By Hal McCoy
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, dizzy from watching college basketball morning, noon and Knight, er, night. Bob Knight is no longer with us, but John Feinstein’s book about him, ‘A Season On The Brink,’ is the best basketball book you’ll ever read (And Feinstein passed away this week).
—JOSE CAN YOU PLAY?: Jose Trevino, step right up. In fact, take two giant steps forward. The Cincinnati Reds need you forthwith.
Catcher Tyler Stephenson hurt his left oblique and will begin the season on the injured list.
So, for now, Trevino is the man. Trevino is noted for defense and his handling of pitchers. He was a Platinum Glove All-Star with the New York Yankees in 2022.
Offense? Mostly Trevino drags a bat to home plate for no apparent reason. He is a .238 career hitter.
Manager Tito Francona, though, values Trevino’s presence, even more now that Stephenson is out.
“Guys like Trevino have been there, done that during their careers,” he said. “Veterans know when to be serious. The older guys know right from wrong. That’s important.
“The guys were brought in (like Trevino), they’re not overbearing, but they have a lot to say.”
And Tito hopes Trevino speaks loud and clear. . .and mixes in a few base hits.
Trevino, too, may miss a few games. He left a game Friday after taking a foul tip off a finger. Itg isn’t considered serious but are injuries going to wreck this team the way they did last season?
—42 AND STILL DEALING: Nolan Ryan was 42 and already owned more than 5,000 strikeouts when he pitched an inning of the 1989 All-Star game for the American League.
He struck out Will Clark with a blurry fastball and coaxed groundouts from Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson,
He did give up a two-out to single to. . .guess who? Cincinnati’s Eric Davis.
Amazingly, during his 27 seasons, Ryan was picked for only eight All-Star games.
—QUOTE: From Reggie Jackson on facing Nolan Ryan: “Ryan’s the only guy who put fear in me, not because he could strike me out, but that he could kill me.”
—THE STREAKER: As we all know, during the 1941 season, Joe DiMaggio, also known as Mr. Coffee, played as if on caffeine overload.
It was the year he put together a 61-game hitting streak. Did you know that after the streak was stopped in Cleveland he hit safely in the next 16 games. . .hits in 77 of 78 games.
During the 61-game streak the Yankee Clipper struck out five times, which is less than what most modern players do over a weekend. For the season, he hit safely in 114 of the 139 games he played.
But I still say his most amazing accomplishment was marrying Marilyn Monroe.
At the same time DiMaggio played center field for the Yankees, a guy named Pete Reiser, a five-tool guy, played center field for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
His claim to fame, other than he set a Major League record for concussions from running into walls, Reiser stole home seven times one season. The majority of today’s MLB players never steal home in their careers, let alone third base.
—QUOTE: From Joe DiMaggio, uttered in 1980 when he was 66 and there were only 26 MLB teams, but just as true today: “Too many kids today are playing major league ball and don’t belong there.”
—ANOTHER UECKER-ISM: Asked why he was such a great actor in the movie ‘Major League’ and in the TV series ‘Mr. Belvedere’ Bob Uecker said, “I was acting when I played baseball.”
—KEEP CIRCLING: Ears probably still are ringing in downtown Minneapolis from the pings of aluminum bats.
The University of Kansas baseball team tied an NCAA D1 record this week by hitting five consecutive home runs during a 29-1 win over Minnesota.
The game was played in U.S. Bank Stadium, home to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and not the MLB’s Minnesota Twins.
The stadium is built on the grounds where the Hubert H. HumphreyDome once stood, the park that had a humongous trash bag as its right field wall.
Amazingly, it is the fourth time a D1 school hit five consecutive homers. The last time was in 2006 by South Carolina against Georgia.
Kansas hit the five straight homers during an eight-run third inning. The fifth was hit 20 rows deep into the left field seats by Jackson Hague. He hit two homers and drove in seven runs and the JayHawks hit seven homers.
Twenty-nine runs? There are games the Vikings don’t score 29 points.
—QUOTE: Saw this fantastic sentence spoken by Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene, elevating him about three notches up on ‘The McCoy Player Scale’: “I’ve been put on this earth to do that and not just be a great baseball player, but also a great human.”
