Category: Uncategorized

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

With the wild card chase tighter than a lid on a new jar of dill pickles, there is no doubt the Cincinnati Reds were watching the clubhouse television sets as they prepared for Friday night’s game.

They saw the Chicago Cubs beat the Colorado Rockies Friday afternoon in Wrigley Field, knowing that their Friday night game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Great American Ball Park was ultra-important.

Win the game or put themselves in a pickle, falling farther behind the Cubs in their quest for the third wild card spot.

And the worse case scenario unfolded, an ultra-disheartening 7-5 loss to the Pirates that dropped the Reds 1 1/2 games behind the Cubs.

The lead changed hands six times in a wild and poorly-played game by both sides, but the Pirates ended up with the upper hand.

After the Pirates hit four solo home runs to take a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning, TJ Friedl, who was on base five straight times, unloaded a two-run home in the home sixth to give the Reds a 5-4 lead.

Home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman aided the Reds when it appeared Luke Maile had taken a strike three. But Dreckman called it a ball and Maile blooped a single to right. Friedl then homered.

But the lead was to change hands a sixth and final time in the Pittsburgh seventh against Ian Gibaut.

Ji Hwan Bae grounded to second and Jonathan India tried to short-hop it, but it skippped off his glove into right field. It was ruled an error, but later changed to an infield hit.

With one out, Bryan Reynolds singled and Ke’Bryan Hayes singled home Bae. Miguel Andujar hit a double play ball to India, but shortstop Elly De La Cruz threw wildly to first and Reynolds scored to make it 7-5.

The Reds desperately tried for a seventh lead change in the ninth against Pittsburgh closer David Bednar, who was wilder than a Pamplona bull.

His first six pitches were balls and the first four gave Friedl a walk. Spencer Steer grounded to third and Hayes tried for a 5-4-3 double play. Friedl, though, beat his throw to second, the second time in the game Friedl beat a double play ground ball to second base.

That put the potential tying runs on base with no outs. But Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit into a double play. Bednar then walked Joey Votto on a full count, putting runners on third and first.

But it ende when Bednar struck out Noelvi Marte on four pitches, his 37th save in 40 chances and 14th straight, but surely the most wobbly of them all.

Both sides used seven pitchers and they threw 381 pitches, 197 by the Reds and 184 by the Pirates.

Pittsburgh did everything it could to gift wrap a win for the Reds before handing them their third straight loss and fourth in five games.

The Reds stranded the bases loaded in the first and scored a run in the second but stranded two more. In the first two innings, Pittsburgh pitchers issued four walks and hit a batter, but the Reds scored only one run.

Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott pitched three scoreless innings and struck out six.

But Hayes led the fourth with a home run. And number eight hitter Henry Davis crushed only his third home run, a 431-footer in the fifth.

Buck Farmer came on to pitch in the sixth with the Reds leading, 3-2, and gave up home runs to Jared Triola, his third, and to Endy Rodriguez, his fifth, which pushed the Pirates back in front, 4-3.

Friedl’s homer in the seventh reclaimed the lead, but once again the bullpen couldn’t close the deal, insuring the Reds would suffer their 38th blown lead this season.

The Pirates are on a hot streak with 15 wins in their last 24 games that includes taking recent series from the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

The Roulette Reds wagered on red ’21’ Wednesday afternon in Great American Ball Park, but in the bitter end it came up black ’13’ for the Cincinnati Reds

The ’21’ is the uniform number worn by Reds pitcher Hunter Greene and he was two levels above awesome for seven innings.

But what Greene giveth, the bullpen taketh away.

The Minnesota Twins scored three runs in the ninth inning against closer Alexis Diaz and Sam Moll to turn a one-run deficit into a 5-3 victory, a devastating defeat for the Reds in their quest to qualify for the playoffs.

With only eight games remaining, the Reds have made their path to the number three wild card spot a rocky journey.

Greene, the last man standing from the rotation that opened the season, gave a Cullinan diamond performance, 14 strikeouts, one run and three hits over seven innings on just 92 pitches. But manager David Bell turned it over to the bullpen after seven innings, usually a reliable protection agency, asked to protect a 3-1 lead.

But Ian Gibaut gave up a run on three hits in the eighth, including a run-scoring single to Edouardo Julien to cut the lead to 3-2.

