How a game can turn on one pitch

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, September 5, 2010, 10:06 PM

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave, which now has a fantastic sign hanging on the wall (thanks for hanging it for me, Jeff Gordon) which says, “The Man Cave,” made for me by my Ask Hal leadoff batter every Sunday, Dave from Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek:

The score Sunday was St. Louis 4, Cincinnati 2 - the Cardinals taking two of three in the last series of the season between the two NL Central contender. Even though the Cardinals won 12 of the 18 games against the Reds this season, the Reds left town with a dominant seven-game lead with games melting away like ice in a hot cup of coffee.

It never, never, ever ceases to cause me to shake my head how one pitch in baseball game decides everything, one pitch among more than 300 thrown in a game.

And if ever there was an example, it was Sunday in Busch Stadium - one pitch, one decisions, by pitcher Homer Bailey.

The situation: The Cincinnati Reds led by St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1, in the bottom of the sixth and Bailey was easily outpitching Chris Carpenter.

Bailey had two outs with nobody on, cruising like Royal Caribbean, when Jon Jay pushed an opposite field ground ball down the third base line. Reds third baseman Scott Rolen dove, but the ball nicked his glove and rolled into short left field and Jay ended up at second with a double.

Albert Pujols was next and despite the fact Pujos was 1 for his last 20, manager Dusty Baker did the right thing. Intentional walk. No sense tempting disaster.

That brought up Matt Holliday, a guy the Cardinals signed for $120 million to bat behind Pujols and give him protection. As Baker often says, “With those two guys it is pick your poison.” This was turned out to be arsenick.

Bailey jumped ahead of Holliday 1-and-2 and stood looking for his sign from catcher Ryan Hanigan. He stepped off the rubber shaking his head. Hanigan ran to the mound for a chit-chat.

Bailey was like that gosh-awful Ford commercial where Vanessa is trying to make up her mind which SUV to buy.

When Hanigan returned behind the plate, Bailey threw a high-and-tight fastball. Ball two. Two-and-two.

His next pitch was another high fastball and Holliday ripped it over the left field fence, a three-run homer.

Game over.

That one pitch, when Bailey was one pitch away from getting out of it, was that one decisive moment that happens so often in a baseball game.

BY THAT TIME Carpenter was on his game and well on his way to beating the Reds for the 10th straight time - and he is fast becoming the next Roy Oswalt as a pitcher who is The Big Boss Hoss against the Reds.

Carpenter pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up two runs and six hits, striking out 11.

BAILEY AND CARPENTER battled at 0-0 through four innings until the Reds got lucky. Drew Stubbs led the fifth with a single, then the Reds struck with their signature modus operandi - a two-out rally.

With two outs, one of them when Bailey struck out trying to bunt (poor execution), Brandon Phillips flared a broken bat double to right field, sending Stubbs to third. Orlando Cabrera broke his bat, too, but dribbled one past the third baseman and it stopped in the grass in shallow left as two runs scored for a 2-0 Reds lead.

At this point in the light-hitting life of the Cardinals, 2-0 looked solid because the Cardinals had scored three or less runs in eight of their last 11 games.

The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the on a Colby Rasmus double, a deep fly and a ground ball.

THAT’S WHERE it stoo until the decisive - or in Bailey’s case - the indecisive moment in the sixth.

Cabrera singled with one out in the eighth and Joey Votto walked, but Scott Rolen hit into an inning-ending double play. St. Louis closer Ryan Franklin pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

SO THE SEPTEMBER audition for spots in the postseason rotation is on. Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto seem like locks. Travis Wood made a strong statement Saturday. Bailey remains in the mix. Also under consideration are Aaron Harang, not good in his first start after a long stay on the DL, and Edinson Volquex, who makes his second start on rehab Monday night at Clas A Dayton.

FORTUNATELY there were no aftershocks from the fight when St. Louis was in Cincinnati. No fights. No beanballs. The fans booed Brandon Phillips every time he batted, but even boos seem to lose steam and decibels with each Phillips at-bat.

