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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2009 > August > 18
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Rosales does it right, Taveras a waste of money
Many of his teammates think he’s goofy with some of the stuff he does, but if more were as dedicated and innovative as Adam Rosales the Cincinnati Reds might be better off. Probably a whole lot better off.
While some are in the clubhouse laughing over what Rosales might be doing, those are the guys who never come out of the clubhouse for anything but batting practice and the game - and sometimes they have to be pushed to batting practice.
I’m the first to say that Rosales doesn’t have talent oozing out his ears. But at least he gives it everything he has and never cheats the customers.
Want an example? Done.
NEARLY EVERY day, when the ball park is empty and nobody is on the field, Rosales emerges from the dugout carrying a bat and two baseballs.
He walks toward the outfield and stops on the right field line. He flips a ball in the air and lashes a line drive to the wall in left center. Then he hits the other ball. Then he sprints to the wall to the retrieve the balls and smacks them back to the foul line and runs after them.
“I try to do it every day,” he said. “I hit nothing but line drives so I get good extension on the bat. Just a little drill. It helps generate power. And it’s nice being out there by yourself taking it all in. I figure I’ll chase the balls then and the fielders can chase them in games.”
And he has a quick wit.
Somebody said when they used to play baseball by a graveyard and nobody would go after the ball if it rolled by grave marker and Adam Rosales said, “Yeah, I guess the ball would be dead.”
WHO IS that No. 55 on the mound for the Giants wearing Tim Lincecum’s uniform? Lincecum won the Cy Young last year and is 12-3 this year, but for the second time in 10 days the Reds are treating him as if he is Tiny Tim or Tim Conway.
They beat him up 10 days ago in San Francisco and they beat him up Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park. What’s the deal here? All those no-names that have beaten the Reds all year and they beat on Tim Lincecum like a toy drum on Christmas Day.
The Reds had five runs and six hits off a guy who had given up four earned runs in his last 33 innings.
OF COURSE, that wasn’t enough. A 5-1 lead wasn’t enough. The Giants had not overcome a four-run lead all year and only once overcame a three-run lead. But the scored four off Homers Bailey, all with two outs, in the fifth inning and it was 5-5.
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, Lucille Tomczak, is 83 and is a huge Reds fan, seldom misses a game on TV. And when things aren’t going well, she calls my wife, Nadine - and tonight was no different.
As Bailey staggered through the sixth, she called my wife: “Why don’t they take that kid out? You can see he’s tired. Oh, never mind. Finally. Here comes that manager with that damn toothpick in his mouth.”
Easy, mom, easy.
Nadine goes to bed at 9 because she gets up at 4 to attack the treadmill or she might have received a call at 9:10. Pinch-hitter Freddie Lewis hit a ball to dead center. As he has done so often this year, center fielder Willy Taveras broke poorly on the ball, running laterally to his left before realizing the ball was over his head. It fell for a double.
Taveras doesn’t get on base. When he does he doesn’t steal when it is needed. He was brought in to be a leadoff hitter and couldn’t do it and is now batting second. And he is below average in the field. What can Taveras do? He has a nice stereo set in the clubhouse that plays loud, headache-inducing salsa music.
And holy cahooties. Taveras just hit a ground ball to the mound and trotted toward first base. Didn’t run. Jogged. Stopped before he got to the bag. Manager Dusty Baker immediately yanked him from the lineup, replacing him with Laynce Nix.
The Reds later announced that Taveras has a strained right quadriceps muscle. I don’t question the injury, but it was awfully convenient.
As far as I’m concerned, and many other fans are concerned, Taveras can rot on the bench the rest of the season. I’ve seen nothing to merit the millions the Reds have flushed down the toilet when they brought this guy in.
Baker said Taveras hurt himself early in the game when he bunted and dove head-first into the first-base bag as the ball rolled foul. He stayed in and couldn’t run the next at-bat.
“I knew something was wrong when I saw him not run, because that’s not Willy,” said Baker.
The game? Coco Cordero gave up three runs in the 10th and the Reds lost, 8-5. Cordero was snappish after the game when asked if he had a moment. “No, just put down what you wrote when I got saves in San Francisco and St. Louis,” he said.
Now there’s an intelligent response. In fact, I looked for him after his save in St. Louis, but he was nowhere to be found - probably playing cards in the dining room as he does every day before games.
Man, are things unraveling or what?
AND THE REDS and Giants aren’t just competing this week for wins and losses. Insiders say it is down to the Reds and the Giants over who might get outfielder Bill Hall, let go by the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers would like to have Aaron Harang, which would make the salary switch about equal and give both players a new lease on their baseball life.
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TweetLeake, Boxberger play ‘Meet The Press’
The new boys were in town today - Mike Leake and Brad Boxberger, the No. 1 and No. 2 draft picks this year. They are signed, sealed and about to be delivered to Sarasota, where they will work out with the Gulf Coast Rookie League Reds.
They won’t immediately pitch. They’ll be worked out and evaluated and worked with, then pitch in a fall league or in an instructional league, said general manager Walt Jocketty.
Leake is listed at 6-0 and 180, but admits he is closer to 5-10 and knows he needs to put on some bulk before attacking professional hitters.
Leake, a good-looking kid who has spent some recent time in San Diego surfing on the longboard, when he wasn’t working out to stay in shape, said all the right things.
Asked what he thought about coming to Cincinnati, Leake said, “I look a forward to the chance to actually be here some day. I’ve been treated with A-plus first class and I have to work hard to get to this point (Great American Ball Park).
“I’d like to be here as quickly as possible, do my job and do it well. It’s all on my shoulders and hopefully if I do well I’ll be moved up quickly,” he said.
When Jocketty included pitching prospects Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart in the trade with Toronto to acquire Scott Rolen, Jocketty said he wasn’t worried because the team had Leake and Boxberger on the hook.
“They are quality pitchers from quality programs (Arizona State, Southern California) and they should be able to move up quickly,” said Jocketty.
“I know I’ll have to keep up my stamina for a whole year, stay in shape,” said Leake. “I definitely have to get bigger, gain some weight in my lower half and get some more arm strength.
“I know I have to be patient and work with them, because they’ll want to work with me,” Leake added.
Leake and Boxberger actually faced each other last year, but Leake smiled and said about the outcome, “We’ll just keep it a secret.
“I’m flattered the Reds wanted me because I’m not typical, not at 5-10,” he said. “I’m glad they had the trust to pick me and hopefully I can do something special here. I’ve been trying to get back in shape, mostly doing long toss.
“I have to get ready for four days rest instead of six days rest and they’ll help me doing that,” said Leake. “We played half the season they play, so I have to get ready for that.”
Leake said he knows more about Reds tradition (from long ago) then he thought he did and said he gave all the wrong answers the first time he was asked about it. He’s learning fast.
“I’m aware of the background and the rich tradition they have,” he said. “Hopefully we can be a part of re-inventing The Red Machine.”
Uh, Mike. It’s The BIG Red Machine. But he’ll learn.
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