Closer Diaz entered the ninth and was touched for a bunt single by Willi Castro. He immediately stole his 32nd base and continued to third when catcher Luke Maile threw the ball into center field.

Former Reds infielder Kyle Farmer singled to right, scoring Castro that sliced Cincinnati’s lead to 3-2.

Diaz retired the next batter, but when he walked Christian Vazquez, Bell brought in left-hander Sam Moll.

He struck out Trevor Larnach for the second out on a full count while Farmer and Vazquez pulled a double steal.

That put runners on third and second, but Moll and the Reds were one out away from a 3-2 win.

Bell chose to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Ryan Jeffers, filling the bases.

Moll’s next pitch, to Jorge Polanco, was driven past second baseman Jonathan India, a two-run single and a 5-3 Minnesota lead.

Diaz had blown only two saves all season, but not only was it his third, but he was slapped with the loss.

Minnesota chose to bring in Griffin Jax to close the game in the home half, a guy who had blown 14 of his 17 career save opportunities.

And he walked pinch-hitter Nick Martini to open the ninth, but India struck out, TJ Friedl drove a deep fly just shy of the wall in right and Spencer Steer grounded into a game-ending force play.

Minnesota loaded its lineup with five left-handed hitters to face the right-handed Greene, a strange move because left-handers hit below .100 against Greene and right-handers hit .280.

Of his 14 strikeouts, the most for a Reds pitcher since Ron Villone whiffed 16 St. Louis Cardinals in 2000, Greene struck out the left-handers 10 times.

The Reds were facing 6-foot-9 Bailey Ober and the Reds made sure it was not Ober-and-out against the change-up maven.

Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the third when Ober walked Will Benson on a full count, hit India with a pitch on a full count and Friedl singled home Benson.

The lead expanded to 2-0 in the fourth when Christian Encarnacion-Strand extracted some revenge because the Twins traded him to the Reds for pitcher Tyler Mahle. CES homered over the left field wall, his ninth.

Greene’s only mistake surfaced in the seventh when he gave up a home run to Castro, a menace to the Reds the last two games of the series. It was his second home run in two games and he made two above-and-beyond catches to rob Tyler Stephenson of a home run and a two-run single in the second game.

In between Castro’s home run, Greene struck out six straight and struck out the side in the sixth.

Bell, though, managing his 700th game for the Reds, determined that seven innings was enough and turned it over to the bullpen.

And they let the big one get away.

After an off-day Thursday, the Reds open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night, their last series at home.

They finished the season with two games in Cleveland and three in St. Louis.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

For the Cincinnati Reds, the 2023 schedule is down to single digits, nine games remaining, so every defeat is magnified as they puruse an elusive wild card spot.

And the Reds suffered a bad one Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park, a 7-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

In addition, it was double jeopardy. The Miami Marlins scored a ninth-inning walk-off 4-3 win over the New York Mets and leap-frogged over the Reds into the number three wild card spot.

The Reds managed only four hits, two in the ninth inning, and struck out 14 times while suffering their 10th shutout defeat.
It was another bullpen night for the Reds and opener Fernando Cruz was the only effective pitcher among five used by manager David Bell.
Cruz retired five Twins, four via strikeouts, during his brief 1 2/3 innings.

Then it was a 76 trombones-type relief pitcher parade. Bell used four pitchers in the first 3 1/3 innings to get 10 outs.
After Cruz pitched a 1-2-3 first, the Twins put runners on base in each of the next seven innings against Buck Farmer. Daniel Duarte, Alex Young, Ben Lively and Derek Law.

Lively was the sacrificial lamb. He ate up four innings but gave up five runs, seven hits, four walks and a home run.
The Twins scored one in the second, one in the fourth, two in the sixth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth and stranded runners in each inning from the second to the eighth.

As part of Minnesota’s 11-hit assault, number eight batter Ryan Jeffers cracked a solo home run and Castro complemented hiis outstanding defensive effort with a two-run home run
Meanwhile, the Reds were helpless against 34-year-old Osaka-born Kenta Maeda and his nose-diving split-fingered pitch.

He retired the first 11 Reds before giving up a two-out double to former Twins farmhand Spencer Steer and a walk to Jake Fraley with two outs in the fourth.

That was one of only three opportunities for the Reds to score and Twins center fielder Willi Castro spoiled both. They trailed by only 2-0 in the fifth when Steer doubled with Fraley walked with two outs.

