HalMcCoy.com

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, a sad and silent place for the next couple of days with no baseball.

—REMEMBER HIM?: Jarren Duran is no friend to Cincinnati Reds fans and actually is Public Enemy No. 1. When his Boston Red Sox were in town in mid-June he was a pain in the solar plexis.

First he hit a home run off Andrew Abbott. Then he leaped above the center field wall in the ninth inning to rob Stuart Fairchild of a two-run game-winning home run.

And on Tuesday night, he played the major part in knocking the ‘H’ out of Hunter Greene’s first name.

Greene entered the All-Star game in the fifth with the score 3-3. The first two American League batters hit wall-scraping fly ball outs. Then came a single and Duran’s 413-foot game-winning home run.

It stayed 5-3, making Greene the losing pitcher and Duran the MVP.

At least Elly De La Cruz stepped up. They had him playing third base. What? He led off the seventh with a sharp two-strike single to left. The TV announcers implored him to steal second, but he stayed put.

And he was the second batter in the ninth to face superb Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase. Strikeout? No, he grounded out.

—BOLD AND CONFIDENT: Rookie mega-sensation Paul Skenes started for the National League in the All-Star game and the plan was for one inning.

The baseball world wanted to see Skenes face Man Mountain Aaron Judge, but Judge was batting fourth, so one of the top three had to get on base for it to materialize.

New York Yankees teammate Juan Soto batted third and on the morning of the game during an interview on MLB-TV Soto said, “I’ll make sure Judge faces him.”

And he did, duiously. He took a 3-and-2 pitch that looked like a strike but was called ball four. As he ran to first base, he pointed to Judge in the batter’s circle.

Judge kind of shook his head then grounded out to third on the first pitch. If you half-blinked, you missed the ‘confrontation.’

—OH SAY CAN YOU HEAR?: So who won the Home Run Derby? Yeah, I know. I found out Tuesday morning on ESPN. . .Teoscar Hernandez, who batted eighth in the All-Star game.

I lost interest after the first round and joined Nadine in the sun room to watch Beverly Hills Cop-Axel F.

When my ‘hightlight’ is Gunnar Henderson’s imitation of Scooby Doo. . .well.

Hernandez received less attention than National Anthem ‘singer’ Ingrid Andress. Five Grammy Nominations? She never won, right?

It hasn’t been a good year for Francis Scott Key. First a ship knocked down his bridge in Baltimore and then Andress murdered his song.

Social media abounds with folks saying it was the worst rendition ever. Not to me. Andress is only No. 2.

I was in the press box at old San Diego-Jack Murphy Stadium for a Reds-Padres game. I heard Roseanne Barr’s effort. If she tried to make a mockery of it, she more than succeeded and she’s still No. 1.

Andress confessed that she was inebriated as she warbled and said she was checking herself into a rehab center.

—JUST PINCH ME: MLB players will tell you, without twisting their batting gloves, that pinch-hitting is the toughest assignment in the game.

They sit in the dugout for seven innings, doing not much of anything, then are told by the manager, “Grab a bat and win this game for us.”

When portly Gates Brown was a pinch-hitter for the Detroit Tigers, he ate hot dogs and sat in the clubhouse talking on the phone to friends.

The Tigers, for some inexplicable reason, put an outside line on their bullpen phone. So Brown would sit in the bullpen talking to friends on the outside line.

Once manager Mayo Smith instructed the pitching coach to call the bullpen and get a relief pitcher ready. When it was time to bring in a pitcher, Smith saw that nobody was warming up.

“Didn’t you call the bullpen?” Smith asked his coach.

“I kept trying, but the line was busy,” he said. The outside line was gone the next day.

How difficult is pinch-hitting for superstars? Ty Cobb, one of the greatest hitters ever, was 15 for 60 (.217) as a pinch-hitter. And Babe Ruth? He was 13 for 67 (.194).

—PICK AND CHOOSE: Is picking runners off first base an art form? For some, yes. Frank Robinson tells this story about managing in Puerto Rico.

His team was a run down with two outs in the ninth-inning and got a runner on against a left-handed pitcher named Frank Conger.

Suddenly one of Robby’s relief pitchers, Freddie Bean, ran in from the bullpen and told Robby, “This guy has the greatest pickoff move in history. I saw him pick off three guys in one inning last year in Triple-A.”

Said Robby, “OK, since you know this guy, go in and pinch-run.”

Bean took a modest lead. . .and Conger picked him off. End of game.

“I was laughing too hard to chew him out,” said Robinson.

—POTENTLY SPEAKING: Baseball, go figure. On the last day before the All-Star break, the last-place Oakland A’s (37-61) beat the first-place Philadelphia Phillies (62-34), 18-3, in Citizens Bank Park.

There has been only one team this season to score 18 or more runs. The Oakland A’s. And they have done it three times, scoring 20, 19 and 18.

And they even won those games.

—ONE LONELY GUY: Something to think about when it comes to baseball defense, something I never thought about, until now.

Defensively, in basketball it is five-on-five. In football it is 11-on-11. In hockey it is six-on-six. Baseball? It’s one-on-nine.

It is one batter against nine defenders. And nobody screens for him, nobody blocks for him and nobody checks for him. Hardly fair, is it?

Back in the ‘80s, the Chicago White Sox defense was horrendous. During one game, broadcaster and former outfield defensive wizard Jimmy Piersall said after one error-filled inning, “I’m surprised they don’t miss the dugout when they run in.”

—A ROSE IS A ROSE: One spring training day, when the Reds trained in Tampa, a fan kept yelling, “Pete Rose, you’re a bum.”

Suddenly, a large man behind the fan went Mike Tyson on him. It was the fan’s misfortune to sit behind David Rose, Pete’s brother who looks like him only 50 pounds heavier.

