck Showalter, Jim Leyland and Joe Maddon?

Not one of them has as many victories as Terry Francona’s 1,950. . .and soon to be climbng when he begins his tenure with the Cincinnati Reds.

He has the 13th most managerial wins in history and all but two ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. And the two others, Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker, are headed that way.

If fans wonder about Francona taking a year off before coming back, well, Bochy and Baker both took time off then came back to lead Texas and Houston to World Series victories.

During his 11 seasons with small market Cleveland, Francona compiled nine winning records, took the Indians/Guardians to six playoffs and he won three Manager of the Year awards.

While in Cleveland, he lived in a downtown hotel and rode to and from Progressive Field on a motor scooter. So, fans, when driving in downtown Cincinnati, be careful. It wouldn’t be cool to run over the new skipper of the Reds.

Let’s see, Franona has 1,950 wins as a manager. That’s just 22 wins behind the 1,972 winning games Pete Rose played in.

—QUICK ON THE QUIPS: As we all know, not only was Pete Rose the epitome of baseball hustle and acumen, his sense of humor was off the wall. To wit:

“My son, Pete Jr., was playing for the Long Island Ducks and called me and said, “Dad, can you help me out, I’m 0-for-21,” said Pete.

“I asked him, ‘Why in the hell are you calling me? Call Dave Concepcion. I ain’t never gone 0-for-21.’”

And this one from not too long ago.

“I’ve known Tony Perez for more than 50 years and I love Tony Perez,” he said. “But I talked to him on the phone recently for a half hour and I didn’t understand a damn word he said.

“You know Perez drove in 1,652 runs and he batted behind Johnny Bench,” said Rose. “So he had to drive in Bench. If he was on first he’d score if Perez hit a triple. He couldn’t score from first on a double.

“Bench knew he couldn’t run and I’d tell him that it was all right to carry a piano on his back when he ran, but don’t stop to play it,” said Rose.

Rose was asked what he thought about today’s way of giving every kid who plays in a baseball league a participation tropy.

“Not in my house,” he said. “One year when we won the World Series, a player from the other team came into our clubhouse to congratulate us. What the hell? I couldn’t do that. I’d be sitting in my own clubhouse trying to figure out why we lost.”

—A GOOD DEED: Murray Cook, a great friend who tore me apart on the tennis court, was General Manager of the Montreal Expos in 1984 and takes some credit for Pete Rose landing in Cincinnati. . .and rightfully so.

“He never would have ended up in Cincinnati that year if we had not released him in Montreal,” said Cook. “And he was really po’d at me when we gave him the news. He’s a Hall of Famer for sure, along with Lou Piniella.”

After Montreal released Pete, the Reds signed him right away as player/manager.

Cook? In 1989 he became general manger of the Cincinnati Reds, just in time for the Rose gambling investigation. And he was the GM in 1990 when the Reds went wire-to-wire under Lou Piniella and swept the Oakland A’s in the World Series.

But two years under owner Marge Schott was too much, as it was for anybody under the controversial St. Bernard lover.

—JUST FEED ME: Henry Aaaron hit 755 career home runs and his playing weight was a steady 175 pounds, pretty slim for a power hitter.

Asked why he was so slim for a home run hitter, he said, “Making the kind of money I was makin’ back then, it probably was malnutrition.”

—COUNT ‘EM UP: During the fourth game of the New York Giants four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in 1954, the Indians had a runner on third with two outs.

A fly ball was hit to center fielder Willie Mays. Mistakenly thinking there were less than two outs, Mays caught the ball and fired it home.

Up in the press box, Cleveland Press baseball writer Frank Gibbons leaped to his feet and shouted, “Finally, we have found Willie’s weakness. He can’t count.”

Yeah, but I’ll bet he could count to 660 — the number of home runs he hit.

—OFF THE CUFF: Some quickies:

No more small market excuses, OK? These are the payrolls for three ‘small market’ teams in this seaosn’s playoffs: Detroit ($98.5 million), Cleveland ($106.7 million), Kansas City ($122.5 million).