Steer and Fraley pulled off a double steal, putting runners on third and second. Tyler Stephenson drove a sinking line drive to center and Castro made a diving, rolling catch off the grass tops to prevent the Reds from tying it, 2-2.

Fraley walked to open the seventh and Castro did it to Stephenson again. Stephenson drove one to deep center and Castro vaulted above the wall to rob Stephenson of a two-run homer.

Maeda left after five innings and four Twins relief pitchers finished the project, ending the Reds stretch of six wins in their previous eight games.

 

By Hal McCoy

Dayton, OH. — The University of Dayton football team is taking a busisness trip to San Diego this week, a rugged Pioneer Football League game against the University of San Diego.

But what’s business without a dab of pleasure?

“A lot of our kids have never been on an airplane, let alone see the Pacific Ocean,” said first-year Flyer coach Trevor Andrews.

“Sightseeing? We’re going to play a football game,” he said. But he doesn’t plan to put his Flyers in deep hibernation,

“We will take ‘em to the beach to see the ocean and maybe get ‘em an In-N-Out burger,” Andrews said, referring to the famous west coast fast-food chain.

The Flyers are flying to San Diego on Thursday to get acclimated to the three-hour time difference, “And the game is at 5 p.m., our time, our normal practice time, so that should help,” said Andrews.

This is the PFL’s 31st year and the two most successful programs have been UD and San Diego, both with 12 league championships.

Andrews doesn’t know what awaits him and the Flyers. The Toreros are an uncharacteristic 0-3, but with extenuating circumstances.

Due to a hazing controversy, all USD seniors were suspended for the first three games and some of the underclassmen for one game.

“We’ve looked at some film, but we’re not sure who we’re seeing and who will play,” said Andrews. “But they played a good game last week against Princeton (23-12 loss). They also lost to Cal Poly, 27-10, and Colorado Mesa, 28-21, in overtime.

“We assume all their players will be back for our game,” said Andrews.

And, like Andrews, Brandon Moore is in his first year as San Diego’s head coach.

So the Flyers are taking the field with blindfolds on under their helmets, not knowing what to expect.

After taking a 41-0 beating at Eastern Illinois, a school that gives 65 scholarships, the Flyers handed beatings to Central State, 62-24, and to Taylor University, 52-20.

Andrews plans to continue using a two-quarterback system, but it is not a platoon situation where they alternate series.

It is more situational, “And sometimes we have both in the backfield at the same time.”

The majority of the time goes to red-shirt sophomore Dante Casciola, a 6-2, 177-pound classic drop-back passer who is adept at reading defenses.

The other is red-shirt senior Cole Dow, who is more of a runner and a quick study in improvisation.

In three games, Casciola is 29 for 46 for 480 yards and four touchdowns. He has carried only four times for minus-19 yards, due to sacks.

Dow is 16 for 34 for 124 yards and two touchdowns while also running it 31 times for 121 yards and three touchdowns.

“People don’t like to hear it when we talk about two quarterbacks,” said Andrews, “but ours is not a true platoon. We play to each one’s strengths.”

The biggest question mark when the Flyers began the season was how to replace all-everything, all-purpose back Jake Chisholm, who re-wrote nearly every UD offensive record over the last five years.

How do you replace a guy like that? With four guys — Michael Neel, Logan Davis, Luke Hansen and Mason Hackett.

All four drew play calls against Taylor — 15 carries for Neel for 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns, five carries for 50 yards for Davis, seven carries for 34 yards and a touchdown for bull-rusher Hansen, and four carries for 34 yards and a touchdown from 5-foot-8 freshman Hackett, mostly in the fourth quarter.

Neel, a 192-pound grad student from Charlotte, gets most of the calls, kneeling for nobody. He has barged his way to two straight 100-yard days. For the three games he has carried 53 times for 289 yards and three touchdowns.

The Flyers have scored 114 points in their last two games, performed and accomplished with five freshmen on the offensive unit.

The Flyers have trudged for more than 500 yards total offense in back-to-back games.

“That’s awesome, that’s our goal every week,” said Casciola. “We set high goals for ourselves. We wanted to hit them going into league play. We should feel good going into San Diego about all three phases of the game.”

Of the match-up with San Diego, Casciola said, “We definitely know from their past they will be a great football team. They are going to be really deep and they’ll have a lot of athletes. We know the travel is going to be hard for us, but it’ll be a great game. I’m real excited because I’ve never played in California, so that will be fun.”