“Dave’s a paramedic and his ambulance was in the parking lot, so he knew how long to punch the guy and still get him to the hospital in time” said Pete.

—DRESS ‘EM UP: Somebody asked what my favorite uniform is and I know they meant baseball or maybe football.

But my favorite uniform is the University of Southern California marching band with their gold Trojan helmets and red plumes. . .especially when they appeared on stage with Fleetwood Mac doing ‘Tusk.’

—IS IT NOT?: One of my least favorite sayings that is meaningless: “It is what it is.” Well, what is it?

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 73: And I keep finding ‘em.

Straight From The Heart (Bryan Adams), You Gave Me A Mountain (Elvis Presley), Closer You Get (Alabama), Dream Weaver (Gary Wright), Mind Games (John Lennon). No Matter What (Boyzone), Stranger On The Short (Acker Bilk), Tears In Heaven (Eric Clapton).

I Swear (All-4-One), Nobody Knows (Tony Rich Project), Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good (Don Williams), If I Can’t Have You (Yvonne Elliman), Alone (Heart), Tusk (Fleetwood Mac), Bad Luck (Social Distortion).

By Hal McCoy

Q: Do you endorse the practice of fans expressing their dissatisfaction with a player’s or a team’s poor performance through booing? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: I neither endorse political candidates nor commercial products. And I don’t endorse booing, although I realize it has been around since the Christians versus the Lions. Fans pay enough money for a week’ groceries to take their family to a game. So as long as they don’t throw a can or a bottle out of a grocery bag, booing is OK. If a player accepts cheers, he best be ready to accept boos.

Q: In your opinion, what member of the Big Red Machine was the key to Cincinnati’s success in the 1970s? — SCOTT, Jamestown, NY.
A: Of all the questions I’ve received all these years, this one is, without a doubt, the toughest I’ve ever received. And you know what? Even though I covered them and traveled with them, I don’t know know the answer. There wasn’t just a key, the BRM was a ring of keys. Pete Rose. Johnny Bench. Tony Perez. George Foster. Joe Morgan. Dave Concepcion. Ken Griffey Sr. They just can’t be separated and, to me,; it is impossible to point at one and say, “He was the key to the Big Red Machine.” Sorry, I just can’t.

Q: Should there be a time clock on the coach when he comes from the dugout to talk to his pitcher? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: Great idea. Most pitching coaches walk to the mound as if they are on their way to talk to the IRS. They can be timed with the sands through an hour glass. And most of the time they are just stalling for time so a relief pitcher can get ready. My solution would be, “No visits.” If a coach comes out, the pitcher comes out, too. No more social visits on the mound.

Q: How long can a player take on paternity leave and does he get paid? — KOZ, Springfield.
A: As of 2011, when it became part of baseball’s bargaining agreement, a player may take three days off when his wife gives birth. And, yes, they get paid. The team can replace him with any player on its 40-man roster. It hasn’t always been accepted by fringe observeres. One Boston radio guy said, “These guys work six months out of the year and they can take days off to stay home and tickle the baby.” Now there’s a guy who needs time off for sensitivity training.

Q: Before the Cincinnati. Reds bent over backwards to sign Greg Vaughn in 1999, they were to be clean-shaven and have a respectable hair style. Wouldn’t it be nice to get that rule reinstated? — MATT, Springfield.
A: Your definition of ‘respectable’ and the definition of the younger generation differ. Hair styles come and go and what has returned is major league pitchers looking like Civil War generals. Beards, mustaches and long stringy hair have nothing to do with hits and runs or balls and strikes. It is what’s under the hair that counts. If a pitcher can throw aa complete-game shutout, I don’t care if he looks like ZZ Top.

Q: Why do they only use two umpires in Class A baseball? — CONLEY, Warsaw, IN.
A: Because two guys missing calls is better than four guys missing calls? They will tell you it’s economics, yet they pay Class A umpires $2,000 a month while they use four umpires in MLB who are paid from $125,000 to $300,000 a year. Two umpires are traditional from Little League to high school, but they even use four umpires in Division I college baseball. It is also said that by using one umpire in Class A
on the bases, that umpire learns more. He has to pay rapt attention and cover all the different angles. But when it comes to checked swings, he has no clue. But sometimes MLB umpires have no cluse on that call, either.

Q: Reds manager David Bell often uses both his catchers in a game, so who is the team’s emergency catcher? — STEVE, Owensboro, KY.
A: Fortunately for Bell and the Reds, that dilemma hasn’t yet surfaced. But the way the Reds get hurt more often than a sparrow flying into a close window, it is bound to happen. It probably is Spencer Steer, who can play every position but left out. And it could be Stuart “Spiderman” Fairchild, who would be amazing climbing the backstop screen to snag foul pop-ups.

Q: Are the Reds on track to set a record for most batters hitting under .200? — DENNIS, Centerville.
A: While the Reds regularly have three or four ‘hitters’ in the lineup hitting below .200, so do many other teams this season. In recent series, the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers had that dubious distinction. Batting .250 nowadays is the new .300. The MLB average is around .240. What is amazing is that the 1962 New York Mets lost 120 games and didn’t have a batter in Casey Stengel’s regular lineup hitting below .236 and that was Elio Chacon. All the rest hit above .241.

Q: Ted Klusewski cut the sleeves off his uniform because they restricted his swing due to his bulging biceps, so what latitude do players have in altering their uniforms? — JERRY, Springfield.
A: Do the clothes make the man or does the man make the clothes? After Klu did that, the Reds began wearing sleevless uniforms to accommodate Big Klu. Uniforms mean just that. . .they have to be uniform. Everybody the same. But I wish they would put in a pants clause. Some players wear their pants above the knees and some wear them over their shoes dragging the dirt.

