2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
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 > 2010 > September > 04
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Get the eulogy ready for the Cardinals
UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while planning my next rebuttal to a St. Louis writer. We are publicly debating who should win the MVP - he supports Albert Pujols and I, of course, support Joey Votto. Check out our debate at foxsportsohio.com. I’m prejudiced, but I think I’m winning.
If it takes 30 nails to seal a coffin, then the Cincinnati Reds have driven home 28 on the coffin of the St. Louis Cardinals.
With Saturday’s 6-1 victory over the Cardinals, the Reds’ lead in the NL Central is back to eight games and the embalmer is standing by.
What faces the Cardinals? A very ugly face. The Reds now own 79 victories with 28 games left. If they only go 14-14 the rest of the way (and why should they stoop that low?), the Cardinals have to go 23-6 in their final games.
Adam Wainwright? How about Travis Wood? Wood pitched seven innings and gave up no earned runs (his pickoff throwing error led to an unearned run) and five hits and to add injury to his insults against the Cardinals hitters, he hit a home run and dropped two perfect sacrifice bunts.
Wainwright was gone after five innings, removed for a pinch-hitter Randy Winn.
At one point after the first inning, Wood retired 11 of 12 and the Cardinals had only two hits off him through five innings.
FOR ONCE the Reds caught a break against the Cardinals got caught with their defense down.
Second baseman Aaron Miles muffed a perfect ground ball that would have ended the first inning with a double play. Instead it went through his legs and the Reds took advantage and scored three runs off 17-game winner Wainwright, who has now lost four in a row.
The Reds used that start to fend off the Cards the rest of the way as Travis Wood took care of business.
ONCE AGAIN Manager Dusty Baker used his magic touch. Shortstop Orlando Cabrera came off the DL and wanted to play Friday, but held him back until Saturday.
After missing 27 games, Cabrera ripped the first pitch he saw in the first for a one-out single to left. Joey Votto then hit the ground ball that Miles muffed and Cabrera raced to third and Votto to second.
Scott Rolen walked to fill ‘em up, Ramon Hernandez grounded to short for one run and Jonny Gomes rammed a two-run double to left for a 3-0 lead.
Wood gave up a run in the bottom of the first, but Brandon Phillips (Public Enemy No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3) singled home a run in the second and Wood hit his first career home run in the fourth to make it 5-1.
ABOUT THAT time the full house in Busch Stadium couldn’t get up enough energy to give Phillips a proper booing.
HOW IS Aroldis Chapman handling his $30 million? Well, one investment was a canary yellow Lamborghini. And he has vanity license plates: 105 MPH.
Chapman pitched the eighth and while he walked a batter, he still faced only three hitters, ending the inning by getting Albert Pujols to hit into an inning-ending double play.
He threw 10 pitches at 100 or more miles per hour, topping at 103 against Aaron Miles, who saw five pitches at 100 or more. He walked Jon Jay on four pitches, all 100 or more.
Wonder how fast he drives that Lamborghini? Hopefully not 105.
SPEAKING OF Pujols and the battle for MVP with Joey Votto, Pujols was given a gift hit his third time up, a ball that glanced off Phillips’ glove, breaking a 0 for 18 skid, longest of his career. Votto had a double, a single, a run scored and drove in his league-leading 98th RBI.
I’VE COVERED games in three stadiums in St. Louis - all three named Busch - but my most vivid memory of Busch II is how I almost missed a game.
One Saturday night - in my youth - I spent too much time being convivial in a local watering hole. There was a game Sunday afternoon.
I was staying in a hotel right across the street from the ball park. Before I went to sleep on the 20th floor, I popped open a window.
I was awakened Sunday, uh, afternoon by this sound: “Now batting for the Cardinals, No. 23, Ted Simmons.” I vaulted out of bed, threw on some clothes, dashed on some cologne (actually a lot of cologne), sprayed a mouthwash liberally into my mouth and sprinted across the street.
It was the top of the third when I slinked into my pressbox seat and ignored the snickers all around me.
That was in the mid-1970s and I never missed the start of another game.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment |
Tweet