And he will have some grandstand support.

“I have a lot of family, like cousins who went to UCLA,” he said. “They are definitely coming to the game and my family is making a short little vacation out of it.”

So for the Flyers it is a little bit of pleasure first, then down to the business of winning a challenging and important football game.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

Q: How many pitchers in today’s game would throw 120 to 130 pitches in a game if it was their choice? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: It depends on the situation. A gusy getting his carcass handed to him after three innings prefers an early shower. But a pitcher doing well does not want to come out when he reaches the magic 100-pitch plateau. How often do you see a pitcher doing well make faces and walk off dejectedly when the manager says, “Nice job, you’re done.” The game has changed, not for the better, and startig pitchers believe they’ve done their jobs by pitching five good innings. Case in point: After a recent game, Seattle pitcher George Kirby said, “I wish I hadn’t been out there for the seventh inning, to be honest. I was at 90 pitches.” Poor baby.
Q: If you were a betting man, would you wager that the Reds will make the playoffs this year? — DR. GREG, Beavercreek.
A: The only betting I do is on myself at the blackjack tables. And since I wrote about recently that the Reds will make it, I won’t renege. But those two losses at home to St. Louis lessened my optimism, I’m still with them, mostly due to their weak opponents down the stretch. They should win the majority of those games, but it concerns me that they have to continue to run mystery men to the mound.

Q: What would be the plus and minus of the Reds batting Will Benson at leadoff? — BEN, Red Bay, AL.
A: That’s an astute observation. Benson is a well-rounded hitter with power and speed. He has a .369 onbase average, second on the team behind Spencer Steer. He has taken 37 walks and stolen 15 bases. He has been productive batting ninth and eighth, but he could be more productive leading off. But the only manager to ever take my suggestion was Lou Piniella when in 1990 I suggested he bat Barry Larkin leadoff. How’d that work out?

Q: Does anybody choke up on the bat any more, especially with two strikes? — JACK, Miamisburg.
A: Choking up on the bat has gone the way of stirrup,socks and vest-top uniforms. Players want to grip-it and rip-it for home runs, seeking high velocity bat speed, high launch angle and distance. Joey Votto does choke up with two strikes at time. Believe it or not, Barry Bonds choked up at all times and said it gave him bat control and by moving up on the handle it could more easily make contact with the barrel. Remember Bucky Dent of the New York Yankees hitting the famous home run against the Boston Red Sox to win the pennant? He choked up on that homer. Noted choke artists in the past were Ty Cobb, Nellie Fox, Rod Carew and Hunter Pence. As Edith Bunker sang it, “Gone are the days.

Q: When a player or manager is ejected, do they get fined and how much? — ART, West Chester.
A: With every ejection comes a dip into the ejectee’s wallet. The fines are never disclosed, though they usually start at about $500. A lot of it depends upon how demonstrative the manager or player is what he does after he is ejected. And suspensions can be given, too, if the player or manager comes in contact with the umpire, uses excessively vile verbiage or spreads equipment all over the well-tended grass.

Q: What kind of wood are the players required to use in their bats? — NADINE, Englewood.
A: While it looks as if some players are using balsam, nobody uses that flimsy wood. Most players use maple bats because the wood is dense, powerful, durable and packs a punch. Twenty years ago most players swung ash bats. They are more flexible and increased bat speed. But usage of ash is down to about 10 % of the players. I’m just glad MLB doesn’t use aluminum bats with their awful ‘ping’ sound and no crack of the bat. I was playing softball when aluminum bats first appeared but I stubbornly continued to use a wooden bat. And why don’t you ask me these questions at dinner?

Q: How long do you stick with Elly De La Cruz in the lineup while his average drops like a rock? — KEVIN, New York, NY.
A: There is no doubt De La Cruz has more strikeouts than bees in a hive, but he does create buzz and evokes havoc on the basepaths, when he can get there. And, yes, he is hitting far below .200 since the All-Star break and his last home run is a distant memory. But the kid is 21 and still learning. He has been better lately at laying off low and inside pitches in the dirt. Despite all that, he has superstar written all over him. He just has to learn to read it.