By Hal McCoy

As bad as the bad as the Miami Marlins are (63 losses), it is not beneficial for an opposing team to get involved in one-run games with the National League East’s last-place team.

Of Miami’s 33 wins, almost half are by one run, the 15th coming Sunday afternoon, 3-2, over the Cincinnati Reds.

And the game could have ended like a scene out of ‘The Natural’ when Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) hit a game-winning home run for the New York Knights with rain falling and lightning flashing.

With rain pelting Grand American Ball Park and lightning visible in the distance in the ninth inning, Tyler Stephenson was on first base with one out, representing the tying run.

And walking to the plate was Cincinnati’s own Roy Hobbs, Rece Hinds, owner of five home runs in his first six major league games.

This time there was no movie-like grand finale. Hinds grounded out to third, moving Stephenson to second.

Because of pinch-hitting and defensive swaps, the Reds lost their designated hitter.

So Miami manager Skip Schumaker made a daring move. He ordered Santiago Espinal intentionally walked, putting the potential winning run on base.

That’s because the next scheduled batter was pitcher Alexis Diaz. fprcing Reds manager David Bell to use his final available positiion player, Edwin Rios.

He was no match for Miami’s only All-Star, closer Tanner Scott. He struck out Rios on three pitches, the last one an 89 miles an hour slider that Rios swung and missed.

The defeat, after three straight wins, prevented the Reds from closing in on one game under .500. Instead, they take the All-Star break at 47-50, eight games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

All the action was after the fifth inning.

Reds starter Nick Lodolo took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, which should have boded well for the Reds. The Marlins were 5-28 against left-handed starters.

But Miami’s Trevor Rogers, 1-and-9 (and Miami was 3-15 for his 18 starts, giving him just two runs a game), also took a no-hitter into the sixth.

Rogers, though, walked three Reds in the fourth inning and escaped due to absent-minded base-running by Elly De La Cruz.

India and De La Cruz both walked to open the fourth. For some inexplicable reason, with India on second, De La Cruz broke for second and was tagged out in a rundown.

Home plate umpire Brennan Miller, a blister on Lodolo’s finger and Spencer Steer’s throwing error led to two runs in the Miami fifth.

Lodolo walked Xavier Edwards on a full count. Jesus Sanchez singled, putting runneers on second and first.

On a 1-and-2 pitch to Jonah Bride, Lodolo threw a breaking pitch that hooked right over home plate, an obvious strike.

But umpire Brennan, whose strike zone all day resembled a map of Alaska, called it a ball.

Bride, a .174 hitter, singled to left on the next pitch, scoring Edwards. And when Steer’s throw from left field was wild for an error, Sanchez also scored to give Miami a 2-0 lead.

India ended Rogers’ no-hitter in the sixth with a one-out double to left. De La Cruz made up for his base-running gaffe by depositing Rogers’ first pitch over the right-center wall.

The two-run homer, De La Cruz’s team-leading 17th, tied it, 2-2, and was Cincinnati’s 28th home run in July, with the month just half over.

The Marlins scored the run they needed to end their five-game losing streak after Fernando Cruz struck out the first two hitters in the eighth.

Jake Burger doubled to left. Instead of sticking with his devastating splitter, Cruz threw Edwards a first-pitch fastball and he punched it to left for a run-scoring single and the 3-2 score.

Tyler Stephenson opened the Reds seventh with a single when it was still 2-2. Austin Slater was due up, a perfect sacrifice bunt scenario.

Instead Bell sent up Will Benson to pinch-hit and he struck out looking, his 117th strikeout and he would make it 118 with a runner on first and no outs in the ninth.

After Benson struck out in the seventh, Hinds flied to center. Espinal singled to right, putting runners on second and first.

Bell sent Jake Farley up to pinch-hit, but when Schumaker brought in A.J. Puk, Bell took down Fraley and sent up Noelvi Marte. He popped out and it stayed 2-2.

Lodolo lasted only 4 2/3 innings and gave up just the two runs in the fifth and only three hits with four walks and four strikeouts.

Once again, as he did during Saturday’s 10-6 win, Bell used his bullpen like playing cards and nearly used the entire deck. For the second straight day he used eight pitchers.

Tony Santillan, Nick Martinez, Sam Moll and Justin Wilson kept things quiet. Cruz gave up the winning run in the eighth and Diaz gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, but neither scored.

After collecting 11 and 15 hits and losing the first two games of the series, the Marlins punched eight hits Sunday and won.

The Reds collected 11 hits and 10 hits in the two wins, but only four Sunday.

 

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, wondering if the red-hot Reds want the days off for the All-Star break. Rece Hinds said he doesn’t want it. No kidding?

—A ‘PAT’ ON THE BACK: When somebody asks for a photo of a ‘baseball lifer,’ they should be shown a picture of Pat Kelly.

The man has devoted most of his life to baseball, all of it in the minor leagues. That seems strange to me because the man has more baseball knowledge in his index finger than most major league managers.

And his players love him and he is one of the nicest guys I’ve run across in my 51 years of covering baseball.

Take a deep breath when you read what’s next because it is a list of the cities in which he has managed minor league teams and you’ll turn blue before you finish. Ready?

Charleston, SC, Reno, Wichita, Las Vegas, Rockford. Chattanooga, Harrisburg, Ottawa, Lynchburg, Billings, Bakersfield, Richmond, Syracuse, Indianapolis, Sarasota, Pensacola, Louisville.

Did you count ‘em? Seventeen, right. Mostly he rode buses. He should be at least executive vice president of Greyhound.

The list sounds like the song ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ by Johnny Cash.

He is managing now in Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds’ Class AAA affiliate. Last week he won his 2,000th minor-league game.

And you want to talk humble. During a celebration he said, “What nobody is saying is that I lost 2,000 before I won 2,000.”