The Milwaukee Brewers ($105.8 million) lost two of three to the New York Mets ($305.6 million), but it took an improbable oppossite field three-run home run by Pete Alonso in the ninth-inning off usually invincible closer Devin Williams to do it.

It was Alonso’s first opposite-field home run all season.

This one is mind-boggling. From 1995 to 2003, Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux threw a total of 8,006 called balls to 8,025 batters. That’s only one ball to evry batter he faced.

One wonders how many strikes the umpires missed and even more, who took the time to count these?

PLAYLIST NUMBER 101: Yep, we’re into our second century of songs:

Torn Between Two Lovers (Mary McGovern), I Just Want To Be Your Everything (Andy Gibb), Take A Chance On Me (Abba), If You Leave Me Now (Chicago), When I Need You (Leo Sayer), Don’t Give Up On Us (David Sayer), I Feel Love (Donna Summer),

Three Times A Lady (The Commodores), Reunited (Peaches & Herb), We Don’t Talk Any More (Cliff Richards), Kiss And Say Goodbye (The Manhattans), Refugee (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Please Don’t Go (K.C. & The Sunshine Band).

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, a special ‘quickie’ edition featuring Terry Francona and Pete Rose, via Dave Bristol.

—ONWARD AND UPWARD: With the hiring of Terry Francona to a three-year contract, the Cincinnati Reds finally sent an ultra-positive message to the fan base: “We are in it to win it. We are all-in.”

When MLB-TV’s Mark DeRosa heard about it on MLB Central, he said, “Francona’s coming back? The Reds will win the 2025 World Series.”

He was being facetious, but there is no way the 65-year-old Francona would emerge from retirement without assurances from the front office that the team is dedicated to doing something other than give away bobbleheads, have fireworks shows and promote post-game concerts.

And you can be certain Francona has insisted upon having a say in personnel decisions and to have a hands-off promise from the front office on line-up construction and to have total on-the-field control.
This hiring is on the level of Sparky Anderson, Davey Johnson, Jack McKeon and Dusty Baker. Francona is on the same plateua as those managerial legends.

And he comesd in with almost a turnkey operation. He has an on-the-rise young pitching staff, several young up-and-coming stars and some fast-rising players in the minors.

All the club needs is an established, productive veteran or two to provide guidance and leadership.

What player wouldn’t want to play for Terry Francona? How long until spring training?

The Reds will introduce Francona as manager on Monday morning in a press conference.

But in a release, Francona said, “I am so excited and honored to join an organization with the tradition and history of tha Cincinnati Reds. I only played one season for the Reds in 1987 but in that season I learned that Cincinnati is a graeat baseball city. I can’t wait to start meeting and interacting with these good young players of ours.”

—PETE’S PASSION: Few people knew Pete Rose better than former Cincinnati Reds manager Dave Bristol.

He managed Pete in the minors. And he was Rose’s manager with the Reds from 1966 through 1969 in old Crosley Field.

Bristol is 91 and when I talked to him on the phone he was on his way to play golf. Knowing him, he probably shoots below his age.

And he is a straight shooter when he talks baseball, especially about Pete Rose. And Rose loved Bristol, talked about him even more than he talked about Sparky Anderson.

“When I managed Pete in Macon in 1962, we played the Greenville Dodgers and Pete went 0-for-2 in the first inning. and was mad as hell,” said Bristol. “He ended up the game 5 for 7.

“With the Reds in 1968 he was going for the batting title on the next to last night of the season,” Bristol said. “After that night game I told him, ‘Your swing is horse-crap right now. Be at the park early tomorrrow for some extra hitting.’

“It was a day game but he took extra hitting — I probably threw more batting practice to Pete than anybody ever did. Then in the game he had to face Gaylord Perry and he hated to face Gaylord Perry.

“He had three hits and doubled. After he slid into second base Giants infielder Hal Lanier told him that Matty Alou Alou had three hits. So his next time up he got his fourth hit, a single off Ray Sadecki and won the batting title (.335).ain”

It happened again in 1969.

