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Bronson Arroyo: Sesenta y Uno

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 5, 2008, 11:15 PM

While thousands and thousands of Chicago Cubs fans found their way easily to Great American Ball Park, Cubs manager Lou Piniella had a near Gilligan’s Island type trip.

What figured to be a five-hour trip by car from Chicago to Cincinnati Saturday turned into an eight-hour tour of Ohio because Piniella and the driver, first base coach Matt Sinatro, got lost and had a See Ohio trip.

It was apropos. Piniella’s team has completely lost its way, losing to the Cincinnati Reds 10-2, the Cubs’ sixth straight loss.

Jay Bruce hit his first career grand slam and drove while Bronson Arroyo won his 14th game, 10th in his last 13 decisions.

And Arroyo, tearing a page from Chad Johnson — nee Ocho Cinco — unveiled his new name, which was on his back after the game: Sesenta y uno (61).

Before he did an interview, he laughingly said he wouldn’t answer to any other name and he had a right to do it, “Because my father is Cuban and I am Hispanic so I can do it for real.”

Arroyo said the idea came to him after watching TV all day, “And I’m at home watching that and I’m just dying. I said, ‘Man, he’s on every freaking talk show in America.”

Piniella’s mind is more cluttered over the barrage of losses and his errant automobile excursion was supposed to be therapeutic.

“I wanted to get my mind off baseball and I certainly did that,” said Piniella. “I was sleeping when we got lost and I probably shouldn’t have slept.”

His team is sleeping, too, and shouldn’t be, not with the Milwaukee Brewers yapping at its feet.

MapQuest sent Piniella and Sinatro across Interstate 80-90 and they should have turned south on I75 near Toledo, but breezed on past. MapQuest had them zeroed in on East Liverpool, near the Pennsylvania border.

“I lived in Ohio three years and never heard of East Liverpool, so I knew something was wrong,” said Piniella. They purchased a good old-fashioned road map and threaded their way down two-lane highways, “With lots of trucks,” until they found I-71 in Columbus.

Piniella and his starting pitcher, Ted Lilly, felt as if they were run over by an 18-wheeler not long after the game commenced.

Joey Votto hit a two-run homer with two outs in the first, his 18th homer, and drove in three runs, the Reds scored three on two hits in the second, then Bruce unloaded his 16th homer, a grand slam, in the fourth.

“That’s the first grand slam in my whole life,” said Bruce. “Never hit one. Ever. It’s a pretty good feeling. I’ve had a lot of firsts this year. It’s always fun to beat the Cubs. You get a little more in your tank when they come to town and you have all the Cub fans here. You notice the difference, so I have a good time doing it and I want to beat them every time.”

When Arroyo struck out the side on 10 pitches to start the game, it portended good things and they materialized as he gave up one run and four hits while walking two and striking out six for his 6 1/3 innings.

None of Chicago’s first three hits left the infield, but Arroyo walked Jim Edmonds to start the seventh and catcher Koyie Hill doubled him home. After Arroyo retired Kosuke Fukodome on his 122nd pitch, manager Dusty Baker came to get him.

“It’s nice to get some runs early against Lilly because he has always pitched tough against teams I played for,” said Arroyo.

And of striking out the side in the first on 10 pitches, he said, “There was some good energy in the crowd tonight and I pained some pitches that caught them off guard, as far as my pitch selection. And that set a good tone.”

Manager Dusty Baker, of course, loves beating his old team, especially with so much at stake for the Cubs.

“Arroyo is really on his game, has been on his game,” said Baker. “That was awesome the way he started. He really had it clicking. That’s a dynamic offensive team over there and Bruce’s grand slam gave us a lot of breathing room.”

Votto and Bruce both homered and both doubled and both scored two runs and Baker is thrilled with his two rookies.

“That’s a wonderful thing right there, especially when the guys get on ahead of them and they’ve been playing very well,” said Baker.

“That was a good one to win right there with all the Cubs fan here,” Baker added. “You want to take those fans out of the game early so they don’t excite their team. We did it early. It is fun to play this kind of series.”

