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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 37th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > July > 02 > Entry
Votto: Shouldn’t he be an All-star?
Isn’t it a doggone shame that Albert Pujols plays first base and plays in the National League and is Mark McGwire without the Andro?
I don’t say this just because the St. Louis Cardinals are coming to town for the next three days and Pujols whips on the Reds like a cleaning lady with a new rug beater. I say it because, well, darn it, Joey Votto is the only true All-Star on the Cincinnati Reds.
And he won’t make it. He won’t make it because of Pujols, the El Hombre with 30 homers. Missing those 21 games hurt Votto immensely, but what a run he is on. And what a leader he is for the Reds.
Other than Pujols, there is nobody in the NL who is more dangerous in a clutch situation than Votto. He proved it again Thursday and here’s the epic story:
Does anybody out thyere agree with me that Votto and his .366 average in 47 games (164 at-bats) with nine homers and 39 RBIs is an All-Star.
Why? Why not?
This was a game the Cincinnati Reds won in spite of themselves, a game they won when they tried to give it away, a game they won mostly because, well, the Arizona Diamondbacks are pretty awful.
They’ll take it, though, this 3-2 10-inning victory, a game a team shouldn’t win when it leaves 16 runners stranded.
They’ll take it, though, because it gives them a small step forward, winning two of three from the D-Backs, on the eve of the St. Louis Cardinals coming to town.
It ended when Joey Votto (who else?) sliced a two-out bases-loaded base hit under the shortstop’s glove, Votto’s fourth hit.
“To have lost the series against Arizona would not have been good because we wanted to take some momentum into this next series against the Cardinals,” said Votto. “To lose and not have scored a lot of runs would not have been a good thing for the weekend series.”
Is too much being made of the Cardinals series not even halfway through the season. Votto thinks not.
“Playing a team slightly ahead of us in our division and considering how up-and-down we’ve been so far the last month-and-half makes this series huge,” Votto added. “You can’t say enough about this series at this point of the season, coming up to the All-Star break. We want to let everybody in our division know that we’re for real.”
The Reds were frustrated for eight innings by lefthander Doug Davis. After they scored a run in the fourth, they left the bases loaded with no outs in that inning and they left the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth.
They tied it in the ninth, 2-2 — Votto was in the middle of it with a hit — on a fielder’s choice RBI by Drew Sutton in his first major-league at-bat.
Then Jay Bruce saved the day in the top of the 10th when Arizona had the bases loaded with one out. Justin Upton flied to medium right-center. Alex Romero tagged at third and Bruce threw a one-hop tight rope to the plate to obliterate Romero, Bruce’s 10th assist this season.
Asked if it was wise for Romero to run on Bruce, manager Dusty Baker said, “They had no choice. Sometimes you even have to try to run on Roberto Clemente.”
Bruce holds no pretense of being close to Clemente and said of the throw, “It was bang-bang, safe or out. It worked out.”
Then the Reds filled the bases in the 10th with no outs. Laync Nix struck out, Jerry Hairston Jr. flied to shallow right and it looked as if it would be another frustrating inning — until Votto jumped on the first pitch for the game-ender.
“Man, they’re going to kill the ol’ skipper, leaving runners on base like that,” said Baker. “That would have been a back-breaker not to score in the 10th, but we kept plugging and getting hits (14). Pressure busts the pipes and we kept the pressure on all day long.
“That was the best comeback, the most exciting, most thrilling and for one thing, the most up-and-down emotional game we played all year.”
It was another can-you-believe-it day for Aaron Harang, who pitched seven innings and gave up two runs and seven hits, but left with a 2-1 deficit.
If you believe Harang is Hard-Luck Harry, how about Arizona starter Doug Davis? He gave up one run and seven hits over seven innings and turned that 2-1 lead over to the bullpen, only to see the lead evaporate. In 15 of his 16 starts, Davis has given up three or less runs.
His record? 3-8. His bullpen is baseball’s worst.
This was a game full of stuff.