He and Roberto Clemente were neck-and-neck on the last day of the season. We were in Atlanta and he already had four hits and he was in the on-deck circle when a fan seated near the dugout told him, ‘Clemente has three hits.’

“He walked to the plate and put down the prettiest bunt you ever saw. They couldn’t even make a play on it.” And he won the batting title (.348).

Not only would Rose walk through hell in a gasolin e suit to play baseball, he’d crawl through hell in a gasoline suit for a a base hit.

These stories fit with the advice Rose always gave to young kids.

“Three things,” he said. “One—Be aggressive. Two—Be more aggressive. Three—Never be satisfied. I was never satisfied. If I had four hits, I wanted five.”

By Hal McCoy

The Cincinnati Reds grabbed the man at the top of their wish list.

Terry Francona has agreed to return to manage the Reds, according to several sources.

The Reds have not made it official, but are expected to make it official Friday morning.

Apparently, the 65-year-old former manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) is healthy again.

Francona resigned as manager of the Guardiams after the 2023 season, citing health issues, ending what most believed was his 23-year managerial career.

His biggest success was in 2004 and 2007 when he took the Red Sox to the World Series. He became a Boston icon in 2004 when the Bosox won the World Series, ending an 86-year run of never winning one.

In Cleveland he won nearly 55% of his games and he nearly ended that team’s long draught of not winning a World Series since 1948. He took the 2016 team, known then as the Indians, to the World Seres, but lost in seven games to the Chicago Cubs.

It was the Cubs’ first World Series title since 1908.

His career record is 1,950-1,672.

Francona, a near-certain future Hall of Famer, is known as a player’s manager and is famously known for being dismissed by the Red Sox for being too lenient.

The team often ate chicken and drank beer in the clubhouse during games, unbeknownst to him. And he took the fall for it.

But he is more famously known for being an outstanding leader and baseball tactician. His experience and knowledge of the game should serve the Reds in an extremely positive way.

It took the Reds only 11 days after they fired David Bell to coax Francona out of retirement.

Franona is familiar with Cincinnati. He played as a utility player in 1987 under manager Pete Rose.

And when he managed the Guardians, the Reds and Guardians shared the spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz.

He is a baseball lifer, a man who spends more time at the ballpark than anywhere else. As manager of the Red Sox, he was known to sleep overnight in his ball park office.

Francona’s early morning sessions with the beat writers in his clubhouse officce were so entertaining and informative, I would often stop in to listen on my way to the Reds portion of the complex, even though I wasn’t covering the Guardians.

His hiring is an extremely popular move for the fan base, eager for the Reds to become relevant. The team hasn’t played in the post-season after a full season since 2012.

They made it during the shortened 60-game season, the season shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But they lost two straight to the Atlanta Braves and didn’t score a run.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, just six days before I’ll be climbing the steps of the Acropolis, if I can make it.

—GENE EQUALS GENES: Why didn’t my mom name me Gene? If she had, I might have made it to the major leagues with the New York Yankees. (Oh, what a dreamer I am.)

The only graduates of my high school, Akron East, to make it to the majors both were named Gene — Gene Woodling and Gene Michael.

Woodling, an outfielder, played in the majors 17 years and won World Series rings five straight years with the Yankees from 1949 to 1953.

I actually played baseball and basketball with Michael at East. I played first base and he was our shortstop and 66 years later I’m still waiting for him to make a bad throw. And on the basketball court, it was my job to get the ball to Michael and get out of the way.

He was so good at both sports that he actually played both baseball and basketball at Kent State.

His nickname was ‘Stick’ because he was skinny and he played 10 years in the majors, seven with the Yankees. Then he managed the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs before becoming general manager of the Yankees.

When I was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, he surprised me by showing up and said, “Who ever thought that you would make it to the Hall of Fame and I wouldn’t?”

He was so right.

—PETE’S TIMING: This one has to be beyond coincidence because to me Pete Rose was Mr. Baseball.

He was born on Opening Day, 1941, and he died on the last day of the 2024 season. Is that apropos, or what?