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Welcome to Wrigley Southeast

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 5, 2008, 04:19 PM

So what does a baseball team do when it is at the bottom of the division and about to play the leader of the division?

Different stuff. The tarp was on the field so there was no outside practice Friday before the Cincinnati Reds played the Chicago Cubs. A few took indoor batting practice.

Edwin Encarnacion sat in a corner of the clubhouse pounding on an African drum - using a stick in one hand and his hand for the other. I’m no music critic and I’ve been accused of having a tin ear, but he sounded good.

Jolbert Cabrera dropped to the floor to open a box. It was a pair of baseball spikes - real nice baseball spikes that were patent leather and were red, black and white. Looking at them, Cabrera said, “Damn, look at these. I must be considered a prospect to get these.”

One problem. The shoes belonged to Brandon Phillips.

“You can have the shoes,” Phillips said to Cabrera. “And you can have all those batting gloves you took out of my locker.” Then aside, Phillips smiled and said, “They’re always taking stuff out of my locker.”

The Reds know that even though this is a home game, a home series, Great American Ball Park will be swarming with Cubs fans and they know when Take Me Out to the Ballgame is played in the seventh inning, they’ll all scream at the appropriate time, “Root, root, root for the CUBBIES.”

Said Manager Dusty Baker, who managed in Wrigley, “They’re here because they can’t get tickets in Wrigley. We’ll take their revenue.”

And Baker hopes his Reds can help take away their lead, too - a five-game margin over Milwaukee.

“We’re playing to have an impact,” said Baker. “We wish we we playing for more, but we’re not. So w’ere playing to have an impact. And the players are not just playing for this year, but they’re playing for next year, too - the long-term effects.

“So far we have played good against good clubs,” said Baker.

NOT MUCH happening here, so let’s move south to Louisville.

Homer Bailey won a game. Bailey wins, Bailey wins, Bailey wins!!!

Poor Homer had gone 21 starts in the majors and minors without a win, but he got one in the International League playoffs Thursday, a 19-3 Louisville win over Durham. And Homer had a 19-0 lead.

But a scout from another team saw the game and said, “Best I’ve seen Homer this year. He was very good. He was throwing strikes and throwing four pitches. And he was throwing 95 and 96 miles an hour in the sixth inning.”

Bailey pitched six shutout innings and Josh Roenicke gave up three runs.

Said Baker, “Good for him. He said when he left here he was happy and that he wanted to go help them win the playoffs. And that’s what he did. I like that he said that. Homer is not going to bite his tongue. He’ll say what’s on his mind. A lot of people might not like that, but I do. I like it.”

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Fogg or Ramirez - Need you ask?

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, September 4, 2008, 05:03 PM

A decision that faced the Cincinnati Reds was decided by a strained right groin.

The decision? Josh Fogg or Ramon Ramirez?

Fogg is 2-7 with a 7.58 earned run average. It isn’t likely he’ll be with the Reds next season.

Ramirez is 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two outstanding appearances in the last week, his first two major-league appearances. There is a chance Ramirez will be with the Reds next season.

Shouldn’t he be pitching instead of Fogg? The Reds didn’t see it that way Thursday and Fogg started — giving up five runs and four hits in three innings.

Then he trundled home from third base in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly and strained his right groin.

The soon-to-be 26 Ramirez, a righthander, replaced Fogg and pitched three perfect innings — nine up, nine gone — as the Reds worked their way methodically back into the game and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6, scoring three runs in the eighth.

It isn’t likely Fogg will make his next start, so Ramirez steps in, continuing his audition for next season and beyond.

“That’s why we put Ramirez into the game in that situation,” said manager Dusty Baker. “This was a potential start day for him. Fogg’s groin situation is a dangerous situation for a pitcher.

“The way the young man (Ramirez) has pitched he certainly earned the right to start,” Baker added. “The way the kid is throwing, how do you not consider giving him strong consideration.”

In his major-league debut, an emergency start last Saturday, he held the San Francisco Giants to three runs and five hits over seven innings and turned a 6-3 lead over to the bullpen, which promptly blew it up and Ramirez received no decision.