Q: I’m getting tired of managers relying on analytics and will they ever get back to just using their heads and gut feelings? — SCOTT, Springfield.
A: The best managers use a combination of both, use the numbers fed them but still rely on what they are seeing and how they feel about certain situations. The robot managers stick totally to analytics and, oh yeah, robots make mistakes, too. Analytics will never completely go away because if they are used the right way they can help.

Q: What’s the best prank you saw pulled on players in the clubhouse? — JIM, Cincinnati.
A: Johnny Bench had a steel cage about the size of small cardboard box with a small barred window on one side. Rookies were told that Bench’s pet mongoose was inside and it was dangerous. What actually was inside was a stuffed toy animal. Rookies were invited to peek in the window. When they did, Bench sprung a trap door and the ‘mongoose’ was ejected into the air. Several rookies needed a cardiologist immediately.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

With the Minnesota Twins in town, the Cincinnati Reds faced their last opponent of the year with a winning record.

And the Reds took care of business in an emphatic way, pinning a 7-3 defeat on the Twins, the first-place occupants of the American League Central.

It was a gargantuan victory as the season dwindles away while wild card contenders play a daily game of leap frog.

Not only did the Miami Marlins lose, enabling the Reds to bypass them, but the Chicago Cubs were idle and the Reds moved into a tie with them for the coveted third wild card spot. And Arizona was idle, so the Reds slipped to within a half-game of the second wild card position.

As it has gone this month, the Reds were plagued with a lack of starting pitchers and it wasn’t announced until late Monday afternoon who it would be.

It was 22-year-old rookie Connor Phillips, summoned from Class AAA Louisville to make his third major league start.

What a start it was. Phillips gave the Reds much more than they honestly expected — seven innings of two-run, three-hit, seven-strikeout pitching.

Phillips was 0-0 after his first two starts with an 8.31 earned run average, but the Reds won both those games. This time, with his well-polished performance, he earned his first major-league victory.

Two of the three hits were harnless solo home runs and the offense more than covered the difference, led by Will Benson with three runs batted in.

The Reds scored two in the second inning, but it was narrowly much more.

Noelvi Marte put the Reds on the board with a run-scoring single and the Reds had runners on first and third.

Benson drove one to deep center, a drive penciled-in for a home run. But Twins center fielder Michael A. Taylor sprung above the wall to rob Benson.

Instead of a three-run homer, Benson had a sacrifice fly for one run batted in and a 2-0 Cincinnati lead.

The Twins cut it to 2-1 in the fourth on a leadoff home run by Royce Lewis. Fortunately for the Reds, the bases were loaded. Lewis hit four grand slams in an 18-day span recently.

Benson pushed the lead to 4-1 in the fourth. After a two-out full-count walk to Marte, Benson made sure nobody could catch this one but a fan in the stands.

He drove a 408-foot home run into the right-center seats.

Phillips gave up his second home run with one out in the seventh, a jolt by Alex Kirillof that cut Cincinnati’s lead to 4-2.

The Reds put it away in the home seventh against left-hander Dallas Keuchel with a three-run eruption.

It began with a full-count walk to Jonathan India. TJ Friedl singled and Spencer Steer singled home India.

Pinch-hitter Nick Senzel blooped a single to fill the bases and it looked as if the uprising was over when Tyler Stephenson bounced into a third to home to first double play. That left runners on third and second with two outs. But Joey Votto slashed a two-run single and the Reds led, 7-2.

It was a satisfying night for Steer, traded by the Twins to the Reds in the pitcher Tyler Mahle deal. Steer had three hits, drove in a run and scored one.

And Votto chipped in with two hits, two RBI and a run scored.

The Reds, always active with transactions, outdid themselves before Monday’s game.

Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader, both picked up early this month on waivers, have been non-contributers. Renfroe was designated for assignment and Bader was placed in the injured list with a groin strain.

Utility player Stuart Fairchild and relief pitcher Alex Young were activated off the COVID-19 injured list and pitcher Connor Phillips was recalled from Class AAA Louisville so he could make Monday’s start.

In addition, pitcher Graham Ashcraft is scheduled for surgery to relieve stress reaction on his right big toe and was transferred to th3 60-day injured list.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, where I have been accused of living in the past with my old stories. And maybe I am, but I love ‘em and hope you do, too.

—OH, NO-NO: It was an era in major league baseball when pitchers threw hard, harder and hardest — Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Sudden Sam McDowell and Bob Veale.