Pete was born on Apiril 14 and as he loved to point out, “It was also the day Abe Lincoln was shot and the same day the Titanic hit the iceberg.”

The Reds lost their first four games in 1941, then won seven of eight en route to an 88-66 season to finish third in the National League.

—ON THE DEFENSIVE: Pete Rose was once asked to reveal something about his game people don’t know about. And his answer was nothing about hitting.

“I have the highest fielding average for an outfielder in the history of the game,” he said.

Never doubt Pete because he knows numbers better than a numerologist. Perhaps he said it before Darryl Hamilton finished his career in 2001 with the all-time career best .995.

I couldn’t find Pete’s career outfield stats, but I did find that in 1970 he played 159 games in the outfield and made one error, he played 158 gamae in the outfield in 1971 and made two errors, he played 154 game in the outfield in 1972 and made two errors and he played 163 games in the outfield in 1974 and made one error.

Yep, pretty darn good defensively, too.

And how about consistency? He was consistently good, but he took consistency to a new level.

He batted 9,001 times at night and hit .303. He batted 5,052 times during the day and hit .303. He batted 7,043 times on AstroTurf and hit .303.

His total career batting average? What else? .303.

—ANOTHER QUIZ: Who owns the career record for most home runs in post-season games for the New York Yankees?

Babe Ruth? No. Lou Gehrig? No. Mickey Mantle? No. Joe DiMaggio? No. Roger Maris? No.

The leader is a trick question. It is Bernie Williams with 22. But none of the above Yankee legends played in any playoff games. There were none. They only played in World Series games.

Williams played in 121 post-season games. Babe Ruth hit 15 post-season home runs in only 65 games, all World Series games.

While playing for Clevelande and Boston, Manny Ramirez hit the most post-season home runs with 29, done in 111 post-season games.

Didn’t get that one? So tell us why there is no ‘d’ in refrigerator but there is a ‘d’ in fridge.

—YA GOTTA START FAST: When the Baltimore Orioles scored first this past season, they were 67-19.

The O’s didn’t score first in Game One of the Wild Card Series. They scored ‘O’ and got beat, 1-0, by the Kansas City Royals.

They are 0-9 in games in which they didn’t score. Yeah, I know. Very funny. You can’t win when you don’t score and as Pete Rose said, “One of the great things about baseball is there are no ties.”

The O’s scored one the next day and were eliminated by the Royals, 2-1, a team making its first post-season in more than a decade and a team that lost 106 games in 2023.

And the O’s are a big 0 in the post-season. They are on a 10-game post-season losing streak.

Then there is the Detroit Tigers. On August 11 they were 55-63. With a 33-13 run they eliminated the Houston Astros, the American League West champions, in two straight.

And how must Detroit manager A.J. Hinch feel after he was run out of Houston as manager of the cheating tub-thumping sign stealers?

If you haven’t put your money on the Kansas City Royals to win the World Series yet, do it post haste.

Why? Becasue Will Smith pitches for the Royals. So what’s the significance? Smith pitched for Atlanta in 2021. The Brraves won the World Series. Smith pitched for Houston in 2022 and the Astros won the World Series. Smith pitched for Texs in 2023 and the Rangers won the World Series.

You are most welcome.

As Jerry Reed sang it, “When you’re hot, you’re hot.” And in the cases of Baltimore and Houston, “When you’re not, you’re not.”

—HAVE FOOTBALL, WILL TRAVEL: How absurd was it for the Big Ten to expand so that the league is coat-to-coast from Maryland and New Jersey (Rutgers) to Los Angeles (UCLA, Southern California)?

UCLA plays six Big Ten road games this season and jet lag will be more imortant to the Bruins than punts and first downs.

They will travel 22,050 miles to and from those six games and cross 26 time zones. The 22,050 miles is 90% of the circumference of Mother Earth.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 100: And probably the last. I’m not all out of love, but I’m all out of songs.

Livin’ Thing (Electric Light Orchestra), Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers), Spirit In The Sky (Norman Greenbaum), Dizzy (Tommy Roe), Cherish (The Association), Paperback Writer (The Beatles), Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf).