“My confidence was very high today and every time I pitch I try to be positive,” said Ramirez. “I’ll be ready any time they need me, in the bullpen or starting. I’m working hard and I’m ready for anything.

Said Baker of Ramirez’s day, “He threw great, just excellent. When you’re down 5-0, that’s what you want — a guy to come in a throw zeros. Stop the scoring, give us a chance to come back. Impressive. He doesn’t appear nervous, rattled or scared. And he throws strikes, including off-speed pitches for strikes, which is great for a young pitcher.”

After falling behind, 5-0, with Fogg on the mound, the Reds chipped away, or as Baker put it, “We slow-walked ‘em with a bunch of ones until we could get that crooked number (three in the eighth).”

The Reds scored one run in each inning from the second through the sixth to tie it, 5-5. And it was 6-6 in the eighth when the Reds filled the bases and Joey Votto poked a tie-breaking, game-winning single.

“He is a clutch RBI man and he is getting better, that’s what I like,” said Baker. “He is more confident and more comfortable.”

Said Votto, who also homered in the fifth and batted .382 in August and drove in 18 runs, “Just one of those stretches and I don’t know why. We’re trying to win as many games as we can to transfer into next year and I’m trying to do as well as I can and hope that transfers into next year as well.”

Votto had two hits, drove in two and scored one. Jay Bruce also homered, his 15th. Votto’s was his 17th and the Reds will be baseball’s only team with two rookies with 15 or more home runs.

Amazingly, the No. 9 spot in the batting order had four straight hits. Fogg singled in the third, Ramirez singled in the fourth, his first major-league hit, pinch-hitter Andy Phillips singled and scored a run in the sixth and pinch-hitter Corey Patterson beat out a bunt single in the eighth.

The victory enabled the Reds to avoid being swept and Baker said, “It was important because they were gaining on us, trying to get out of the cellar. Sure didn’t start out too good, down 5-0.

“What I like is that we executed — a number of bunts and some double plays,” said Baker. “We played a good game.”

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Jottings on a quiet day

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, September 4, 2008, 11:19 AM

IT IS SO QUIET in this ball park that I can hear myself think, and that’s scary. And the second scariest part is that it is the first inning and it is so quiet you can hear a pennant drop (for the eighth straight year). I heard a fan whispering sweet nothings into his girlfriend’s ear.

SOMEBODY LOOKED at the lineup cards of both team before Thursday’s Pirates-Reds game and said, “Looks like they could be the lineup cards for the first spring training game in 2009 between the Pirates and Reds (one of about nine each spring).”

Maybe the optimism for this year’s team came from the fact the Reds play the Pirates so many times in spring training.

WHEN A MAJOR League scout heard that manager Dusty Baker was upset that rookie Wilkin Castillo missed a hit-and-run sign during Wednesday’s game, the scout said: “Get used to it. I’m sure that wasn’t the first sign he missed and I KNOW it won’t be the last.”

SAW KENT MERCKER sitting in front of his locker after Wednesday’s game. Dang if I didn’t forget he is on this team.

Reminded me of when Will McEnaney pitched for the Reds. The Springfield native had an identical twin and once in awhile he would have his brother walk into the clubhouse, put on Will’s uniform and have him sit in front of his locker. Not one person ever caught on until Will owned up to it.

THEY TELL ME the three Reds-Cubs games this weekend are nearly sold out. Oh, my. Welcome to Wrigley Southeast. Here’s a suggestion: Have the Reds wear road gray and let the Cubs wear home white.

FOR THE LAST time, Corey Patterson is NOT engaged to Baker’s daughter. They aren’t even dating. They aren’t even talking on the telephone. Put that one to rest.

I’M THINKING about changing my name to Tres Uno (31 was my baseball uniform number most of the time). Actually, that byline would look pretty cool, wouldn’t it: By Tres Uno, Staff Writer. But I don’t think The Real Uno really fits.