Now it is on to Denver for four games with the on-rushing Colorado Rockies, still trying to catch the San Diego Padres in the NL West - or grab the wild card position.

JUST PRIOR to his start in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series, John Tudor - a guy with a nasty dispostion - was asked a question by a writer (not me) a question he considered stupid.

Tudor stared at the guy and said, “What does it take to get a press pass these days, a Sears charge card?”

Then he went out and got butchered by the Kansas City Royals, 11-0. As he left the game and reached the dugout, he punched an overhead fan and sliced open his hand.

Served him right.

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Get the eulogy ready for the Cardinals

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, September 4, 2010, 06:52 PM

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.

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Round One goes to the Cardinals

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 3, 2010, 10:46 PM

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave while turning down the TV volume when Brandon Phillips comes to bat to preserve my well-worn ear drums from the music Cardinals fans aimed at the man they consider the anti-christ:

And the fans received their ardent wish when Phillips went 0 for 4, striking out his first time up. When he fouled a pitch behind first base a fan threw the ball back onto the field.

Good, clean fun. There was no carryover animosity from the fight in Cincinnati, even when Bronson Arroyo hit Matt Holliday on the hand with a pitch - clearly an accident.

AND THE FANS got the second thing they wanted, a victory over the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2, slicing a game off the Reds’ lead in the NL Central to seven games.

It was Cincinnati’s 11th loss in 16 games to the Cardinals this year and they deserved this defeat.

Why? Fundamentals. Poor execution.

ONE: The Reds trailed 3-1 with one out in the fourth when Scott Rolen walked. Jonny Gomes shot one up the left-center gap and Rolen scored from first. But Gomes foolishly tried to take third on the throw from the outfield. The throw was cut off and Gomes was fried venison at third.

Ryan Hanigan then singled. It is easy to say that would have scored Gomes from second and tied the game, but that’s a bad assumption. If Gomes had been on second, pitcher Jaime Garcia would have pitched from the stretch. With two outs and nobody on he pitched from a wind-up.

That would have changed the way he pitched, so you can’t assume Hanigan would have singled. But it WAS a bad play on Gomes’ part, eliminating himself as the potential tying run.

TWO: Paul Janish homered for the Reds’ first run, but when he came to bat in the seventh, the Reds still down, 3-2, Hanigan was on first with a walk. Janish was assigned to bunt but failed miserably and eventually struck out.

Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo grounded out and Hanigan took third, but Drew Stubbs took a called third strike - a dubious call by the umpire - but close enough that a pitch like that should not be taken with two strikes.

THREE: In the eighth the Reds drew back-to-back one-out walks, one to Joey Votto and one to Scott Rolen, who fouled off three 3-and-2 pitches. But Gomes flied to right and Hanigan hit into a fielder’s choice.

BRONSO ARROYO furnished his 18th quality start, but he started the game poorly and it cost him. He gave up a lead-off single to Skip Schumaker to open the first and he scored on Jon Jay’s triple and Jay scored on a sacrifice fly by Albert Pujols.

The Cardinals made it 3-0 in the second on a pair of one-out hits and a ground ball.

The Reds retrieved two of those runs, but couldn’t overcome the fact they shot themselves in both feet trying to wiggle their way back into the game.

Chris Heisey, pinch-hitter Juan Francisco and Ramon Hernandez all went down feebly against closer and former Red Ryan Franklin - two foul pop-ups and a called third strike - and the Cardinals’ five-game losing streak was over and the Reds’ four-game winning streak was over.

Welcome to St. Louis.

LUNCH ISN’T the same on days when the Reds are in St. Louis and I’m not with them so I can visit Charlie Gitto’s, my second favorite Italian restaurant behind Momma DiSalvo’s in suburan Dayton (Kettering).

Late last year, realizing it would be my last trip to St. Louis, I had lunch at Gitto’s three straight days and had the same dish - sausage linguine.

