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).