By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and there is nothing for me under our Christmas tree so I guess it’s like the song, “I’m getting nuttin’ for Christmas, ‘cause I ain’t been nuttin’ but bad.”
—SO HIT ME: Ken Griffey Jr. faced Nolan Ryan numerous times, but he remembers his first time as a rookie in Seattle as a regal event.
“I know he’s going to hit me,” said Griffey. “He throws me three balls, but doesn’t hit me. With a 3-and-0 count he walks toward home plate and asks for another ball. Normally, the umpire tosses a new ball to a pitcher. But this umpire hands him a new ball and says, ‘Yes, whatever you want, Mr. Ryan.’
“And then Ryan says to the umpire, ‘I can’t believe I threw three balls to this – – – – – – rookie.’”
Griffey said he walked, then stole second and stole third. And Ryan walked toward third, rubbing a ball, and glared at him, but didn’t say a word, “But I know my next time at bat I’m going to get hit.”
Ryan didn’t drill him and Mariners hitting coach Gene Clines told Griffey that Ryan told him, “I tried every intimidation factor that I had with him and he didn’t flinch.”
That’s what happens when one is scared to death.
Ryan’s reaction. “It helps if the hitter thinks you’re a little crazy.” Or as Sandy Koufax always said, “Pitching is the art of instilling fear.”
—THREE AND WHAT?: Speaking of 3-and-0 counts. . . previously I wrotee that snippets about Babe Ruth and Nolan Ryan always fascinate me. Add Greg Maddux to that list.
Maddux faced 20,421 batters during his career and went to 3-and-0 counts only 133 times. That doesn’t count 177 intentional walks.
—QUOTE: From Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan: “Greg Maddux probably could throw a baseball through a Lifesaver if you asked him to do it.”
—PICK ONE OUT: Hall of Fame third baseman Ron Santo was a star for the Chicago Cub while battling diabetes during his career. Some days were worse than others.
There was a day he played when he was seeing triple. Despite the vision impairment, he hit a game-winning grand slam home run and dashed to the dugout for a candy bar.
Then he said about the home run, “I was seeing three baseballs on every pitch. I decided to swing at the one in the middle and it worked.”
Early in his career, he tried to hide his diabetes and said, “Every player has a roommate for out of town games, so I had to slip into the bathroom each morning and secretly take my insulin injection. I feared that if the Cubs found out and I slumped badly, they would attribute it to the diabetes and send me back to the minors. . .or worse, release me.”
—SETTING IT STRAIGHT: As all Cincinnati Reds fans know, their 1981 team was robbed due to a convoluted playoff system set up after a mid-season strike.
Despite having the best record in baseball, the Reds did not qualify for the playoffs. So do you want a more satisfying take on that ’81 season?
Then grab a copy of a book entitled, ‘The Big Red Machine’s Last Hurrah,’ a combined historical/fictional story pieced together and created by Randy & Grant Freking.
And least for once you can smile about a bigger baseball robbery than the Willie Mays 1954 World Series catch on Vic Wertz.
—ANOTHER BROWN-OUT: Why do I insist on ruining Sunday every week by watching my ‘Beloved But Bewitched Browns?’
I did it again this week and the Browns tried to hide behind all-white get-ups, including white helmets instead of those pumpkin-head orange ones.
But they were easily recognized. On the game’s first series, they held Kansas City to a three-and-out. The Chiefs punted and, of course, the Browns fumbled it away.
Three plays later the Chief scored and it was game over just three minutes into it. On the next series Browns quarterback Jamies Winston threw his weekly (weakly) interception(s). Time for me to help Nadine put away the groceries, but she kept all sharp objects out of my reach.
The Browns turned it over five times, three on Winston interceptions. He was benched in the fourth quarter, four games too late. The Browns lost, 21-7, on a day when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was one step below mediocre.
—FROM DUB TO GALE: It was 1951 and I was 11. My dad took me to old Cleveland Municipal Stadium to a Cleveland Browns game. It was only their second year in the NFL and I saw a guy named Dub Jones break an NFL record with six touchdowns as the Browns crushed overthe Chicago Bears, 42-21.
I thought that was pretty awesome until saw a film clip of Gale Sayers from a 1965 game in Wrigley Field. Playing for the Bears, Sayers tied Dub’s record with six touchdowns as the Bears beat the 49ers, 61-20, on a muddy field.
He scored on runs of 1, 7, 21 and 50, caught an 80-yard touchdown pass and returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. Due to knee injuries, Sayers only played 68 NFL games, but is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
—CHESS OR CHECKERS?: The only thing I know about chess is that nobody ever says, “King me,” and there are no triple jumps.
And if you think Monopoly takes a long time, well, the final game of the World Chess Championship, game 14, took four hours.
On his 55th move, defending champion Ming Liren from China supposedly made a blunder on an exchange of rooks move, enabling India’s Gukeesh Dummaraju to win the world’s championship.
At 18, Dummaraju became the youngest world’s champion ever, fulfilling something he said when he was 11: “I want to be the youngest world’s chess champion.”
Checkers, anybody?
—WORDS I LIVE BY: I had lost most of my eyesight and was deeply depressed when I saw cancer-stricken former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano deliver his incredible speech at the ESPY awards.
During his speech, he delivered the words, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.”
They turned me around and I have a plaque with those words on it on a shelf in my office. . .and thanks, Jimmy V., I shall never give up.
—GIVING UP: Well, we might give up on the Mega-Millions. Nadine bought $20 worth of tickets this week, 50 numbers. And of those 50 numbers, not one was on the drawn numbers. Not one. No wonder nobody ever wins.
—QUOTING ‘EM: Baseball people always seem to be of good cheer. . .well, most of ‘em. . .well, some of ‘em:
—From catcher/comedian/broadcaster Bob Uecker on how he was told of his release: “They broke it to me gently. The manager came up to me before a game and told me they didn’t allow visitors in the clubhouse.” (Now Uecker can visit any clubhouse he wants.)
—From Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Famer Willie Stargell: “I know why they boo Richie (Dick) Allen in Philadephia. When he hits home runs, there are no souvenirs because he hits ‘em out of the park.” (The street people outside the park didn’t boo him, once they ducked and retrieved the ball.)
—From Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle: “Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, ‘Sure, every time.’” (And it worked 536 times with home runs, but failed miserably with 1,710 strikeouts.)
—From slugger/strikeout artist Dave Kingman: “I’d rather hit a home run than a single or double. You don’t have to run as hard.” (And all he had to do was walk back to the dugout after his 1,816 strikeouts.)
—From sports writer Arthur Baer in 1919: “Cincinnati is nuts with baseball. They out to call this town Cincinnutty,” (If they’d put a winner on the field, it might be that way again.)
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 121: What else? It’s Christmas time:
—Christmas Eve/Sarajevo (Trans Siberian Orchestra), Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley), White Christmas (Bing Crosby), Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano), I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Josh Groban), Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Bruce Springsteen), Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Judy Garland), Do You Hear What I Here (Whitney Houston).
—All I Want For Christmas Is You (Mariah Carey), I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Brenda Lee), Santa Baby (Eartha Kitt), Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives), Jingle Bell Rock (Hall & Oates), It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Johnny Mathis), Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (Elmo & Patsy).
—BONUS (Additions by Nadine): We Need A Little Christmas (Johnny Mathis), Mary, Did You Know? (Kenny Rogers & Tammy Wynette), Happy Christmas, War Is Over (John Lennon), I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas (Gayle Peevey).

3 Responses

  1. Hal is amazing. When he covered Reds we had articles to read all year. Hal please open a school of journalism in Cincy and teach these Reds beat writers how to cover a team

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