He played in only three major league games as a catcher. And his only sniff of the majors as a coach came in July of 2007, when the Reds fired Jerry Narron. They named Pete Mackanin as interim manager. Kelly was the bench coach.

I thought they should have named Mackanin manager for the next season, but they named Dusty Baker and he brought in his own coaches.

So it was back to the bushes and buses for Kelly.

One question: Why have the Reds not given Kelly a chance to manage the big team? The man more than deserved the chance.

DOWNER FOR DARON: Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad news. DaRon Holmes II is out for the year. . .won’t play a game for the Denver Nuggets in his rookie season.

Holmes tore his Achilles tendon Friday night in Denver’s first summer league game.

It is a crusher to the young man, but knowing him, he’ll face it with a smile on his face and work hard to get back as quickly as medical science and the Almighty permits.

—OH, THAT MARGE: Loyal reader Will Terwort texted me a copy of a column written in 1991 by Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer. I had forgotten about it, but I know it’s true.

As Daugherty wrote, Reds general manager Bob Quinn attended the General Managers meetings in Toronto, on a mission to trade for a starting pitcher.

Not only did he not find a pitcher, he had to pay his own way to Toronto for a business trip. Owner Marge Schott refused to reimburse his air fare, hotel bill and meals.

Quinn should have done an American Express credit card commercial: “Don’t leave home without it.”

—SHUT ‘EM DOWN: A sign of the times in baseball and what do these games, all played on the same day, have in common?

Arizona 1, Atlanta 0.
Seattle 11, LA Angels 0.
Boston 7, Oakland 0.
Chicago Cubs 8, Baltimore 0.
Pittsburgh 1, Milwaukee 0.

Yes, they are all shutouts, five of the 15 games played last Thursday.

But what is mind-boggling is that there was not a complete game among ‘em. And Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes was pitching a no-hitter when he was yanked after seven innings.

Skenes needed only six pitches to cover the seventh inning and was at 99 pitches when manager Derek Shelton pulled him. Was it the dreaded, silly 100-pitch count?’

“He was tired,” said Shelton. “It really didn’t have anytning to do with the pitch count. Everybody makes it about pitch counts. It was about trusting your eyes.”

Shelton needs his eyes checked.

The Pirates have won four 1-0 games and Mitch Keller’s was the only complete game.

—WHY IS VADA EVADED?: Why is former Reds outfielder Vada Pinson treated like Darth Vader? He has Hall of Fame statistics and has a great first name.

Pinson had the sixth most hits before he was 30 in MLB history (1,881). Four of the guys ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame and one, Alex Rodriguez, isn’t because of his PED history.

The other four: Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Rogers Hornsby and Henry Aaron.

—DRESSING DOWN: Both the National League and American League are wearing ugly and gross City Connect-like uniforms for the All-Star game.

Whose goofy idea was it? Wasn’t it better when the players wore their own team’s uniforms? I think so. . .and get off my devil strip (If you know what a devil strip is, you might be from Akron).

Innovative owner Charlie Finley came up with double-knit uniforms and advocated the sleeveless jersey. And he said this:

“The day that Custer lost at Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876), the Chicago White Stockings beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2. Both teams wore knickers and they’ve still wearing ‘em today.”

—HOT CORNER HOTTIES: It is generally acknowledged that Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson, ‘The Human Hoover,’ was the best all-time defensive third baseman.

Just ask Johnny Bench, whose memory of the 1970 World Series is of Robinson the Robber taking away several base hits from the Cincinnati Reds catcher.

Fine. But do you know who holds the all-time record for most assists by a third baseman in a season? No, not Robinson. And not the current high water mark third baseman, Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The record goes back to 1971 and it is owned by New York Yankees third baseman Graig (Why not Greg or Craig) Nettles. He had 412 assists.

Nettles also holds the single-season record for for third basemen starting 5-4-3 around-the-horn double plays with 54 that same season.

Robinosn, though, holds the career record for the most 5-4-3 double plays started with 618. The National League’s best was Dayton-native Mike Schmidt with 450. Robinson, though, played five more years than Schmidt, 23 to 18.

—WHERE’S THE BUNT?: If you’ve seen an MLB player try to bunt, a rare sight, it’s like somebody trying to stab a hummingbird with a butter knife. It isn’t pretty.

Analytics tell managers that sacrifice bunts are for losers, so don’t do it.

Pete Rose on the subject: “Bunting’s gone from the easiest thing in the game to the hardest. When I came up everybody could do it. Now ain’t nobody can do it.”

And here’s one stunner. Harmon Killebrew batted 8,157 times. Sacrifice bunts? Zero.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 72: My dad played the guitar and sang country music, so I have a bit of a country flavor to me:

Please Come To Boston (Dave Loggins), Can’t Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley), Heard It In A Love Song (Marshall Tucker Band), Same Old Lang Syne (Dan Fogelberg), I’m All Right (Kenng Loggins), Working My Way Back To You (The Spinners).

I Will Be There (The Scorpions), One More Day (Diamond Rio), Not A Day Goes By (Lonestar), Don’t You Ever Get Tired (Ronnie Milsap), In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins), Every Time You Go Away (Chris Young).

By Hal McCoy

It was Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Baseball Saturday afternoon in Great American Ball Park, a virtual three-ring circus.

And the ringmaster was, of course, Rece Hinds, who makes history every time he puts his feet in the batter’s box, takes a big swing and smiles.

The Cincinnati Reds clobbered six home runs en route to an adventuesome 10-6 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Of those six home runs, two came off the bat of Hinds, enabling to him to do something no player has done in the modern era (1901), or any era.

In his first six MLB games, Hinds has nine extra base hits, five home runs. Nine extra base hits in a player’s first six MLB games is a first, an inconceivable first.

He was joined in the Reds’ version of Home Run Derby by four teammates in what clearly on a hot, muggy day was Great American Small Park. Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, Jeimer Candelario and Santiago Espinal also required the umpire to give the pitcher a fresh baseball.