Most hitters back then say that Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney threw hardest of them all, including New York Mets right fielder Johnny Lewis.

“I never saw a pitcher throw harder than Jim Maloney,” he said.

Why quote Lewis? Well, on June 14, 1965, Lewis hit a home run in Crosley Field in the 11th inning to break up Maloney’s no-hitter.

The incident comes to mind after the Milwaukee Brewers held the New York Yankees to no hits for 10 1/3 innings but lost in 13 innings. Maloney lost, too, 1-0.

For his 11 innings, Maloney walked one and struck out 18. He had struck out Lewis three times before Lewis led the 11th by driving a 2-and-1 fastball over the center field wall. In four major-league seasons, Lewis hit 22 home runs.

In a strange twist, Maloney’s bosom buddy and road roommate, catcher Johnny Edwards, led the 10th inning with a single and manager Dick Sisler sent in pinch-runner Chico Ruiz.

So back-up catcher Don Pavletich was behind the plate for the 11th and Edwards was livid and said, “You just don’t take a catcher or a pitcher out when they are working on a no-hitter.”

Said Maloney, “I was trying to keep the ball in on him and it leaked out just a little bit.”

—LIGHTS OUT: Former New York Yankee Hank Bauer said that manager Casey Stengel, “Once pinch-hit for me in the first inning before I even took the field. And once I had two home runs and a double in a game and he pinch-hit for me in the eighth.”

That jogged my memory to a game the Cincinnati Reds played in Dodger Stadium in 1975. John Vukovich was in the lineup for the Reds, batting eighth.

The Reds mounted a first-inning rally and manager Sparky Anderson pinch-hit for Vukovich before he even took the field.

Vukovich took his unused bat up the tunnel from the dugout to the clubhouse and broke out every light bulb on his way up the tunnel.

—QUOTE: From Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson: “The great thing about baseball is when you’re done, you’ll only tell your grandkids the good things. If they ask me about 1989, I’ll tell them I had amnesia.” (His Detroit Tigers lost 103 games in 1989, their first losing seaosn since 1977.)

—BILLY THE KID: Did you know that Billy Martin’s real name was Alfred Manuel Pesano? He was fired as manager nine times, all in the American League. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who changed managers like an automotive shop changes tires, got him five times.

And he was fired in Detroit, Texas, Minnesota and Oakland.

Martin thought he was bantamweight boxing champion of the world, but chose his opponents carefully. He punched out one of his relief pitchers, punched out a team traveling secretary and punched out a marshmallow salesmam.

When he managed in Detroit, he had the team in first place until it lost five of six to fall to second place.

Before a doubleheader after the losing streak, he wrote the names of nine players and had his star player, Al Kaline, draw the names out of Martin’s hat. The batting order was compiled sequentially as the names came out of the hat. The Tigers won, 3-2.

For the second game, Martin made out his lineup the convential way and the Tigers lost. Said general manager John Fetzer, “I’m going to fire Martin and hire his hat.”

—SPEED DEMON: Dizzy Dean, who really was dizzy, once said of his teammate and Hall of Famer Pepper Martin of the St. Louis Cardinals that he was so fast he could spot a jackrabbit five yards and beat the bunny in the 100-yard dash running backwards.

A writer once asked him how he ran so fast and Pepper said, “Well, sir, I grew up in Oklahoma and once you start runnin’ out there, there ain’t nothin’ to stop you.”

—BETTING WITH A ‘B’: A fellow named Shing Mon Chung laid some numbers on me that staggered me, even though I was sitting down.

Since sports betting became legal in the Buckeye State at the start of the year, Ohioans have wagered $3.5 billion (that’s billion with a ‘B’) on sporting events.

And that’s before the NFL season began and bettors go bonkers on the NFL.

I don’t wager on sports, but for those who do, take the Cleveland Browns tonight and give the 2 1/2 points to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

You’re welcome.

—BROAD-LY SPEAKING: The Chicago Cubs, under manager Leo Durocher, had a big lead late in the season but they struggled for wins in September and blew the lead.

Durocher was famously married to movie star Laraine Day, but that didn’t stop Leo the Lip from being politically incorrect.

Said Durocher of that team, “I could have dressed nine broads up as ballplayers and they would have beaten the Cubs.”