INSTEAD OF introducing the starting lineups Thursday, they should have had the players go into the stands and introduce themselves to the few fans who wandered in. And the Reds could have made it Guaranteed Foul Ball Day for fans in the stands.

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Mistakes, mistakes and more mistakes

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 11:11 PM

Elimination Day was inevitable, a foregone conclusion for the Cincinnati Reds, and it came on a hot steamy September 3 night in Great American Ball Park.

A 6-5 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates officially eliminated the Reds from the National League Central title race, but unofficially they eliminated themselves in early May when they first hit double figures in the games behind column.

Of more immediate significance, Edinson Volquez did not get his 17th win, turning over a 4-4 tie after seven. But Jeremy Affeldt and Mike Lincoln gave up two runs in the eighth to leave Volquez at 16-5.

Manager Dusty Baker was mightily disturbed after the game over a missed hit-and-run sign that ended up in a double play and a wild pick-off throw that led to a tie-breaking run.

“Mistakes, man. We just have to quit making mistakes,” he said. “You especially can’t make ‘em in one-run games.”

Volquez pitched well enough to be 17-5, but it wasn’t to be after he gave up four runs, six hits, one intentional walk and struck out a career-best 13.

Volquez was at his Eliot Ness best for three innings — untouchable (nine up, nine down). He needed only 35 pitches for those three innings.

Then he singled in the bottom of the third and ran the bases and, as he said, “That’s never usually a good thing for me.”

The economy and efficiency evaporated in the fourth when he needed 27 pitches for that one inning, giving up two runs on three doubles.

The Reds tied it in the fourth with two runs, all the action coming with two outs and nobody on. Joey Votto homered, then Edwin Encarnacion walked, took third on Jay Bruce’s double and scored on a passed ball.

Chris Dickerson’s sixth home run in his 19th major-league game with two outs in the fifth gave the Reds a 3-2 lead. It was a 425-foot drive the opposite way, to left center, and Baker said, “

Pittsburgh retrieved the lead, 4-3, in the sixth when the first four reached base, including run-scoring singles by Ryan Doumit and Adam LaRoche, ending LaRoche’s 0 for 16 slide.

The Reds tied it, 4-4, in the sixth when Votto tripled to the right field corner and scored on Encarnacion’s single over third base.

Affeldt replaced Volquez in the eighth and the Reds resumed their sloppy ways.

Nate McLoth singled and then came the errant pick-off throw. Affeldt’s attempt eluded first baseman Votto and Baker said, “That ball was just air mailed (with not enough postage, obviously).” McLoth ended up on third and scored on another Adam LaRoche single.

“Mike Lincoln made two great pitches on LaRoche, then hung a slider,” said Baker. “Another mistake.”

Andy LaRoche then poked a one-out single for the 6-4 margin.

The Reds scored once in the eighth on pinch-hitter Ryan Hanigan’s bases loaded walk, cutting it to 6-5, but pinch-hitter Andy Phillips struck out.

And there were two incidents in the seventh — a positive one for the Reds and a negative one.

Pinch-hitter Wilkin Castillo led the inning with a single. With one out, the hit-and-run sign was flashed. Castillo missed it and Jeff Keppinger hit into a 4-6-3 double play.

“Young guys coming up (Castillo) have to learn and get the signs,” said Baker. “We were happy for him getting his first major-league hit, but then he missed the hit-and-run sign.

“Keppinger hit that ball right where he was supposed to, right at the second baseman,” said Baker.

But Castillo wasn’t running on the pitch, so the second baseman didn’t rush to cover second. Instead he fielded Keppinger’s ball and started the inning-ending double play, “When we should have had first and third with one out. That was big.”

As ever, Volquez was smiling and upbeat after the game, claiming that 20 victories was not on his mind.

“If I win two of the next five or if I get 18 or 19 wins, I’ll be happy,” hew said. “This is my first year and that’s pretty good. That would be great.”

Volquez said he was ready to go back out for the eighth inning, when the Pirates scored their two winning runs off Affeldt and Lincoln, but they stopped him.

“I was ready and I was feeling good, but I had 117 pitches and they said that was enough,” said Volquez.