Bizarre? The Marlins collected 15 hits. . .and lost. They had 11 hits on Friday. . .and lost.

On Saturday they were 3 for 20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners.

That helps explain why the Marlins have lost 10 of 12, five in a row, and are 32-63.

Meanwhile, the Reds are 7-4 in July and in those 11 games they’ve hit 28 homers, by far the most of any MLB team in July.

It’s Murderer’s Row incarnate

Reds starter Andrew Abbott was seeking his 10th win, his sixth in seven starts and it figured to be easy. The Marlins were 5-27 against left-handed starters.

Abbott, though, didn’t have it and lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and seven hits, including back-to-back home runs in the third inning by Jake Burger and Josh Bell.

After Abbott departed, it was like a parade of elephants disguised as relief pitchers. Reds manager David Bell used eight pitchers and Miami manager Skip Schumaker used five.

Strange? Of the seven Reds pitchers, Sam Moll faced one hitter, a strikeout of Jazz Chisholm Jr. with two on and two outs in the fifth.

One hitter? Yep, and he was rewarded with the win.

Steer started the Trot Around The Bases day with a leadoff home run in the second.

After the Marlins hit back-to-backers in the top of the third, the Reds topped it with their own back-to-backers and added a third in the inning.

Hinds started it with one of his routine down-range missiles, a 430-footer into the upper deck. And he smiled as he completed his swing.

With one out, De La Cruz nearly matched Hinds but came up five feet short, a 425-footer to straight-away center. And Candelario followed with his, immediately tying De La Cruz for team leadership with 16 each.

The next inning, Miami pitcher Huascar Brazzoban hit Hinds on his left arm and the pro-Hinds fans, of which there are legions, booed lustily.

After the athletic trainer examined him, he stayed in the game and as he trotted to first base, Brazzoban apologized.

Did it affect him? Does a blow to the arm disturb Superman? His next time up, Hinds hit the upper deck facing in left field, this one 454 feet. And he smiled as he completed his swing.

He always smiles after his home run swing, six times this week.

“That’s just natural,” Hinds said about his smiles during a post-game interview on Bally Sports Ohio. “I mean, I’m a normally happy guy and I love to have fun and I love to smile around everything. It’s just natural, it just happens.”

But he hasn’t glanced at the pitchers to see the frowns and looks of dismay.

“It has been a wonderful week and we’re winning and have won a couple of series and I just want to keep it rolling,” he said.

“I’m clearly locked in,” he added. “I’m hunting one spot (pitch location) and once I get it I try to capitalize and don’t miss.”

He hasn’t missed yet.

The other homer came off the bat of Espinal in the sixth and he didn’t start the game. Second baseman Jonathan India left the game after suffering a knee contusion when Dan Myers slid into him stealing second in the second innings.

Espinal sinled in the fourth, driving in a run, and homered in the sixth.

Before the game, the Reds expanded their injured list, which is getting longer than a rich kid’s Christmas list.

With pitcher Carson Spiers and outfielder Nick Martini landing on the list and the recall of pitcher Tony Santillan, the Reds have made 25 roster manipulations in the last two weeks since July 1.

The Reds led MLB last season in games lost to injuries, 650 days, and are on their way to surpassing that this season.

The list:

60-Day: Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Nick Martini, Ian Gibaut, Tejay Antone, Emilio Pagan, Brandon Williamson.

15-Day: Graham Ashcraft, Carson Spiers.

10-Day: T.J. Friedl, Stuart Fairchild, Luke Maile.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, something I usually finish as soon as I get out of bed, before I feed the dogs, before I feed myself and before I feed the cardinals in the backyard. Priorities, priorities, priorities.

—RUN RICKEY, RUN: Hall of Famer/broadcaster Barry Larkin recently chatted with Rickey Henderson and mentioned that Elly De La Cruz has 45 stolen bases before the All-Star break.

To that, Henderson said, “The year I stole 130 bases (1982) I had 79 before the All-Star break.”

Now that’s a real thief, but he didn’t mention that he was caught 42 times. And Henderson wasn’t a five-tool three-language player, was he?

De La Cruz speaks Spanish, just learned English and says he is learning Japanese so he can converse with Shohei Ohtani at the All-Star festivities.

Isn’t Japanese as hard to learn as eating miso soup with chopsticks?

—EYE YI EYE: On a recent visit to the eye doctor, the young man who had me read the eye chart (try), flashed up the 20/10 line and said, “Pete Rose could read this line easily.” I couldn’t even tell there were any letters on the screen.

Then I recalled witnessing the Cincinnati Reds getting their eyes tested during spring training and Ken Griffey Jr. read the 20/10 line as if it were the big ‘E’ at the top.

—BIRD WAS THE WORD: When Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych pitched for the Detroit Tigers, he would put the baseball in front of his mouth and talk to it before he threw it, telling it, “Behave and do what I want you to do.”

And while Fidrych might have kept the ball in stitches, it behaved. By the time he was 24, he was 27-13 with a 2.47 earned run average with 33 complete games in 43 starts.

But he destroyed his shoulder in the process, wrecked it completely. He tried a comeback but the baseball didn’t listen to him and in 1979 he was 0-3 in four starts with a 10.43 earned run average and he was done.
It is for certain that he talked to his shoulder about behaving, but all he got was the cold shoulder.

Fidrych tried to make a comeback in 1982 with the Boston Red Sox. During a spring training exhibition game, the New York Mets were tattooing him and fellow pitcher Tom Seaver felt empathy.

Several runs had scored and the bases were loaded with one out when Seaver came to bat. He turned to Bosox catcher Rich Gedman and said, “Just tell him to throw it outside and I’ll hit into a double play.”