—NO LONG BUS RIDES: Before the interstate system was completed, it took 5 1/2-hours for a charter bus to cover the mileage between Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

At the time, the New York Yankees trained in Fort Lauderdale and the Washington Senators trained in Orlando.

Said Yankees manager Casey Stengel, every time we had a game in Orlando and had to make a bus trip, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford would come up with headaches, sore throats or stomach aches. Those guys never saw Orlando.”

—PRIME TIME MAYHEM: The Colorado State-Colorado football game Saturday night might have been the most violent college game ever witnessed. There were more elbows thrown and kicks taken than in a pro wrestling match, but these were for real.

Coach Deoin Sanders’ Colorado team was down eight points, as a 25 1/2 point favorite, with four minutes to go. The Buffaloes went 98 yards in four minutes, tied the game, then won in double overtime.

Colorado is 3-and-0 with an awful defense, a defense that couldn’t stop a blind gentelman from crossing the street. And Coach Prime’s team plays Oregon next Saturday, which should set off every air raid alarm in the Great Northwest.

—PRESSURE COOKER: I once asked Reds manager Sparky Anderson, “With this team, do you feel the pressure to win?”

Said Sparky, “Hell, you’re under pressure if you can’t write.”

I don’t think that was a compliment.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

When the synopsis of the 2023 season is written, if the Cincinnati Reds don’t qualify for the playoffs, they can look back at September 17 as a day of infamy.

And they won’t be sending the Atlanta Braves any thank you notes.

The Reds perpetrated three errors Sunday afternoon in Citi Field that led to five runs and another scored on a wild pitch that led to a lopsided 8-4 loss to the New York Mets.

The loss dropped the Reds a half-game behind the Miami Marlins for the third wild card spot. After clinching the National League East title, the Braves played lay-down baseball against the Marlins, losing a three-game series to the Marlins by 9-6, 11-5 and 16-2.

And when the opposing team strands 11 runners and puts its leadoff hitter on base in five of the first six innngs and scores only four runs, and when the opposing pitcher, Jose Quintana, strikes out two batters in 6 2/3 innings, there is a good chance the other team will win.

That’s what the Mets did Sunday, but won because the Reds showed extreme generosity on defense.

The big blunder came in the seventh when the Reds trailed by 4-2.

Jeff McNeill led the seventh with an infield hit off rookie relief pitcher Carson Spiers. Mark Vientos hit one right to Spiers, an easy 1-6-3 double play ball.

But Spiers threw the ball into center field for an error that put runners on first and third with no outs instead of two outs and nobody on.

Spiers, one of 23 rookies to show up on the Reds’ roster so far this season, was obviously shaken by his misdemeanor and walked DJ Stewart on four pitches, filling the bases.

New York manager Buck Showalter sent up pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach, who is built like the biggest stevedore on the pier. First he hit one into the right field upper deck, just a few feet from a grand slam home run.

The miss didn’t bother Vogelbach. He drove one off the center field wall, a three-run double. A two-out single by Ronny Mauricio plated a fourth run and it was 8-2.

The Reds gave starting pitcher Brandon Williamson a 1-0 lead in the first with three hits, the last a two-out run-scoring single by Noelvi Marte.

But like so many Reds starting pitchers these days, Williamson could not give manager David Bell any length.

The Mets scored three runs in the second, an inning that began with a leadoff single by number nine hitter Tim Locastro.

Brandon Nimmo singled Locastro to second and with two outs Williamson walked Francisco Lindor, filling the bases.

Williamson unleashed a wild pitch that scored Locastro and Francisco Alvarez doubled into the left field corner for two runs and a 3-1 New York lead.

The Reds pulled to within 3-2 in the fifth on a 420-foot home run by Nick Senzel, tying his career best with his 12th home run.

Williamson, though, was done after four innings, struggling to hold the Mets to three runs, six hits and a walk.

The Mets scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, again with two outs that came about due to an error.

Lindor singled and was on first with two outs. McNeill grounded one right at first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand that should have been the third out.

But it went directly between he left foot and his right foot. Second baseman Spencer Steer was backing up the play and grabbed the ball.

But CES was pondering his miscue and was late covering the bag, but got there to take Steer’s throw. McNeill was called out, but replay/review reverse it and McNeill was safe.

Vientos blooped a single to center for an unearned run and the Mets led, 4-2.

Then came the Mets’ heavy barrage in the seventh, the four-run eruption. Encarnacion-Strand blasted a two-run home run in the eighth, but it was too little and too late.

