By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave on an off day with nothing to do but visit our family physician and she will tell me, “You’re fine and the co-pay is $50.”
—ON CRUZ CONTROL: Elly De La Cruz is a guy who can outrun the blink of an eye and nobody takes a bathroom break when it is his turn to bat. He is likely to do something you wish you hadn’t missed while zipping up your pants.
Once again he has done something no player has ever done. In his first 198 major league games he has Triple 80s. He has 84 stolen bases, 91 extra base hits and 83 walks.
No player in MLB history ever posted more than 80 stolden bases, 80 extra base hits and 80 walks in their first 200 MLB games.
Now, it is about his defense. Don’t watch. Turn your head. He leads MLB with 20 errors and it is scalp-scratching. He makes spectacular plays running into the outfield to snag pop-ups.
But routine grounders? Not so special. Like so many infielders these days, he doesn’t put his body in front of ground balls. They prefer fielding grounders to the side, like a bull-fighting matador.
That just re-emphasizes my strong belief that he needs to pull an Eric Davis or a Billy Hamilton and move from shortstop to the outfield.
With his speed, he would cover more ground in center field than the seven seas. And with his arm he would be an assists-maven in right field.
The Reds could put Matt McLain at short, his natural position and keep Jonathan India at second base.
Doesn’t that make some sense?
—BOONE-DOGGLE: Just a thought. Wonder if Aaron Boone still would be managing the New York Yankees if George Steinbrenner was still around and treating managers like disposable diapers?
There is no doubt that he would be unemployed today after the Yankees were swept by the New York Mets.
That might have been a good thing. Then the Cincinnati Reds could hired him.
Yeah, I know. I’m prejudiced. Aaron Boone saved my career. But I love his passion and like so many managers this year he is a victim of a plethora of injuries. . .and that includes Cincinnati manager David Bell.
He is being vilified by the fan base when he is being forced, due to injuries, to play a bunch of bench players and Triple-A players.
—MR. KENTUCKY FRIED: Another gem from my unpaid correspondent, Jeff Singleton. . .and where does he find this stuff?
Wade Boggs ate fried chicken before every game, but was no chicken when it came to facing major-league pitchers.
Boggs twice produced at least 150 singles, 50 extra base hits and 100 walks. No other MLB player ever did that just once.
—NAME CHANGE: Another reason why I prefer Cleveland Indians over the Cleveland – – – – dians.
Jacob Ellsbury was a first-round pick im 2005 and was the first full-blood Native American of Navajo descent to make the majors.
Before the draft, the Cleveland Indians asked him if their ‘Chief Wahoo’ logo that ‘The Tribe’ wore on their hats and uniform sleeves offended him.
He said, “No, I’m not at all offended.”
It was a few protesters that hung around outside Jacobs Field that convinced the team to abandon an iconic nickname the team carried since 1901.
Before then, they led baseball in nicknames as they previously went by Blues, Forest Citys, Orphans, Infants and Spiders.
Bring back the ‘Indians.’
—SEATTLE LIGHTWEIGHTS: This says it all about the current offensive miseries of MLB teams:
The Seattle Mariners have led the American League West for most of the season and their less than anemic team batting average is .217. Two-One-Seven! As a team!
It sounds as if the Mariners are using No. 2 pencils at the plate instead of Louisville Sluggers.
—A BUNCH OF NUMBERS: When Joe Torre managed the New York Yankees, the thick pages of analytics from Bill James and Theo Epstein were just taking a neck-strangling hold on MLB teams.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman plopped a booklet full of numbers and mind-altering abbreviations on Torre’s desk
He thumbed through them quickly and said to Cashman, “The numbers are good, but don’t you ever forget the heartbeat.”
Heartbeat? This nerdy figger-filbert gurus these days don’t even believe players have a heart.
—I DEFER TO YOU: When the Reds cut a check to Ken Griffey Jr. for $3.5 million earlier this year, it was the last deferred annuity payment. Griffey has been paid $3.5 million a year by the Reds since 2009.
But the New York Mets are still paying, $1.2 million a year to Bobby Bonilla. And they’ll pay until 2035 with payments that began in 2011.
The Mets general manager who cut that deal was Steve Phillips, who recently said, “Yeah, I made that deal. And he has never thanked me. But I did get a Christmas card from him one year.”
Wonder if Griffey has ever sent former Reds GM Jim Bowden a Christmas card. Maybe he sent him an Easter card to remind him to wipe the egg off his face.
—EYE FOR AN EYE: How the game has changed, Part XIX:
These days, if a pitcher throws an inside fastball, the batter screams epithets and acts as if he wants to fight. The eye-for-an-eye code of the distant past no longer exists.
It used to be, “If you hit one of mine, I’m going to hit one of yours.” That would happen and that would be it.
For example, Bob Gibson said he once hit a New York Mets batter. With no designated hitter, Gibson had to bat. When he came to the plate, a young Mets rookie pitcher hit him in retaliation.
As Gibson ran to first base he tipped his cap to the rookie pitcher as a display of respect for the pitcher doing what he was supposed to do.
The pitcher? Tom Seaver.
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 78: Some songs with long titles:
The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore (Walker Brothes), You Can Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac), With Or Without You (U2), Heaven Is A Place on Earth (Belinda Carlise), I Just Fell In Love Again (Anne Murray), I Just Died In Your Arms (Cutting Crew).
Kiss An Angel Good Morning (Charlie Pride), Why Can’t We Be Friends (War),, Hey, Won’t You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Spmg (B.J. Thomas), Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting (Elton John), I’d Do Anything For Love, But I Won’t Do That (Meat Loaf). If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me? (Bellamy Brothers).