WHILE YOU may despise the Cardinals, you have to love their classic uniforms. Those two birds perched on a bat is classic, but the way they played on their last road trip (2-8 in Pittsburgh, Washington and Houston) they should change those birds on their uniforms to buzzards.

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Chapman’s buzz-bombs has ‘em buzzing

By Hal McCoy | Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 03:21 PM

CINCINNATI REDS manager Dusty Baker said he spent the better part of the day answering his cell phone, “Calls from all over the country, all over the place.”

And can you guess the subject matter? Of course. Aroldis Chapman.

“And they all said about the same thing - dynamite, electric, gasoline. And from my Latino friends, ‘Mucho gasolina.”

Baker said the timing of Chapman’s debut Tuesday night was perfect: “We were up 8-4, eighth inning, bottom of the Milwaukee order and his spot in the batting order was due up after he pitched so I could pinch-hit and get him out of there.”

Because Chapman threw only eight pitches, seven for strikes and four over 100, including two at over 102 MPH, Baker said, “People wanted to see him pitch another inning, but we might need him tonight. And we wanted to get him out on a positive note. That couldn’t have been more positive.

“Our plan is to bring him along slowly,” Baker added. “See how he does. And if he continues on this path, we can use him in the postseason - that’s why we brought him up before September 1. Remember David Price for Tampa Bay a couple of years ago? He was a September call-up and ended up being their closer in the World Series.”

AlS PART OF Chapman-ia, check out this list from SABR of the fastest recorded pitches since 2008, with Chapman tied for the fastest with Detroit’s Joel Zumaya:

102.7 mph: Aroldis Chapman, CIN v. MIL, 8/31/2010, facing Craig Counsell.

102.7 mph: Joel Zumaya, DET v. CHN, 6/23/2010, facing Milton Bradley.

102.7 mph: Joel Zumaya, DET v. OAK, 6/30/2009, facing Matt Holliday.

102.6 mph: Joel Zumaya, DET v. CHN, 6/24/2009, facing Mike Fontenot.

102.6 mph: Joel Zumaya, DET v. OAK, 6/30/2009, facing Matt Holliday.

102.6 mph: Jonathan Broxton, LAD v. SD, 7/3/2009, facing Kevin Kouzmanoff.

102.5 mph: Bobby Parnell, NYM v. HOU, 8/18/2010, facing Chris Johnson.

102.5 mph: Aroldis Chapman, CIN v. MIL, 8/31/2010, facing Jonathan Lucroy.

AND THIS from Louisville Slugger:

Aroldis Chapman’s 104 MPH fastball takes only 0.39 seconds to reach the plate assuming the 60.5 foot distance from mound to plate. Factoring in a stride of about five feet before the point of release, this further reduces the time to 0.36 seconds. For comparison sake, the average speed of a human’s eye blink. The average human’s eye blinks at a speed of 300 to 400 milli-seconds or 3/10ths or 4/10ths of a second. So if a batter blinks at the point of Chapman’s release the ball will pass him before he opens his eyes.

Also, in a full second Chapman’s 104 MPH fastball will travel 152 feet.

And to that, I might add, if a hitter connects squarely on that fastball it was travel off the bat, oh, about 552 feet.

ANYBODY ELSE notice the resurgence of Jay Bruce pretty much coincides with the arrival of Jim Edmonds? Anybody else notice how Bruce gravitates to Edmonds in the dugout. No surprise.

Edmonds has been schooling Bruce, along with Chris Heisey, Chris Valaika and even Jonny Gomes.

“We talk about a lot of things, offensive stuff, defensive stuff,” he said about his tutoring of Bruce. “Mostly it is mental stuff - trying to calm him with some things that I’ve learned over the years from Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols. I just try to keep him calm in the batter’s box.

“I try to emphasize having an approach when he bats,” Edmonds added. “I was a young player out there trying to do everything I could and you really don’t have a focus or a game plan. I was trying to slow things down.