Angie (Rolling Stones), Georgy Girl (The Seekers), Time In A Bottle (Jim Croce), I Get Around (The Beach Boys), What A Wonderful World (Louie Armstrong), Proud Mary (Credence Clearwater Revival), Please Mr. Postman (Marvelettes).

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and now what do I do with the Cincinnati Reds season thankfully over? Well, it is just a few days before Nadine and I and some friends will visit Greece and the Italian Amalfi Coast.

—PETE AND REPEAT: If you thought the 1,000-word piece I wrote, with tears in my eyes, on the night Pete Rose died, was all I had. . .well, I could write Pete Rose until the center fielder comes home.

The most famous quote, among a book full, that Pete ever uttered I believe he may have said to me. Rose loved to throw out quotes in Cincinnati and the ones that got the biggest laughs or used the most he would use again in big market towns like New York and Los Angeles.

The one he first said to me and my mentor, Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati Post, was: “I’d run through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.”

I told him that might be the best baseball quote I ever heard. Sure enough, I heard him repeat it in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta. . .all major league points.”

One of his more recent ones was: “I’m just like everybody else. I have two arms, two legs and 4,256 hits.” I checked my resume and I’m 4,256 hits short of being just like Pete.

And I remember this one just before he passed Ty Cobb for the most all-time hits. While Pete had a massive ego, usually shrouded in humor, he could be self-depreacting.

“When I get the record, all it will get me is the player with the most hits,” he said. “I’m also the player with the most at bats and the most outs. I never said I was a better player than Ty Cobb.”

This one was dispatched to me by my prolific contributer Jeff Singleton and I never heard Henry Aaron say this about Rose’s all-out hustle on every pitch of every game.

“Does Pete Rose hustle? Before the All-Star game he came into the clubhouse and took off his shoes,” said Aaron. “They ran another mile without him.”

That was a perfect description of Peter Edward Rose.

—JUST 23 DAYS?: When the Arizona Diamondbacks released former Cincinnati Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart, the Reds signed him to a minor league contract and sent him to Triple-A Louisville.

Nice gesture, right? Well, not so fast, my friends.

Barnhart needs 23 days of major league service to qualify for a full MLB pension. Did the Reds call him up for those 23 days. No, they didn’t.

So if he doesn’t hook on with a team next year and retires, his pension will be $137,500 a year. With those 23 days, it would be $275,000.

Hopefully, the Reds were not aware of that. But we all know better.

—QUICKLY DONE: When the Cubs beat the Reds, 1-0, Friday afternoon, it was a Beat The Clock game. They played it in 1:48 as both teams played as if they had early dinner reservations on Rush Street.

It tied for seventh as the quickest game this century. Amazingly, the game tied with another Reds-Cubs game played in 1:48. It was a 3-0 Cubs win on May 21, 2001.

The fastest game this century was 1:39, White Sox 2, Marlins 1 on April 16, 2001.

And the fasted nine-inninng game ever? It was a New York Giants-Philadelphia Phillies game played on September 29, 1919. Even though the Giants scored six runs and the Phillies scored three, the game was played in 51 minutes.

Of course, there were no beer or car commercials because there was no TV.

—CATCHING UP: Much was made of the fact that Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson caught 1,000 innings this season.

And it should be because catchers take a beating, like a carvial kewpie doll taking baseballs thrown at them. An MLB catcher is like an NFL middle linebacker.

But remember this. Johnny Bench caught more than 1,000 innings 11 times. He, indeed, was a glutton for supreme punishment.

—HOMERS A TO Z: Took this quiz on social media and didn’t fare well. Name the career home run leader for each letter in the alphabet, A to Z. Ready?

Hank Aaron (755), Barry Bonds (762), Miguel Cabrera (511), Carlos Delgado (473), Juan Encarnacion (424), Jimmy Foxx (534), Ken Griffey Jr. (630), Frank Howard and Ryan Howrd tied (382), Raul Ibanez (305), Reggie Jackson (563), Harmon Killebrew (573), Carlos Lee (358).