—With the scored tied, 1-1, Arizona’s Mark Reynolds drove one to right field in the sixth inning. Chris Dickerson, a former basketball player, leaped high against the wall and nearly snagged it. It nestled into the seats for Reynolds’ 22nd homer.
—With the Reds down, 2-1, in the ninth, Hairston singled. Votto then drove one deep to left, but not deep enough. Left fielder Alex Romero reached up to snag it near the wall. But the wall hit his glove and bounced out, ricocheting off his shoulder.
Hairston could only make third and Votto had a single, but Hairston scored the trying run on Sutton’s fielder’s choice up the middle.
—Closer Coco Cordero came on in the 10th and the Diamondbacks filled the bases with one out. Dusty Baker went to the mound and said, “You’ve been in this situation many times and got out of it. Get out of it now.”
That’s when Justin Upton flied to right and Bruce made the catch and ended the inning by throwing Romero out at home.
“One of the best feelings to do something like that, to help win a game, to help us come back,” said Bruce, who did not start the game but came on in a double switch in the eighth.
“Guess I put him into the game at the right time, but I wasn’t planning it that way,” said Baker.
Added Bruce, “Then for Votto to come up big, again, like he always does. Any time you have the other team on the ropes as much as we had them today and we can’t get guys in, it’s frustrating,” Bruce added. “All the frustration goes away when you win.”
Now it is St. Louis.
“We have momentum and we’ll play ‘em tough,” said Bruce.”
Baker says he needs recovery time, but there is no time.
“After a day like this I’m tired and spent,” said Baker. I told my guys the other day, ‘I’m worn out and exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally — every kind of way.’”
A game like this one does that to a guy.
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Comments
By Wizard
July 4, 2009 12:41 AM | Link to this
On the upside: What a gutsy performance by Homer Bailey! Wow! As I sat there watching the grit from this 23 year old; I couldn’t help but think how great it would be, if he could run off a string of these kinds of outings! What a lift this would be for this team! I hope and expect he and the team are encouraged by this-even though it was a back-breaking loss, and tough to swallow. I truly believe tonights loss was not the end, but the beginning of something GOOD! Tough error on Janish tonight. He made some fine plays, showing a great arm, earlier in the game; and he will make that error play, most everytime. Too bad.By AP-FLORIDA
July 3, 2009 10:57 PM | Link to this
Timb- Did you watch tonight’s game against the Cards???? Please give me the things dusty did right!!!!By timb
July 3, 2009 12:28 PM | Link to this
Scott, I meant you were “dead on”. Sorry for any confusionBy timb
July 3, 2009 12:26 PM | Link to this
Scott, you are dead. Here’s a team which cannot hit and has, like any other team, been beset by injuries. Yet, Dusty has them two games from first. He has weird line-ups and is not exactly the most gifted strategizer (neither is Joe Torre), but, as I’ve said and as various stat analysis shows, most of what managers do is behind the scenes. The difference between Dusty and Tony LaRussa is great when it comes to strategical options and line ups, but the difference in their records this year is two games. Dusty’s doing a good job at what really good managers do: get people playing time (except his aversion to Janish early on) and manage a pitching staff. You guys need to re-think your blanket denunciations of him.By Mark in Sun Valley
July 3, 2009 12:14 PM | Link to this
Unlike football, baseball teams frequently do not have team captains. They are usually reserved for exceptional leaders and players with long tenure with the club. The Reds have only had 3 players wear the “C” that I can remember in recent memory, Pete Rose, Davy Concepcion and Barry Larkin. I don’t think anyone has been the offical “captain” since Barry retired.By Martha Hardcastle
July 3, 2009 11:13 AM | Link to this
Just out of curiosity, who are the team captains this year? I haven’t heard it mentioned.By Kyle
July 3, 2009 10:55 AM | Link to this
This series against the D-backs is a perfect gauge of where the Reds are compared to the rest of the league. Arizona was 18 games out of the West, the worst team in the division, yet the Reds struggled all three games. Face it, the Central is just horrifically bad. Unless the Reds make moves and improve dramatically, winning the Central gets them no more than an extra week of the season.By Mike-Cinci