“He had 107 after six and normally that would have been enough,” said Baker. “But we let him go out for the seventh to give him a chance to win his 17th.”

And, yes, the Pirates came to town with a 10-game losing streak before decking the Reds two nights in a row.

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Is all this a big joke?

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 04:54 PM

And the travel complications continue - even at home.

Poor Larry Glass, my driver for home games, is as reliable as the morning rooster, usually early, never late. And never a problem.

Except Wednesday. He pulled into my driverway in his truck, accidentally kicked something under his dashboard and the truck quit. Refused to start. Larry called his son, Brian, who works at the paper, and he brought his car and Larry drove me to the park in that car.

I was an hour late, but I caught a break. I didn’t miss manager Dusty Baker’s pre-game media briefing. It was Team Photo Day (the snapping thereof), so he didn’t meet with us until after that.

Now there is a team photo that all Reds fans should want. Three years from now, they can check it out and say, “Who’s this? Who’s that? Who’s this? Who’s that?”

Said team equipment/clubhouse manager Rick Stowe, tongue deeply imbedded in his cheek: “My best team photo ever. Been in ‘em since 1983. My best ever.”

So what’s happening on the team front?

If the Reds lose tonight to the Pirates, or if the Cubs beat the Astros tonight, it’s all over. The Reds will be done - mathematically eliminated from winning the NL Central. On September 3. Thirteen years without a division title, eight years without a winning record.

Remember, though. Be patient. Be very patient. They Reds are not going to lose any more. Who said that? And scanning the empty seats at game time reminds me of a story Bill Veeck once told about when he owned the old St. Louis Browns in the American League. A fan called and asked him, “What times does the game start tonight?” His answer: “What time can you be here?”

SAW CLOTHES in Ken Griffey Jr.’s old locker, the first time anything has been there since he was traded July 31. Was he back? Naw, it’s occupied by rookie Wilkin Castillo. Kinda strange, though. There are many, many empty lockers.

But what the heck? Pitcher Ramon Ramirez is dressing in Adam Dunn’s old spot, complete with the black African masks hanging on the wall.

WE ALL KNOW Edinson Volquez was after his 17th victory Wednesday on a march toward 20. How about this? Aaron Harang is 4-15. With the possibility of five more starts, if he loses the first four, would Baker permit Harang to lose 20?

“I’d try not to let that happen,” said Baker. “But I’d leave it up to him. He’s had a tough enough year. Hey, Steve Carlton lost 20 games in a year and he’s in the Hall of Fame.”

And you know what worries me most? Getting home tonight?

Comedian Mike Birbiglia is going to be in Dayton at the Victoria theatre Thursday September 18. He has invited me to be his guest and I’m going to be there. Birbiglia, not knowing my eye condition, made fun of me at the New York Baseball Writers dinniner in 2003. And he has used the incident in his show, including a show on Comedy Central.

We’ve e-mailed back-and-forth. Looking forward to it. If you’re not busy that night, he’s a funn guy - even though at the New York Baseball Writers dinner I got up and said about him, “Some baseball writers can’t write and some comedians can’t tell jokes.”

He can tell ‘em.

HEY, DONB51. Never once, not once, did I EVER call Adam Dunn a superstar. Or even a star. Not once. I always made fun of his defense - and to his face, too. I said he worked hard on it and did get better, but I NEVER said he was good defensively or that he was a superstar.

Please don’t put words in my mouth. I did say he was valuable offensively and I stick to those words. The Reds will not find a replacment who can hit 40 homers, drive in 100, score 100 and, yes, walk 100. I don’t care how the team is structured, his 100 walks help lead to his 100 runs and last time I check scoring runs was the object of this game.

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CC Sabathia DIDN’T pitch a no-no

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 02:04 PM

Baseball official scoring is a difficult task - one man’s error is another man’s hit.

Baseball official scoring is a difficult task, even if the official scorer pays attention. One time, years ago, I glanced down the press box at the official scorer. He was sleeping. Another time an official scorer was turned around talking to somebody in the second row when a play occurred. He didn’t see it.