“I just try to talk to him every day and remind him that he doesn’t have to be perfect,” said Edmonds. “He got thrown out on the bases the other day and came to the dugout ranting and raving and I said, ‘You know what? It’s over and you can’t do anything about it. You have to finish the game and you have another big at-bat coming up. The things that I believe really helped me I just pass along. Jay is now calm and under control at the plate and that’s a huge deal.

“I’ve talked to Valaika and Gomes about that stuff, too - give them an idea of what to think about when they go to the plate, not to think, ‘Oh, God, this guy has a great sinker and slider, what do I do?’ It is slow yourself down and look for a pitch to hit. It’s a simple game if you can do that.”

BRUCE WAS OUT of Wednesday’s lineup, his second straight absence after his side hurt during batting practice Tuesday and he was taken out of the lineup.

“Bruce is better today,” said Baker. “We just don’t want to wear him out completely by not having any days off. We’re at the drawing board now trying to figure it all out.”

The Reds are down to three outfielders and when asked who his fourth outfielder is, Baker said, “Don’t know. Probably Miguel Cairo. He’s played some outfield. But he’s playing second base tonight so I’d have to do some finagling, like we’ve been doing.”

A few more players are expected to be called up from the minors for the start of the three-game series in St. Louis Friday, “And we’ll try to add on an outfielder because we can’t sustain this. We have 20 games in a row coming up. It’s amazing. We went from too many outfielders to now when we don’t have enough. Remember when everybody was asking what are we going to do with all those outfielders?”

NOT ONLY was Edinson Volquez scheduled to pitch for the Class A Dayton Dragons Wednesday night, but shortstop Orlando Cabrera was there to play Wednesday and Thursday.

“Cabrera will play a couple of games there and probably join us on Friday (in St. Louis) and we’ll re-evaluate him then, see how he is,” said Baker.

AND THEN THERE is Brandon Phillips, still out with a swollen hand after he was hit by a pitch in San Francisco.

When is he coming back? “He is lobbying for Friday (in St. Louis), but we’ll see how he is swinging the bat and how much pain he is in and how much bat speed he can generate. The swelling is going down - I can see some veins now where before it was just all puffy.”

AN AMERICAN LEAGUE scout on the plight of the St. Louis Cardinals: “Looks like the can plan their team golf outing for right when the regular season ends.”

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Arroyo’s take on throwing ‘105’

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 04:43 PM

Shortly after the Cincinnati Reds left the clubhouse for batting practice, the shrill fire alarm siren went off all over the stadium and somebody wondered why?

It was clear to me - Aroldis Chapman must be warming up his fastball in the bullpen.

Bronson Arroryo was asked when was the last time he threw a pitch 105 miles an hour and he smiled and said, “When I was 9 years old, pitching Little League in Key West and parents had to push their crying kids into the batter’s box because they didn’t want to face me. I threw so much harder than the other kids. It was ridiculous and my pitches looked 105.”

Arroyo laughed and said he had a friend who saw him pitch in Little League, “But I moved from Key West when I was 10 and didn’t see him again until I was pitching in the minors. He said, ‘What are you throwing now, about 100?’ He remembered me from Little League and thought it would transfer. He laughed when he saw how hard I wasn’t throwing.”

Arroyo shook his head when asked about Chapman’s triple-digit fastball and said, “Only about 10 guys ever walked the earth who threw 102 miles an hour. Isn’t Nolan Ryan in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing 102? Well, there you go. Chapman will replace him.”

Arroyo, though, put it all in perfect perspective when he says speed doesn’t always burn major-league baseball hitters.

“Manny Ramirez is not intimidated by a 100 miles an hour fastball,” he said. “It is all about location. Zeroes on the scoreboard is what is impressive. Radar on the board means nothing. Zeroes mean everything. Fifteen zeroes on the board between now and the end of the season is more impressive than 105.”