Fidrych threw it outside and Seaver hit into a double play.

—EXPRESS-LY SPEAKING: Speaking of pitchers breaking down, you could hit Nolan Ryan in the shoulder with a sledge hammer and he’d still make his next start.

Ryan pitched an incredible 27 years in the majors and never had a sore arm or a sore anything.

And from my intrepid contributor, Jeff Singlegton, comes this enlightener: Ryan was 33 in 1980 when he struck out his 3,000th batter.

After that, he struck out 2,714 more batters, more than the entire careers of Warren Spahn, Bob Feller, Juan Marichal, Tom Glavine and Don Drysdale — all Hall of Famers.

It is estimted that Ryan threw more than 101,000 pitches during his career. And as he put it, one pitch at a time, all with a purpose.

“I deal with one pitch at a time and make every one count,” said Ryan.

—BILLYBAWL: After the 1976 World Series, the one in which the Cincinnati Reds wiped out the New York Yankees in four straight, I stopped into manager Billy Martin’s office. He was crying and blaming the umpires for the catastrophe.

There was a sign hanging on the wall that read:

“Company Rules: Rule 1 — The boss is always right. Rule 2 —If the boss in wrong, see Rule 1.”

Somebody said that sign hung in the manager’s office of every team he managed, which helps explain why he was fired nine times, five times by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

In one span he was fired three times by three different times in five years. He was whisked out the door by Minnesota, Detroit, Texas and Oakland.

—SELF-PRESERVATION: From baseball writer Thomas Boswell’s book, ‘Why Time Begins on Opening Day:’

The 1981 Baltimore Orioles were struggling and manager Earl Weaver called a meeting and said, “Our next dozen games are against the worst teams in the league.”

From a far corner of the room came the voice of pitcher Scott McGregor: “You mean we get to play ourselves?”

—HE SAID THAT?: If one asks most baseball players to describe themselves, they say competitive or dedicated or hard-working.

When Washington Nationals pitcher Jake Irvin described himself during an appearance on MLB Central, he said, “Stoic.”

Must be his University of Oklahoma education where I thought the biggest word they use is gridiron.

—OVER AND OUT: Ran across some quotes from back when controversial umpire Angel Hernandez suddenly retired.

One person wrote, “It’s the first call he got right in 10 years.” Another wrote, “It is the end of an error.” And another wrote, “Since he called himself out, I’m not sure it will happen.”

After watching umpires this season, I’m not so certain Hernandez was the worst. With replay/review, I’m not sure umpires bear down on calls, knowing they have replay/review as a crutch.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 72: So you’d think I’d run out of songs after 750 of ‘em. I’m shooting for 1,000.

I Told You So (Randy Travis), In Case You Didn’t Know (Brett Young), Unbelievable (EMF), Main Street (Bob Seger), I Go Crazy (Paul Davis), Angels Among Us (Alabama), Operator (Jim Croce), Arthur’s
Theme (Christopher Cross).

Danny’s Song (Kenny Loggins), Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? (The Shirelles), God Only Knows (Beach Boys), I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2), Can’t You See (Marshall Tucker Band), Open Arms (Journey), Who Can It Be? (Men At Work), China Grove (Doobie Brothers).

By Hal McCoy

Hunter Greene was not an All-Star Thursday afternoon in Great American Ball Park. He was All-Galaxy. He was All-Universe.

Perhaps he realized that his offense often snoozes on the day he pitches. During his previous 18 starts, the Reds were shut out four times and they scored two or fewer runs eight times.

So he took matters into his own hands. . .literally. He struck out the first six Colorado Rockies batters and seven of the first eight.

And he got some offensive relief via poker-hot Tyler Stephenson, who was at least All-World on this day. Celebrating the recent birth of a daughter, Savannah, Stephenson homered twice and drove in five runs.

Over the last three games, Stephenson hit three homers and two doubles. And the two-homer game was the first of his career, plus the five RBI are a career best.

The Greene/Stephenson combination provided the Reds with an 8-1 victory, giving the Reds three wins in the four-game series.

Additional offensive help came from the top two spots in the Reds order —three hits and two runs scored from Jonathan India and three hits and two runs scored by Spencer Steer. It all added up to a 14-hit day for the Reds.

Rookie Rece Hinds continued her personal coming-out party with two more hits and Santiago Espinal added a pair of hits that included a home run.

Greene most likely offered to take Stephenson, India and Steer out for prime rib in appreciation for their prime hitting. But it was his day and they should buy him a steak.

Over his last three starts, Greene has given up two earned runs and struck out 23 in 17 2/3 innings.

Greene pitched six innings Thursday, 101 pitches, and gave up two hits while striking out a season’s best 10. He struck every occupant of the Rockies lineup at least once with a combinatioon of high-velocity fastballs and deep-diving sliders.

“Being able to land my slider and I felt like I could throw it whenver throughout the count was big,” said Greene, diagnosing his performer in the post-game interview room. “Being able to land that pitch was really important for me. I made sure I locked that in during my bullpen sessions before the game started.”

He locked in his slider then locked down the Rockies.

“My slider has been an outlier for the last few years, a pitch that’s enabled me to keep guys off my fastball, as well as my splitter,” he added. “It’s a pitch I’ve always had confidence in.”

Now it’s off to the All-Star game for Greene and he said he plans to enjoy the four days and smell the roses, but he will focus is on his next start for the Reds.

“After the game I was on the (stationary) bike, talking about prepping for my next start,” he said. “I want to make sure I’m ready for my first game back. I’ll try to relax, smell the roses, but at the same time, it’s a reality, I have to be ready coming back.”

His only miscue was a dangling slider to Michael Toglia, and he deposited it 407 feet into the right field seats. The other hit was an excuse-me ground ball just inside first base, a two-out single by Ezequiel Tovar in the fourth.

