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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th 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 > 2008 > June > 13 > Entry
Good Friday on the 13th
Pete Mackanin, the Cincinnati Reds interim manager for the last half of last season, is a New York Yankees scout now and as he stepped on the media elevator before Friday’s game he said:
“I’m supposed to meet my wife in the stands. She’ll be wearing red so I won’t have trouble finding her,” he said.
Funny stuff, Pete, because Great American Ball Park was coated in red - whether it was for the Reds or for the Boston Red Sox. And Red Sox Nation was well-represented.
And the Reds pulled the plug on them, just as they did in the 1975 World Series, the last time the Red Sox were in Cincinnati.
Leadoff hitter Jay Bruce started things with a first-inning home run, Manny Ramirez tied it in the fourth with a run-scoring single, then Adam Dunn homered in the fourth and Joey Votto poked a run-scoring double.
That was it. Reds 3, Red Sox Nation 1.
“That just shows us we can play with those guys,” said Bruce, batting leadoff because there is nobody else, due to injuries. “I batted leadoff in high school, so I could get more at-bats. I don’t care where I bat as long as I’m swinging and we’re winning.”
Aaron Harang threw a beauty - one run, four hits, no walks, seven strikeouts in seven innings.
He said he has been working on his legs and that was evident Tuesday when he came through the clubhouse door pushing a racing bicycle, a pointed helmet on his head. He said after Friday’s game he was working on his legs.
“I’ve been riding for about an hour every afternoon around the streets of downtown Cincinnati,” he said. “Next stop? Tour de France.”
His opponent, 23-year-old Justin Masterson was as good as Bat Masterson with a pistol - 6 2/3 innings, three runs, four hits. He is from Beavercreek, a suburb of Dayton. And he appears to be the Real Deal.
Bruce was right, too. There is no reason why this team shouldn’t be able to play games like this every time out. But they don’t - more often not.
It was great to see the fans give Sean Casey a standing ovation when he batted in the second. He stepped from the box and waved his helmet in all directions of the stadium.
And my ribs still hurt from the bone-crushing hug he gave me in the Bosox clubhouse before the game.
(See previous post below for loads of stuff on Sir Sean).
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Comments
By Coach
June 13, 2008 11:22 PM | Link to this
Great game—finally! One very stupid occurence must be pointed out—in case Edison reads the blogs— Do not repeat the dumb mistake of pitching to Manny, with two outs and first base open! Why the h*ll, Dusty or Pole did not visit the mound to give strict instructions about that, is just another example of their poor managing. He threw four or five straight fastballs to MANNY for crap sake! Bang! Off the wall—game tied!Stupido. Few mistakes, true. But, the way this team plays, they cannot afford ANY stupid mistakes like this that can be avoided. Manny should get nothing to hit until he flys out of Cincy!By HuberTucky
June 13, 2008 10:56 PM | Link to this
Tonight’s game was an absolute pleasure to watch. Great pitching all around (local boy makes good), defense, offense both fairly equal. Start-to-finish, just fine pleasurable baseball. Man would it be nice to see the Reds in more competitive games like this. They CAN do it if they keep their bi-polar heads screwed on straight and don’t get their minds set on the depressive pre-game defeatists attitude that too often permeates. Ever notice how you can just smell a loss after watching just one inning. But hey, we’ll take this reprieve. This was excellent.