Those were before the days of instant replay and television monitors in the press box. The guy had to guess to make his call.

Official scorers now have TV monitors in front of them. That’s the reason it takes several moments, or minutes, for an official scorer to make a call. He is gazing at the replay over and over before he makes his call.

So, shouldn’t he get it right?

The problem is that official scoring rules are not always black and white, and much of the time it comes down to the opinion of the official scorer and, as I said, one man’s error is another man’s hit. Or is it one man’s hit is another man’s error?

I always get a kick out of controversial calls. Players moan. Oh, how they moan. Cincinnati Reds official scorer Glenn Sample used to go into the clubhouse before and after games when he first started. He learned quickly. When players saw him, they moaned and groaned and complained about his calls.

So he quit going in. And I don’t blame him.

I’ve only been an official scorer twice. When I was National President of the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1997, it was my duty to be one of the two official scorers at the All-Star game in Cleveland and at the World Series between Cleveland and Florida. We called an error on Florida third baseman Bobby Bonilla. Most thought it should have been a hit. We didn’t change it. Stubborn.

Some players, managers or coaches even call the official scorer in the press box during the game to complain. Heck, one day I got a call in the press box and I wasn’t even the official scorer. I answered my phone and it was Reds shortstop Davey Concepcion. The scorer had ruled a ball he hit as an error. I answered the phone, and Concepcion said, “Hey, Mack-coy (he always called me Mack-coy), that was a hit.”

Ever diplomatic, I said, “Yeah, I agree. But I’m not the official scorer.”

We bring this up because of the CC Sabathia one-hitter/no-hitter - depending upon your viewpoint.

CC pitched a one-hitter against the Pirates and the one hit was one of those balls that is one man’s hit and another man’s error.

The ball was hit to the right of Sabathia, up the third-base line. He rushed after the ball and picked it up, with his back to first base. Ad he turned to throw, he dropped the ball. The official scorer called it a hit, not realizing it would be the only hit - although that shouldn’t matter. A hit is a hit and an error is an error.

I’ve seen that play dozens and dozens of times. A difficult play. A hurried play. CC had to scramble to get to the ball. He didn’t kick it. He didn’t let it go through his legs. He picked it up, then dropped it.

Nearly every time an official scorer will rule that a hit. It was a hit. I sympathize with CC and the Brewers, who are disputing the call and sending tapes to the Major League Baseball for review.

There is no way MLB can reverse that call. There is no way a guy should be given a no-hitter several days after the game is over and the box score says he pitched a one-hitter.

One problem is that nowhere in the scorer’s manual does it exactly describe that play and tell the scorer what to call. The scorer had to judge degree of difficulty on the play and the distance CC covered to get the ball. It was a difficult play. It was a hit. Get over it, Brewers fans. You won the game, CC got the win. That should be what is important.

Some scoring rules or assumptions are stupid and one happened with the Reds Sunday against the Giants. If a player doesn’t touch a ball (unless it goes through his legs), it is always ruled a hit.

On Sunday with the bases loaded, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto hit a fly ball to left field. A fly ball. Left fielder Fred Lewis started back. Then he came in. He did a 180, such a nifty 180 he should have been wearing a tutu. He stuck up his glove and missed the ball. But didn’t touch it.

The scorer had to rule it a two-run double. It should have been an error. Even Adam Dunn catches that ball. Lewis flummoxed that play from every point of the compass. But Votto gets a two-run double and the poor pitcher who got Votto to hit that fly ball, gets two earned runs tagged onto his record.

That rule/assumption (whatever scorers call it) needs to be changed. If a defensive player screws up a play, he should be charged with an error. These guys are professionals and are supposed to make routine defensive plays.

It’s hilarious. A pitcher always think a ball his fielders mess up should be ruled an error. The fielder thinks it should be a hit. Unless you are a pitcher throwing a no-hitter and you don’t make a difficult play and it is ruled a hit. Then you want the error. But only if it’s the ONLY hit of the game.

Amazing.

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