Arroyo admits that throwing 100+ is advantageous, if the thrower throws strikes.

“It is a huge advantage,” he said. “When you throw a heater that hard you can get away with more mistakes, get away with more pitches in the zone. A hitter doesn’t have as much time to react.”

AND HE BELIEVES the Reds are doing the right way by pitching Chapman out of the bullpen, probably for one hitter or one inning.

“Throwing that hard with an adrenaline spike out of the bullpen is huge,” he said. “You can’t maintain that over seven innings.”

Asked if he believes Chapman threw two pitches at 105 last week for Class AAA Louisville, Arroyo shrugged and said, “Depends on the gun. We’ll see how hard he throws here. But what’s the difference when he throws that hard - 102, 103, 105? I did hear that a scout clocked him with his speed gun at 105 and thought something was wrong with his gun. So he changed the batteries and the next pitch was 105.”

Arroyo said the Reds aren’t all that excited about seeing Chapman’s fire and smoke, “Because we saw it this spring. And when you’re watching you don’t notice the difference between 95 and 100. Hey, I batted against Stephen Strasburg and he was throwing 98 to 100 and I felt like I had a chance to hit him.”

When asked what he thought was the limit of human being throwing a fastball might be, Arroyo smiled and said, “I guess it’s 105.”

AND WHEN WAS the last time a home crowd rooted hard for their starting pitcher to get knocked out of the box early. That was the strange situation facing Aaron Harang Tuesday. A large walk-up sale of tickets spiked attendance a bit, most them showing up in hopes of seeing Chapman walk out of the bullpen.

“You can get by with ‘over the speed limit’ if you have good location,” said Manager Dusty Baker. “Because you have to commit so early. Over the speed limit guys don’t have to be as sharp. As a hitter facing ‘over the speed’ limit pitchers, you want to swing, but you don’t have time. You want to swing, but you don’t. You say, ‘I wanted to, but I just couldn’t.”

Baker said Chapman probably will be eased into his baptism, if possible.

“We’re going to try to break him in a lesser situation, a low-pressure situation if we can help it,” he said. “You don’t know how it will end up. We’ll try to put him in a situation, in the beginning, to get his feet wet. It helps us tonight because we don’t have Arthur Rhodes available. But…if I’ve used Bill Bray already and Prince Fielder is up there, it might be, ‘Hey, good luck. Go get ‘em, Aroldis.’”

Baker, though, doesn’t expect pressure to cause Chapman to collapse like a cheap beach chair.

“I think he can handle it because if you can handle pitching for food - which is what he was doing in Cuba, pitching for food - then you can handle pitching here,” said Baker.

Chapman, 22, is 6-foot-4 and all legs - his legs seemingly sprouting out from under his arm pits. That gives him a tremendously long stride so that he seems to be pitching from 52 feet instead of 60 feet, 6 inches.

MLB’s Bob Watson was carrying around some photos on his cell phone earlier this year after Chapman pitched in a Triple-A game. The grass in front of the mound was chopped and chewed, looking as if somebody took a pick-axe to the grass.

“That’s from Chapman’s stride,” said Watson. “He lands so far in front of mound he digs up the grass. We’re going to have to watch this, maybe make the dirt area in front of mound bigger.”

TO MAKE ROOM for Chapman (called up from Class AAA Louisville) and Harang (lifted off the DL), the Reds placed outfielder Laynce Nix (sprained ankle) on the disabled list and optioned Edinson Volquez to Class A Dayton, hoping he’ll make two starts before the Dragons end their season.

Volquez will pitch Wednesday night and if all goes well he’ll pitch again for the Dragons next Monday, Dayton’s final game.

“Volquez was in the bullpen because he wasn’t pitching effectively lately as a starter,” said Baker. “This guy is in our plans as a starter, not a reliever. (Pitching coach) Bryan Price made some mechanical changes and we’d rather have him experiment with those changes there rather than here. If we sent him to Louisville, he couldn’t come back until their playoffs are over, but he can come back when Dayton’s season ends.