Quintano, 34 and pitching for his seventh MLB team went 6 2/3 innings and gave up two runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out two.

If only the Reds had more hitters with the record Joey Votto has against Quintano. Votto had two hits off Quintano, giving him 15 for his career against the Mets left-hander, a .600 career average, and the most hits by an opposing player against Quintano.

The Reds took two of three from the Mets and were fortunate to score 5-3 and 3-2 wins in the first two games.

The Mets stranded 26 runners in the three-game series and were 3 for 18 in the first two games with runners in scoring position. They were 5 for 15 Sunday, 8 for 33 during the series.

The degree of difficulty takes a steep climb when the Reds return home Monday. They begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, occupying first place in the American League Central.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

Defense is spelled d-e-f-e-n-se, but on
Saturday night in Citi Field it was spelled S-t-e-e-r, I-n-d-i-a and B-e-n-s-o-n for the Cincinnati Reds.

Spencer Steer, Jonathan India and Will Benson made outstanding late-game defensive plays to preserve a 3-2 victory for the Reds over the New York Mets.

And it enabled the Reds to stay in step with Arizona in the argument for the third wild card spot. The Diamondbacks beat the Chicago Cubs and remained tied with the Reds.

The Miami Marlins also won and remain a half-game back. The San Francisco Giants dropped a doubleheader to the Colorado Rockies and have fallen two games back.

With the Reds clinging to a 3-2 lead, constructed on a two-run home run by Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the fourth inning, Steer entered the game in left field for the seventh inning.

He barely had to get into his defensive crouch when Francisco Alvarez lined the first pitch deep into the left field corner. Steer blazed to the corner and snagged it.

One batter later, Pete Alonzo popped one behind first. Second baseman India ran a long, long way and speared it with a snag.

Benson started the game in left field and was moved to right in the eighth inning. Jeff McNeill lined one toward the right-center wall. Benson, sprinting like a world class 100-meter dasher, plucked it out of the air.

All that was left was for closer Alexis Diaz to finish it in the ninth. . .expect Diaz was not available after pitching in three of the previous four games.

Instead it was Derek Law strolling to the mound after his bullpen predecessors — Daniel Duarte, Sam Moll and Fernando Cruz had retired 11 straight Mets.

Law retired the first batter, but pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach broke the spell with a single. Brandon Nimmo flied to center but Alvarez singled.

That put the potential tying run on second and the winning run on first with Pete Alonso digging in at home plate, representing 45 home runs and 112 RBI.

After an eight-pitch battle, Alonso pulled a 2-and-2 pitch on the ground ball to third baseman Nick Senzel. He threw to second for the game-ending out, the Reds’ 34th one-run victory in 60 one-run games.

The Reds gave rookie left-hander Andrew Abbott an extra two days of rest and he wasn’t sharp. But he battled.

It took him 91 pitches to get 11 outs, but despite giving up six hits and three walks, he was touched for only two runs over his 3 2/3 innings.

He opened the game by retiring the first two Mets, then issued a ful count walk to Alonso, followed by back-to-back singles by Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio for a 1-0 New York lead. He stranded two by getting Jeff McNeill to pop up.

Mark Vientos led the second with a single, but Abbott induced a double play from Tim Locastro.

Abbott retired the first two in the third and again trouble surfaced. He issued to walks and an infield single to load the bases.

No problem. He struck out Vientos.

When he gave up a double with one out in the fourth and a two-out run-scoring double to Alvarez, his night was over.

The once-maligned Reds bullpen, suddenly one of the best in baseball in these toughest of times, took it from there — no runs, two hits (both off Law in the ninth), one walk and three strikeouts.

The Mets put runners on base in each of the first five innings, but stranded eight with only two scoring.

After the Mets took the 1-0 lead in the first, the Reds used their bold and aggressive base-running to score a run in the second.

TJ Friedl singled and with two outs Encarnacion-Strand singled, sending Friedl to third. CES stole second and Mets catcher Alvarez threw the ball away and Friedl trotted home to tie it, 1-1.

The decisive blow was big blast in the fourth. With one out, Joey Votto walked. Encarnacio-Strand’s lift-off two-run home run didn’t land until it traveled 428 feet far over the center field wall.

All that was left was for the three defensive gems and for the bullpen to do its due diligence.