It looked as if it were more of the same when Greene pitching in the Reds’ first inning against Colorado starter Austin Gomber.

India walked and took third on Steer’s single. Steer stole second, putting runners on third and second with no outs.

And they didn’t score.

Jeimer Candelario grounded hard to short, then Stephenson and Noelvi Marte both struck out.

The same situation surfaced in the third when India singled and took second when left fielder Sam Hilliard bobbled the ball. Steer doubled off the shortstop’s glove and India was only able to take third.

Once again the Reds populated third and second with no outs. Once again Candelario made an unproductive out, a pop-up.

That brough up Stephenson, who struck out in the same situation in the first. This time Stephenson, the designated hitter, was ultra-productive.

This time he grasped the jackpot, sending Gomber’s first pitch just over the right field wall, just 338 feet, but it was worth three runs and a 3-0 lead.

Santiago Espinal made it 4-0 in the fourth and it was eerily deja vu. Espinal was playing shortstop for only the second time this season as Elly De La Cruz took a day off.

It was only De La Cruz’s second day off and the last time he rested Espinal played shortstop. . .and homered.

Toglia’s homer came in the fifth, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to 4-1.

Sam Moll replaced Greene in the seventh and trouble arose. A walk and a single put Rockies on third and first with two outs. Fernando Cruz arrived to extinguish the rally, a pop fly from Hunter Goodman.

Colorado relief pitcher Anthony Molina started the seventh and wishes he hadn’t.

India singled, Steer singled, Candelario doubled for two runs and Stephenson added 45 feet to his second home run, 383 feet to left for two more runs and an 8-1 lead.

“It’s an up-and-down season,” said Stephenson, who had a down start to this year. “Ya gotta stay as confident, even during the lows. Tomorrow’s a new day and I have to just come out and finish this thing off before the All-Star break.”

If the Reds did sun glasses commercials, based on their success rate during day games, they would not sell many. Their daylight record was a dismal 16-26 before winning Thursday’s day game. They are four over .500 at night (28-24).

Another last place team, the Miami Marlins, open a three-game series in GABP that begins Friday night and takes the season into the All-Star break.

The Marlins are a mirror-image of the Rockies, 32-60 and 28 games out of first place in the National League East.

By Hal McCoy

One run short. One big rally, but one short. One big swing of the bat needed, but one run short.

The Cincinnati Reds, down four runs in the ninth inning, staged a big-time rally against Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Jalen Beeks.

They scored three times to cut the lead to one. And they had the potential tying run on third base.

And they had the right man walking to home plate — All-Star Elly De La Cruz.

But there would be no Elly Effect, no Elly Element. He grounded to short to end it, a 6-5 loss to the 32-60 last-place Rockies.

The Reds were put into that dire ninth-inning strait because Reds starter Frankie Montas served up a couple of gopher balls to Sam Hilliard.

When Hilliard made his major league debut with the Rockies in 2019, he crushed a 455-foot home run in his first game.

It remains the longest home run hit by a player in his first major league game.

Since then, though, he has been up-and-down, mostly down in the minors, including most of this season.

Hilliard was recently recalled from the minors and was 2 for 11 with five strikeouts entering Wednesday’s game in Great American Ball Park.

And he was batting ninth.

But in his first two at bats Wednesday, he homered twice off Frankie Montas. Neither traveled 455 feet, just 344 and 382, but they drove in three runs.

The first one, the 344-footer, was to right field, a two-run shot on a 2-and-1 91 miles an hour cutter in the third inning to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead.

The second one, the 382-footer, was to left center, a solo affair on a first pitch 85 miles an hour cutter to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

The Rockies scored one in the sixth when Montas walked Brenton Doyle and he scored on Jake Cave’s double to right.

Brent Suter started the eighth and gave up three straight singles on seven pitches, a run scoring on Doyle’s single to make it 6-2.

That one run turned out to be gigantic.

Tyler Stephenson led the ninth with a home run, chasing relief pitcher Victor Vodnik and bringing in Beeks.

The Reds saw him in Coloardo and they scored five late-game runs off him. . and history nearly repeated itself.

Austin Slater, playing his first game for the Reds, singled for his second hit and Marte singled for his third hit.

Rece Hinds flied to right, but Santiago Espinal singled home Slater and it was 6-4. Jonathan India flied to rigth, a sacrifice fly that made it 6-5, with pinch-runner Will Benson taking third.

But there would be no heroics from De La Cruz.

Colorado starter Kyle Freeland was 0-3 with a 6.62 earned run average, but the veteran 31-year-old left-hander had the Reds knuckling under, a devastating knuckle curve. He struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings, one off his career best.

But the Reds extracted eight hits off him, collecting hits in six of seven innings. Nevertheless, the only run off him in the first six innings was a third inning solo home run by India.

A one-out double by Marte, and a run-scoring single by Hinds chased Freeland in the seventh and pulled the Reds within 5-2.

Then came the big, big run off Suter in the eighth and the just-short Reds rally in the ninth.

The Reds had won eight straight over the Rockies, including the first two of this four-game series, and had won 12 of the last 13 in GABP against Colorado.

And the Rockies were 12-33 away from Coors Field, the worst road record in MLB.

By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, still blurry-eyed after a visit to the eye doctor. . .those eye drops are killers.

—HE HAS A TICKET TO RIDE: Yes, he is only 22. Yes, he has only played in the majors for little more than a season.

But Elly De La Cruz is on a set of iron rails on a straight line to Cooperstown. Sure, there might be some side tracks on the way, but barring debilatating injuries, this kid is carrying a non-stop passport in his back pocket along with his kitchen mittens.

It is not a stretch to say that fans already are going to the ball park not to see the Cincinnati Reds, but to see De La Cruz. . .The Elly Element.