Willie Mays (660) Graig Nettles (390), David Ortiz (548), Albert Pujols (703), Carlos Quintana (154), Babe Ruth (714), Sammy Sosa (609), Jim Thome (612), Justin Upton (325), Greg Vaughn (325), Ted Williams (521), No ‘X’ players, Carl Yastrzemski (452), Ryan Zimmerman (280).

—A LONG, LONG ROAD: Will there every be another true knuckleball pitcher like Phil Niekro, Wilbur Wood, Tim Wakefield or Hoyt Wilhelm?

Wilhelm’s route to the Hall of Fame was a long and twisting road.

Before he ever threw his first knuckleball, he was in World War II’s Battle of Bulge and was wounded by German artilliery. A piece of shrapnel lodged in his back and it stayed there throughout his career.

After the war, he spent seven years in the minors before the New York Giants called him up in 1952 as a 29-year-old rookie. Manager Leo Durocher stuck him in the bullpen and he went 15-3 with a league-best 2.43 earned run average for 71 appearances.

In 1959, Baltimore put him in the rotation and he pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees in his third start. He finished 15-11 and again had the league’s best ERA at 2.19.

He was back in the bullpen in 1963 with the Chicago White Sox for six years, never started another game.

He pitched in the majors for 21 years, until he was 49, still confusing hitters with his knuckleball. He finished with 143 wins and 228 saves.

You might say he was a guy who really had to ‘knuckle’ under and ‘knucle’ down..

—SEEING IS BELIEVING: At one point, New York Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez was told he needed glasses, so he bought prescription glasses and put them on. He didn’t like them.

“The first time I wore them on the mound, I looked at the guy in the batter’s box and it was Jimmy Foxx. It scared me to death. I took ‘em off and never wore them in a game again.”

—QUOTE MACHINE: Some stuff from the mouths of baseball people:

—From former manager Casey Stengel on pitcher Sandy Koufax: “I can understand Koufax winning 25 games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five games.”

—Former mean-guy pitcher Bob Gibson on Stan Musial: “He is the nicest man I ever met in baseball and to be honest I can’t relate to that. I never knew that nice and baeball went together.”

—From acrtess Tallulah Bankhead: “There have been only two authentic geniuses in the world, Willie Mays and Willie Shakespeare.”

—From Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz: “Beethoven can’ts really be great because his picture is not on a bubblegum card.”

—From Reggie Jackson, who seldom uttered a sentence without ‘I’ in it: “After Jackie Robinson, the most important black player in history is Reggie Jackson.”

—From Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle: “You don’t realize how easy baseball is until you get up in a broadcast booth.”

—LIKE THE WICHITA LINEMEN: After all the power outages caused by Hurricane Helene, it is clear that the most valuable linemen in America are not in the NFL.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 99: I’m fast running out. . .finally.

Your Man (Josh Turner), Sh Boom, Sh Boom (The Crew Cuts), Reminiscing (Little River Band), She Believes In Me (Kenny Rogers), Jessie’s Girl (Rick Springfield), Photograph (Ringo Starr), Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot).

Big Love (Fleetwood Mac), All Down The Line (Rolling Stones), Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys), 9 To 5 (Dolly Parton), Live Like You Were Dying (Tim McGraw), I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Whitney Houston), Shut Up And Dance With Me (Walk The Moon).

 

By Hal McCoy

Pete Rose was too tough to die. It can’t possibly be true. He always slid head first and he was always safe.

But it is true and it is so damn difficult to comprehend. He passed away Monday at age 83. Little more than a week ago he was in the Cincinnati area, still signing autographs, still talking about a game he loved more than anybody I ever knew.

My relationship with him was complicated, a love-hate proposition for him. But I always loved and respect the Hit King, despite his warts and foibles and failures off the field.

When he played, 24 years in the majors, three batting titles, starts at five different positions in All-Star games, a .303 career batting average — enough accomplishments to fill half the record book — he was the easiest player to cover and write about.