“We’re looking at him to get his stuff together because he is a quality starter when he has act together,” Baker added. “In case a couple guys are not doing well, or somebody looks fatigued or tired, we can insert him back in there. It gives another strong arm because there is nothing wrong with his arm. It is extremely strong. It is just a matter of mechanics and location at this time. It gives us viable options into September and hopefully into the playoffs. We can pick our roster from a nice pool of guys.”

TO REPEAT, some dirty, rotten scoundrel hacked into my e-mail account and changed my password. So now I have a new account - halmccoy1@hotmail.com. Please send those great Ask Hal questions for Sunday to that address - halmccoy1@hotmail.com.

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Chapman joining Reds tomorrow

By Hal McCoy | Monday, August 30, 2010, 06:20 PM

Aroldis Chapman, c’mon down.

The Cuban Missile, the $30 million man, will join the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday and be in the bullpen. That means, for sure, he will be eligible for the post-season if the Reds make it and he pitches well enough to warrant a seat in the bullpen.

Chapman has been nearly unhittable in recent bullpen appearances for the Class AAA Louisville Bats, including an inning last week during which he struck out the side on 10 pitches, throwing six over 100 miles an hour and two at 105.

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Is LeCure a ‘cure’ for the bullpen?

By Hal McCoy | Monday, August 30, 2010, 04:33 PM

Sam LeCure laughed when he mentioned how important it is for a pitcher to throw first-pitch strikes and get ahead of hitters and said, “We all know that and it sounds easy.”

It was mentioned how fans become apoplectic when pitchers fall behind in the count and he said, “Let them go out there and try to throw strikes when somebody is trying to hit one back off your forehead.”

What LeCure did Sunday was lost in the barrage of contributors to the 7-5 victory the Cincinnati Reds recorded over the Chicago Cubs. LeCure followed starter Travis Wood, arriving in the sixth inning with the score tied, 3-3, and pitched two perfect innings, striking out two.

The significance? LeCure is in his sixth professional season and until his recent call-up he had never - not once - never - not even one-third of an inning - pitched a game in relief. He had made 113 straight starts, including six earlier this season with the Reds, without ever taking a walk from the bullpen.

“It’s fun,” he said of the bullpen. “It’s a little different coming out of the bullpen. It’s exciting because you never know when you are going to get to pitch. And it’s frustrating because when you are out there you do want to be involved in the game. It’s a different mind-set and I’m trying to pick some guys brains.”

LeCure talks to guys in the Reds’ bullpen and also to Jay Howell of the Tampa Bay Rays and while he was seated in the clubhouse today he was text messaging with Houston Stree, “Guys I know who have had success at the big-league level,” he said.

“Hopefully I can establish myself as a starter, because that’s what I’ve always wanted,” said the 25-year-old right-hander from Austin, Tex., a fourth-round pick in 2005. “For right now, I’ll do the best I can with this, whatever allows me to stay in the big leagues for as long as possible.”

LeCure thought he might get into Sunday’s game because Nick Masset needed a day off, “And that’s one of the exciting things about it. The phone rings and you’re not sure if it is going to be you, then it is you and that adrenaline jumps up real quick and you start rocking and rolling. The difference, I’ve noticed, is when you come out of the ‘pen you know right away what the stakes are. You want to be aggressive in the strike zone and that’s something I struggled with earlier this year when I was starting.”

FOR THE FOURTH straight game second baseman Brandon Phillips was out of the lineup and for the fourth straight day he ducked the media - frustrated that he isn’t in the lineup.

Manager Dusty Baker put Jay Bruce back into the leadoff spot, where he hit three home runs Friday against the Cubs. Drew Stubbs batted leadoff Sunday and had three hits and scored three runs, but Baker had him back down in the seven-hole Monday.

