Some mid-week Observations…

By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave wondering if the Cincinnati Reds will give their fans a slugging outfielder to jam under the Christmas tree.
—CROSSING THE LINE: The 1975 World Series is recalled by many for the 12th inning walk-off home run hit by Boston’s Carlton Fisk in Game 6. Many forget that the Cincinnati Reds won Game 7 and the World Series. So there.
Reds catcher Johnny Bench has a great story about another incident in Game 6.
In mid-game, the Red Sox had the bases loaded with no outs. Will McEnaney was on the mound pitching to Fred Lynn and Bench flashed him the sign to throw a slider. He threw a fastball.
“He throws a fastball inside and Lynn swung and popped it up down the left field line,” said Bench. “George Foster goes over by the wall in foul territory and catches it.
“Denny Doyle is on third base and Don Zimmer is the third base coach,” Bench continued. “Zimmer yells, ‘No, no, no.’ But Doyle thinks he is yelling, ‘Go, go, go.’ So he runs and Foster throws me a one-hopper and I tag him out. . .double play, two outs.
“So I go to the mound and I said to Will, ‘You crossed me up, I called for a slider and you threw a fastball,’” said Bench. “And Will says, ‘Oh, I guess I did. . .well, sometimes those things work out.’”
—NEVER TOO OLD: How much did newly-minted Hall of Famer Dave Parker love baseball?
When he retired from MLB, he formed an amateur Roy Hobbs (Over 30 years old) League team, the Cincinnati Cobras, and he played.
It brought him to Dayton several times to play the Dayton Ducks. And loyal reader Larry Wilberding recalls playing second base for the Ducks against Parker’s Cobras at Belmont Park.
“Parker hit a ball so hard at me it bounced off my shin and ouch,” he said. “I did manage to pick it up and throw him out by a step.”
Is that why you still walk with a limp, Larry?
—TITO’S TONIC: New Cincinnati Reds manager Tito Francona enjoyed great success with young players at his previous stop in Cleveland.
And now he finds himself with another young team and says, “We like our youth and we’re not going to use it as an excuse. Our goal is to have them realize it is not just fun to be in the majors, but it is even more fun to win.”
If anybody can do it, Tito Francona can do it.
—ROLLOVER, JOE: A reaction by Kim Nuxhall, a son to former Reds pitcher/broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, when Kim heard about Juan Soto’s 15-year $765 million contract:
“That’s $51 million per year for 15 years. . .I think I just heard my dad roll over in his grave.”
—BOWL YOU OVER: Even before Miami was crushed by Ohio University, 38-3, in the MAC championship game, Miami had agreed to appear in the —Are you ready for this? — The Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl.
The singer/rapper is deeply involved and he plans to do a song with the Miami Marching Band.
And Miami athletic director David Sayler said, “We are going to let Snoop Dogg call our first offensive play. He’ll probably call a double flea-flicker reverse and coach Chuck Martin will pull his hair out.”
The full name of this event is the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Presented by Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop Dogg. It is the first alcohol partner as a presenting sponsor in an NCAA bowl game.
Bottoms up.
About appearing in the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl in Tucson, Sayler said, “It’s better than appearing in the Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho.”
Now that’s a great point.
—WHO’S THE MVP?: Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen is odds-on at the moment to win the NFL’s MVP trophy and, yes, he is a unicorn.
But, wait, the Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback isn’t just another Average Joe. Joe Burrow’s stats overwhelm Allen’s.
Burrow beats him in every passing category: 3,706 yards (more than two miles) to 3,033, 335 completions to 252, 33 touchdown passes to 23, six interceptions to five.
Burrow has four straight 300-plus passing yards games and six for the season.
The difference is that the Bengals and their onion-skin defense are 5-8 and the Bills are 10-3, but that certainly isn’t Juggernaut Joe’s fault.
And, yes, I’ve heard about Saquon Barkley.
—WHAT DID HE SAY?: Former quarterback/current broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit is a Centerville/Ohio State product, but boy did he raise some eyebrows and drop some jaws after what he said this week about Ohio State’s upcoming playoff game against Tennessee in The Big Horseshoe.
“After the way Ohio State finished the season against Michigan, I don’t know if it might be better if Ohio State went on the road to get away from the home crowd,” he said.
“They will be booing after a third down and not converting and the punter comes out,” he added. “They’ll be booing Ryan Day and they’ll have to rally and have a good start to the game or it could turn sideways in a hurry.”
And to add insult, Herbstreit’s quarterback son, Chase, committed to play — are you ready for this? — at the University of Michigan.
—A LIGHT ASSIGNMENT: When he played at Southern Cal, it was normal for Heisman Trophy winner O.J. Simpson to carry the ball 30 or more times a game.
After one game of 35 carries a writer asked O.J. if it was tiring to carry the ball so many times and he said, “No, the ball isn’t very heavy.”
—QUOTES: Words, words and more words:
—From former Yankee reserve infielder Phil Linz, who once got in trouble with manager Yogi Berra for playing the harmonica on the team bus: “You can’t get rich sitting on the bench, but I’m giving it a try.” (He must have been bad on the mouth organ to make Yogi mad.)
—From pitcher Bob Gibson after one of his outfielders made a great catch: “A great catch is like watching girls go by. The last one you see is always the prettiest.” (The way Gibson pitched, he didn’t require many great catches, giving him more time for girl-watching.)
—From Hall of Famer and noted spitballer Gaylord Perry on the day he retired: “The league will be a little drier now, folks.”(Yeah, Gaylord, but they still had emery boards, thumb tacks, belt buckles and Vaseline.)
—Former pitcher Mike Smith, telling a waiter what he wanted on his salad: “Be sure to put some of them neutrons on it.” (He meant croutons, I think. But he is also the guy who told a hotel clerk he needed to pay his accidentals. He meant incidentals, I think.)
—From pitcher Jim Kaat when baseball stadiums were all cookie-cutters in their sameness: “Every ball park used to be unique, but now it’s like women’s breasts — if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em both.” (Kitty Kaat always liked to keep abreast of things.)
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 119: I’m not The Music Man or Casey Kasem, but I do love music.
Light My Fire (The Doors), Don’t Close Your Eyes (Kevin Whitley), Low Rider (War), Girl On Fire (Alicia Keys), We’ve Only Just Begun (The Carpenters), You’re Still The One (Shania Twain), The Logical Song (Supertramp).
Cruisin’ (Smokey Robinson), Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue (Crystal Gale), Never Gonna Give You Up (Barry White), When I Was A Boy (ELO), Too Much Heaven (BeeGees), Feels Like The First Time (Foreigner). Electric Avenue (Eddy Grant).