So many times this season, when Elly goes 0 for 4, the Reds lose. When he gets on base a couple of times, steals a couple of bases, the Reds win.

He has 45 stolen bases, most ever for a Reds player before the All-Star break. He hits home runs that are tracked by air traffic control at the Greater Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. He covers more ground at shortstop than Alexander The Great on his conquering marches.

And Elly is learning Japanese so he can converse with Shohei Ohtani at the All-Star game. That makes him a five-tool, three-language (Spanish, English, Japanese) player. With his talent, he probably can learn Latin in a week.

The Elly Element.

—THE COORS EFFECT: When Cincinnati’s Rece Hinds hit that masssive upper deck home run Monday in his major league debut, Rece’s home run was smashed to pieces.

It was 449 feet and everybody said it was the second longest home run hit by a player making his major league debut.

Who hit the longest? It took some research, but I finally found it. It was Colorado Rockies outfielder Sam Hilliard and it traveled 455 feet.

It was Coors Field on August 27, 2019, so should it count? The distance was not mentioned on the TV telecast and not mentionned in game stories.

Maybe that’s because there were six homers hit that day and Boston’s J.D. Martinez launched one 479 feet. Coors Field, right?

Anyway, with his second home run, Hinds passed Hilliard’s distance with a 458-footer. And it wasn’t hit in Coors.

—SIMPLY THE BEST: Speaking of being only 22, the best pro basketball player in the world is 22. SHE is 22.

It’s Caitlin Clark, the only pro basketball player I’d pay to see, other than UD products Obi Toppin, Toumani Camara and DaRon Holmes II.

In a recent WNBA game for the Indiana Fever, she became the league’s first-ever rookie to record a triple-double.

She had 19 points 12 rebounds and 13 assists in the 22nd game of her pro career. She had 17 triple-doubles during her collegiate career at Iowa.

Her assists display her unselfishness and she is the best passer on a basketball court since Bob Cousy or Pistol Pete Maravich.

In those 22 games, she scored 350 points and passed out 150 assists, the quickest any WNBA rookie attained those numbers.

Like De La Cruz, she is must-see.

—HIGH COMPANY: The NBA is discovering what University of Dayton’s Flyer Faithfu knew all along: Obi Toppin is cut from silk cloth.

He did something last season that only one other player has done in NBA history and that ‘other’ guy is LeBron James.

Obi and LeBron are the only players to make more than 100 three-pointers, shoot better than 40% on threes and shoot 55% on all field goal attempts.

Now if the Indiana Pacers realize that Obi is a starter and should not have to come off the bench to do all this, we’d all be happy.

And the thinking here is that DaRon Holmes II is going to show the fans in Denver what UD basketball players can do.

—CAN’T TOP THIS: When the Seattle Mariners brought up Ken Griffey Jr., ‘The Kid’ from Cincinnati Moeller High School, he was 19 years old.

And what did he do? On his first at bat in the Kingdome he hit a home run. Of course he did.

The Mariners signed 40-year-old Ken Griffey Sr. so he and Junior could play in the same outfield. Senior played left and Junior played center. There was a fly ball hit directly at Senior and Junior cut in front of him and snagged it.

“And for that,” said Senior, “I took away his car keys.”

There was the day that Senior hit a home run and Junior, batting behind him, hit one, too. Of course, since a father-son have never played on the same team, it was a first.

“The pressure was all on me,” said Junior. “All he had to do was hit one. But then I had to follow and hit one. More pressure.”

Senior smiled and said, “Ol’ dad’s went farther.”

—COMMON THIEVERY: While the Cincinnati Reds lead MLB in stolen bases, led by Captain Speed, disguised as Elly De La Cruz, it isn’t likely they’ll break the all-time team season record.

That was set in the dark ages, 347 by the 1911 New York Giants. But a team managed by affable Chuck Tanner came close. His 1976 Oakland A’s, led by Billy North’s 74 swipes, stole 341.

—LET HIM PLAY ONE: Hall of Famer Ernie Banks was fond of standing behind the batting cage in Wrigley Field before Chicago Cubs games and saying, “It’s a great day in Wrigley. Let’s play two.”

Banks, though, would have liked to just play one game in the post-season. He never did. Not once in his 19 seasons as Mr. Cub did he play in a post-season game.

It is one record he wishes he didn’t own: 2,528 games in the majors without taking a single swing in a post-season game.

—SLEPT LIKE BABES: When Danny Murtaugh managed the Pittsburgh Pirates, he liked to tell writers a spirng training story about when he was a player.

He and roommate Ernie White spent an entire night on the prowl spending the $700 Murtaugh won at a race track. After carousing all night, they went directly to the ball park in the morning.

Manager Billy Southworth asked, “Have a good night’s sleep, fellas?”

“Yes, sir. Like newborn babes,” said Murtaugh.

Said Southworth, “That’s good. I was afraid something might have happened to you guys when that 18-wheeler crashed through the middle of your room at your motel.”

—WHERE? WHEN?: For those who watch the news on WDTN (channel 2) in Dayton: Do you have any idea when the Summer Olympics begin and on what station they can be watched?

You do know, for sure, because they only promote it day-after-day and hour-after-hour and I’ve seen more video of the Eiffel Tower in one week than I’ve seen of my great grandkids in a year.

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 71: Some of these are my ‘middle of the road’ selections:

Chain Gang (Sam Cooke), I’m Sorry (Brenda Lee), Silence Is Golden (Tremeloes), Revolution (The Beatles), Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel), Go Rest High On That Mountain (Vince Gill), I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers), Sad Eyes (Robert John).

Show Me The Way (Styx), Bat Out Of Hell (Meat Loaf), How Do You Talk To An Angel (The Heights), Tuff Enuff (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Mr. Bojangles (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Goodbye Stranger (Supertramp), I Swear (John Michael Montgomery).