Asked if Phillips could pinch-hit, Baker turned coy again and said, “I said it would be a few days and he is getting better. We feel it’s fortunate that it isn’t any worse than it is. Can he swing the bat? I’d rather not say. Because you don’t want the other team to know. But he’s close.

“Baseball is different than football because they divulge everything in football,” Baker added. “I remember Bruce Smith’s knee was hurting one day and they made it known that Bruce Smith’s right knee was bad. So what did the other team do? They went after his right knee all day.”

MIGUEL CAIRO tested his tight hamstring early in the afternoon, running about half-sped, then ran the bases during batting practice, but not at full speed.

Cairo felt the tightness last week in San Francisco running out a double Wednesday in the Reds 12-11 12-inning victory. And he hasn’t played since.

“I’m being careful,” he said. “I gotta finish strong, be ready for the final four weeks of the season,” said Cairo.

“He is getting better every day,” said Baker. “He told me he felt better yesterday than the day before and the day before that. If we don’t need to use him, so he can get better, we won’t. He is getting better every day. I heard him talking out there (in the clubhouse) so he sounds like he felt better. If he ain’t talking, THEN something is wrong.”

SOME WONDER if 40-year-old Arthur Rhodes is wearing down after he gave up two runs and four hits in one-third of an inning Sunday. And some wonder if his foot is bothering him again.

“He hasn’t pitch much lately, only twice in seven days, so it isn’t that he’s pitched too much lately,” said Baker. “The thing with Arthur is that he is human. His foot? He’s OK. It’s a matter of not locating the ball Sunday, that’s all. He hasn’t said anything about his foot in quite a while. He just walks bad.”

BRANDON PHILLIPS did play Sunday - he pinch-ran, replacing Ramon Hernandez at third base in the eighth inning and scored the seventh run in the 7-5 win over the Cubs. But he was able to trot home because Paul Janish singled.

“Easiest thing I ever did in baseball,” Phillips told Baker. Albert Pujols lead the NL in runs scored with 92, while Phillips and Joey Votto are tied for second with 91. So, that easiet run Phillips ever scored might be big when it comes to who scores the most runs in the NL - or on the Reds.

HELP, HELP: Some scoundrel hacked into my e-mail account and changed my password and I can’t get into my old Hotmail account for now - until I fill out a form. Until then, my NEW e-mail address is halmccoh1@hotmail.com. And all my leftover Ask Hal questions are gone so please, please, please send them over the next couple of days so i’ll have enough for Sunday - halmccoy1@hotmail.com

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Chapman hits ‘105’ on the speed gun

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, August 29, 2010, 11:31 AM

It was mentioned to Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker that Aroldis Chapman threw two pitches 105 miles an hour in a one-inning appearance Friday for the Louisville Bats.

Baker held up a finger and said, “But…”

Before Baker could finish, he was told, “And they were strikes.”

“All right, that’s the key,” said Baker. “Were they strikes?”

And he he struck out the side on 10 pitches, six at 100 or more miles an hour.

Baker smiled and said, “Well, it said 105 on the screen (scoreboard).”

I told Baker that a witness in Louisville e-mailed me to say she saw Chapman’s two 105 miles an hour pitches and I e-mailed her back and said, “You didn’t see them. You heard them.”

Baker smiled again and said, “I don’t think the batters saw them, either.”

THE THING ABOUT Chapman throwining 100+ is that he is 6-foot-4 and all legs, meaning after his stride he is about 52 feet from the plate instead of 60 feet.

“That’s a key, too,” Baker added. “That’s why we hated facing J.R. (James Rodney Richard, 6-foot-7 Houston pitcher) in my day. He was throwing at about 50 feet. That’s where tall guys with leverage have such an advantage. You don’t have much time to react, make up your mind. A lot of guys came down with some mysterious injuries on the night J.R. pitched.

“Some guys would come down with J.R.-itis,” he said. “But Hank Aaron once told me that no matter what, no matter who is pitching, you have to limp out there and take your whipping. It gives a psychological edge to him if he thinks you’re ducking him. So you have to go take your beating. I limped up there against J.R. many a time.”