—FIVE IN A ROW!!!: Former catcher/manager Lloyd McClendon played for the Gary (IN) Little League team that was the first all-Black team to win the U.S. championship.
Play on it? McClendon hit home runs in his first five LLWS at bats. For the rest of the Series he was walked intentionally every at bat.
He didn’t ever do that in the majors, but neither has anybody else. Four is the record.
Did you know that a guy hit four home runs in a game just down the road, and it wasn’t Scooter Gennett. Waldo Jackley, playing for the Ironton Nailers in the old Ohio State League in 1913 did it in Hamilton as the Nailers nailed the Hamilton Maroons, 16-2.
—A JUMPING BEAN: In case you wonder what happened to former Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Senzel, well, he signed with Tecolates de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League.
Wonder how they get the name of their team on the front of their jerseys?
—NO KID-DING: When current Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt was about to take his last MLB at bat for the Oakland A’s in 2022, they sneaked his two kids into the public address announcer’s booth and they said into the microphone:
“Now batting for the A’s, our dad, number 21, Stephen Vogt.”
And he hit a home run. Hollywood? Eat your hearts out.
—THE ‘THREE’ REPORT: The college three-point line is 22-feet, 1 3/4-inches from the front of the rim.
22’-1 3/4”? What’s that all about? Who decided to add one and three-quarters inches? Why not just 22 feet?
Whatever, Akron’s Zips had it perfectly measured in their MAC tournament game against Bowling Green.
Akron’s first nine baskets were three-pointers as the Zips took a 27-15 lead. BG was 0 for 6 from three at the time. And the Zips didn’t even take a two-point shot until 3:17 was left in the half. They made 11 three-pointers in the first half for a 42-30 lead.
The Zips only made five ‘threes’ in the second half, but cruised to a 96-67 victory
***Then there was Duke, the No. 1 team in the country and the ACC’s best three-point team. But not against Georgi Tech in the ACC tournament.
The Dukies shot three-pointers in the first half as they were all blindfolded. They missed their first 13 treys and fell behind, 23-12.
And they lost their two best players in the first half, Maliq Brown (shoulder) and Cooper Flagg (ankle).
No matter. The Blue Devils are bluebloods and found a way to pull away in the second half en route to a 78-70 victory.
—SAINT OR ST.?: Goofy things one thinks about during long commercial breaks or long replay/reviews during college basketball games.
Why are some schools Saint Something and other schools are St. Something? Why is it Saint Francis (PA), but St. Francis (NY)? Whi is it Saint Louis, but St. Bonaventure? Why is it Saint Joseph’s, but St. John’s?
Carry on.
—QUOTE: Every morning when I literally roll out of bed, it immediately strikes me as to the truth of what Jerry Seinfeld once said: “Coffee is the most important part of a human’s life.”
—DOG-GONE IT: Somebody posted on Facebook that one knows when they’ve lost control of their household when the dog dictates what time you scramble out of bed.
It wasn’t me, but it could have been. Parker, our 2-year-old Havenese, awakens me EVERY morning between 6 and 6:15 a.m.
She goes outside for 10 minutes and then returns to bed, leaving me wide awake staring at the TV.
—A DOG-GONE MYSTERY: This year marks 25 years of one of the greatest cold cases in the entire music industry. Investigators are still asking, “Who let the dogs out?”
—PLAYLIST NUMBER 153: As writer/tax collector Miguel de Cervantes put it, “He who sings frightens away his ills.” (When I sing, I just frighten the dogs.)
—Hang On Sloopy (The McCoys), Walkin’ After Midnight (Patsy Cline), It’s All Right (Impressions), Love Takes Time (Orleans), Hungry Eyes (Eric Carmen), I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (U2), Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Belinda Carlisle), Deacon Blues (Steely Dan).
—What A Fool Believes (Doobie Brothers), Everything I Own (Bread), While You See A Chance (Steve Winwood), Galveston (Glen Campbell), Friends In Low Places (Garth Brooks), Live Like You Were Dying (Tim McGraw), Wasted On The Way (Crosby, Stills & Nash), Do You Know What I Mean (Lee Michaels).