July 3, 2009 9:34 AM | Link to this
Interesting pitching matchups! Pineiro vs. Bailey; Thompson vs. Owings; Carpenter vs. Arroyo.It’s a big game for Homer and the Reds. Winning the first game at home in a big series really helps. The Reds on paper look over matched on Sunday against Carpenter who is very good. Also Arroyo has been very hittable of late. On Saturday, maybe Owings can give the Reds some extra help with his bat. Whoever wins 2 or 3 games in this series will feel pretty good. After the 3 with the Cards the Reds have 20 straight games with the Phils, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers, and Cubs. We will learn by July 26 if the Reds can stay in the race. It is a very tough stretch of games.By Hawk
July 3, 2009 9:19 AM | Link to this
If you are reading a lot of comments that are negative, then perhaps there is something to it,Scott. The question is not who will replace him; the question is why is he here? Or, when will he do something with the lineup,so that fans agree?By Scott
July 3, 2009 8:17 AM | Link to this
I read a lot of comments on here that are negative towards Dusty Baker, however I see no solution (or replacement) provided. So…to those of you who complain about Dusty who would you like to see manage the team and why?By Scott
July 3, 2009 8:13 AM | Link to this
Perspective: The Reds are 2 back of both St. Louis and Milwaukee coming into this series. The Reds could, at the very least, end the series in 2nd place by themselves. Also the last time Pujols was in Cincy he was ineffective.By AP-FLORIDA
July 2, 2009 10:54 PM | Link to this
regardless of who said it or what they said- You are all giving Rusty too much credit!!!!!!!By Mutaman
July 2, 2009 10:36 PM | Link to this
Let me get this straight, somebody is going nuts because Hal is quoting Baker as saying “have” rather than “had”? And now Baker is being criticised for his frigging grammar? (By the way, several gramatical errors in Gary’s post. No problem buddy, I’m not so anal that I’d complain about it).By Wizard
July 2, 2009 9:54 PM | Link to this
At the risk of blocking another great post by you—well said Mike-Cinci! If only this blog could consistently follow your example.By Mike-Cinci
July 2, 2009 9:50 PM | Link to this
This was a great blog by Hal about a very tough game for both teams. All I think Dusty was trying to say in the Clemente/Bruce comparison was that running in that situation by the Diamondbacks made sense for them. They needed the run and Bruce (or Clemente in his day) had to make perfect throw and Hernandez had to catch it and make the tag. He said Arizona had to do what they did and Bruce did what he had to do. I think it is a nice compliment to Bruce to put his arm and play in the same context with Clemente who did it often over his career. Now if Jay matures with his bat we will have something special.By Wizard
July 2, 2009 9:22 PM | Link to this
By Wizard July 2, 2009 5:02 PM A very nice, and well received post Mr. Timb! More people should present well written posts such as you did-instead of trying to be as mean and nasty as they can. Thank you for that! I do agree with you, also. I like Dusty except for the few players, I think he has cheated: Hanigan/Dickerson/Janish. Other than those players I think he has done well as the Reds manager. You are correct on that point. I didn’t get to hear all of today’s game; but it sounds like Dickerson did well{I missed the last two innings}—and Hanigan had his best day, it seems. Janish, early was a failure, I guess—although I still believe his glove should be at SS{especially ahead of Hairston}until they get someone who can field AND hit. Hairston is not a good SS-limited range and arm. I am extremely disappointed in this teams fundamentals-they are awful. Used to be if players were good enough to get to AAA or major leagues, good fundamentals was a must. One example, Bruce and others not knowing where outfielders are playing-BEFORE the ball is hit-when they are on base! Inexcusable. Thanks again for being a gentleman.Go Reds!By Wizard
July 2, 2009 9:18 PM | Link to this
Man, some great comments today—even Aaron B. is chiming in with some good thoughts!By Wizard
July 2, 2009 9:11 PM | Link to this
Gary, finally I can agree with something you said, sortof…Wanta have a beer?By Wizard
July 2, 2009 9:06 PM | Link to this