Ask him a question, one question, poise your pen and he would fill your notebook with enough material, good material, for four stories.

Did he love to gamble? Of course he did. Way back in the 1970s he once bet on me in a tennis match against Philadelaphia Phillies player/broadcaster Richie Ashburn.

I lost and he lost.

Gambling is when our relationship deteriorated. When the investigation into Rose’s betting on baseball surfaced, the Dayton Daily News had several reporters working on it.

But I was the front man. I was at the games every day. I had to ask Rose the tough questions about the details the DDN reporters and I uncovered. And I have to write the negative, but accurate, stories.

That was a tough situation for me. Pete and I were friends. Before the paper started its investigation, sports editor Ralph Morrow called me into his office and said, “I know you and Pete are close. Can you be part of our investigation?” I was offended because I considered myself professional enough to do my job, as difficult and as heart-tearing as it was.

So when Rose was banished from baseball in 1989, he took a kill the messenger attitude toward me. I was the guy asking the tough questions and writing the stories about his gambling.

He didn’t speak to me for nearly 20 years and often spoke disparaging about me on his radio shows and in his book, “My Prison Without Bars.”

Then my wife, Nadine, and I were in Las Vegas during the All-Star break in 2008. We were walking down a concourse near Caeser’s Palace and spotted Rose in a sports memorabilia shop signing autographs.

Nadine said, “There’s Pete Rose. Go in and say hello.”

I said, “Do you want to start a riot? He hates my guts.”

“You go in there,” she said, giving me a shove.

As I stumbled through the door, Rose saw me, came around the table and shook my hand. He had our picture taken together, had it developed right away, slid it into a leather case and signed it, “To a great Hall of Famer fromv the Hit King (4,256 hits), Pete Rose.”

And that was the end of the rift. Rose gave me his private telephone number and we talked frequently.
Just a month ago he sent me a video in which he ended it by saying, “I love you, Hal.”

From a crusty guy who gave no ground on a baseball field and was negatively uninhibited off the field, that hit me hard.

And not long ago, I gave a copy of Keith O’Brien’s book, “Charlie Hustle,” to my great friend Ryan Roth. He gave the book to his cousin to take to a Rose autograph show not long ago to have Rose sign it.

Roth’s cousin handed Rose the book and said, “Hal gave this to my cousin.”

“Hal who?” said Rose.

The cousin said, “Hal McCoy,” and Pete signed the book with, “Any friend of Hal’s is a friend of mine.”

That is a fantastic thing because it is the last memory I will have of Rose.

It is true that most fans either love Pete Rose or they despise Pete Rose. And as a journalist, I’m supposed to be objective and aloof from a personal relationship. I was always objective in what I wrote about him, but it is difficult not to have personal feelings about somebody with whom you spent more time that with your family.

Indeed, some of his off-the-field stuff, some of the things in his private life, were reprehensible.

But what he did on the field is the stuff of legends, done by a true legend, one of the best baseball players of all time.

He hurt his chances to make the Hall of Fame by outright lying for nearly 15 years, insisting he never bet on baseball.

When he was first called to the baseball commissioner’s, if he had been contrite, if he had said, “Yes, I bet on baseball. I was wrong in doing that. I am so sorry,” he might have served a one-year suspension and already been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

But that wasn’t his nature. He was a stubborn guy. And he thought, “I’m Pete Rose. I’m baseball’s teflon man. They won’t do anything to me. Why should I admit it?”

He was banished 35 years ago. He finally admitted he bet on baseball, bet on the Cincinnati Reds, “Always to win,” and has served his penance.

One of the last things he said to me was, “Ax murderers serve less time than I have. I’ve been an ambassador for the game, been better to it than it has to me. Yes, I bet on baseball. I was wrong.”

And I know there will be detractors out there and disagree. I know all about his off-the-field stuff. Originally, when he was denying, denying, denying, I was against his induction into the Hall of Fame.

But after he finally ‘fessed up and after his continued posture as an ambassaror to the game, I positively endorse his enshrinement.

It isn’t a baseball Hall of Fame without Pete Rose’s plaque.