“I wouldn’t care if Dusty spoke pig-latin with a Jamaican accent. But I would LOVE to see him think about mixing a little OBP into the lead-off spot and get over his speed fascination.” That may be the best line of the YEAR! Wow, wish I would have said that! If he puts CD there he’s got more speed anyway.By drunkenhopfrog
July 2, 2009 8:34 PM | Link to this
Votto is deadly, but with a quarter of the first half spent out of games and leaving games, he probably should not be an AS with AP in front of him and a couple of other very good 1B. Votto will be deadly year in and our with skills that should almost be slu,p defying. Since I don’t believe in voodoo, horseshoes, talking about a no-no, or any other superstition, then I’ll give Bruce the room he needs to become a vocal leader. He’s enthusiastic, gracious to teammates, and not a whining brat about his or the teams play. I’ll take that spin, thanks. Let him come into his own. *I dislike Dusty quite a bit as a manager, but grammar is not at the top of my shakes-head-at-Dusty list. If someone has not heard present tense slang when it comes to iconic sports figures especially wrt the type of “folksy” anecdotes that Dusty likes to confound folks with. I wouldn’t care if Dusty spoke pig-latin with a Jamaican accent. But I would LOVE to see him think about mixing a little OBP into the lead-off spot and get over his speed fascination.By Kenny G
July 2, 2009 8:25 PM | Link to this
Gary, Relax. We just won. We are in the best shape we’ve been in a long time and it doesn’t just look like we are getting lucky win after lucky win. Dusty had a team meeting two days ago and the team won two hard fought games since. You can’t say that Dusty isn’t doing his job. I am sure Dusty knows that Clemente died, he probably just misspoke. Nothing to call him out on. Gary… just remember one thing… we could still have Jerry Narron. What is Narron doing right now? What has Baker done? Just three managers of the year. No big deal.By Gary Maloy Jr.
July 2, 2009 7:54 PM | Link to this
By the way, Dusty was quoted as saying, “Sometimes you even have to try to run on Roberto Clemente.” I have to admit, I’m not certain what he saying… Is he comparing Bruce to Clemente or has he forgotten that Clemente died in 1972? Is he CALLING Bruce Clemente, or did he simply forget to conjugate his verb, as in, “Sometimes you even HAD to try to run on Roberto Clemente.” ?? I call him out because if you keep an eye on the quotes attributed to him, he has a problem with his grammar (especially with keeping his verbs in the right tense). I’ve defended the man since he came to Cincinnati, but the more he posts baffling line-ups and shows favoritism to undeserving players, the more it becomes (painfully) obvious - and wrong - and the more he irritates me. Thats when you notice everything - also his grammar…By Mark in Sun Valley
July 2, 2009 7:53 PM | Link to this
I love Joey and wish he could make it. He looks destined to be second fiddle in voting to Albert no matter what for years, just like Barry was to Ozzie Smith, even after Barry was the better player. But this year, it is hard to ignore Prince Fielders numbers. And isn’t this Lance Berkman’s last season? His numbers are also all star worthy at 1st and he might be a sentamental choice. Add in Gonzalez solid numbers in SD, I just think Joey will have to be content to know he should have many all start seasons in his future.By Gary Maloy Jr.
July 2, 2009 7:36 PM | Link to this
Votto should be on the team. Period. Will someone please tell Jay Bruce to keep his trap shut?! Last time he predicted a load of wins, the team went into hibernation. Let’s hope they didn’t hear/read what he said…By Aaron B.
July 2, 2009 6:51 PM | Link to this
Without a doubt Votto is the best offensive player on the team and for sure the most valuable player on the team. Honestly, who cares if he makes the all-star game or not? I wish none of them make it. I want them playing with a chip on their shoulder the entire second half. How many players go to the midsummer classic and then put up pedestrian numbers the rest of the way? It happens all the time. This ballclub should have one goal individually AND collectively and that is to make the playoffs. Period. There will be many of all-star engagements for Votto in the future, but what would be sweeter than leading the way to the playoffs for the fans of Cinicinnati who barely remember what October baseball is anymore?