The Chapman Era most likely begins Wednesday when he is one of the September call-ups and he’ll probably be eased into non-pressure situations in September - if there are any.

BRANDON PHILLIPS was out of the lineup for the third straight game and Baker said he is getting close. But Phillips was observed taking infield practice early Sunday and several times shook his injured right hand after fielding balls or after throwing balls. And he hasn’t been around his locker to talk with the media for the past three days.

“He’s getting better, still not there, but getting better,” said Baker. “The swelling has gone down. He squeezes putty the entire game to get his strength back, get his grip. As a hitter, something you take for granted is your grip. No grip, no hit.”

Baker actually is playing three men short - Phillips (hand), Laynce Nix (ankle), Miguel Cairo (tight hamstring).

“Miguel came in early to get treatment and we don’t want to make it worse,” said Baker. “It’s not pulled, yet. Just tight.” Cairo felt his hamstring tighten when he ran out a key double late in the 12-inning 12-11 win over San Francisco last week.

“Nix is getting better, too,” Baker added. “He’s walking better and hopefully we’ll have him within a couple of days. Hopefully.”

SO BAKER’S Mix-and-Match lineup Sunday had Drew Stubbes back in the leadoff spot and Chris Heisey in left field in place of Jonny Gomes.

“Stubbs is swinging better and, again, without Brandon or Orlando Cabrera, this is the best lineup for the day,” said Baker. “I need somebody behind Rolen or they won’t pitch to Votto or Rolen if somebody is not swinging pretty good behind Rolen. I thought about Ramon Hernandez because he is swinging good, but late in the game I’d have to pinch-run for him and I don’t want a hole in my lineup.”

That was Bakerer’s way of saying why slump-ridden Gomes was out of the lineup and out of the No. 5 spot behind Votto and Rolen, replaced by Jay Bruce, suddenly swinging a torrid bat when he batted leadoff the last two games.

BRONSON ARROYO and several Reds are wearing gray t-shirts that say: Property of Waffle House Athletic Department.

Huh?

“I was eating in a Waffle House in Covington, Ky. one day when the CEO of Waffle House happened to walk in and see me,” said Arroyo. “Turns out that even though he is from Arizona he is a big Reds fan. So he sent me a box of these t-shirts.”

HOMER BAILEY is the latest clubhouse member to be carrying an iPad and he was showing its dynamics to Mike Leake Saturday.

“The more I have it, the more I like it,” said Bailey. “Lot of cool things. Lot of games. I play a sniper game and I’m wearing people out.”

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Volquez to the ‘pen, Harang to start

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, August 28, 2010, 04:33 PM

It is, so to speak, audition time - something like America’s Got Talent.

For sure, the Cincinnati Reds have talent, especially in the pitching department, but some tinkering needs to be made immediately, preparations for the stretch run, and that’s exactly what they are doing.

The move today was to remove Edinson Volquez out of his scheduled start against the Chicago Cubs Sunday and replace him with Travis Wood. And Volquez? He goes to the bullpen for now, mostly to work on his mechanics with pitching coach Bryan Price.

And while it isn’t etched in cement, it is pretty clear that Aaron Harang comes off the disabled list to face Milwaukee Tuesday. What the team is trying to determine is whether Volquez or Harang will be part of the rotation when playoff time rolls around.

“Volky goes to ‘pen for now so he can do some mechanical work on the side with Bryan Price,” said manager Dusty Baker. “Hopefully, he can get everything back together. Velocity is there, everything is there, but he is working on command and most of that is mechanical.”

Volquez didn’t get out of the first inning in his last start in San Francisco, giving up five runs and five hits in less than an inning.

“How long in the ‘pen? I don’t know,” said Baker. “It depends on how he looks and when Harang comes back it’ll depend on who’s pitching to help us the most down the stretch. They’re both strong, so that helps big-time.”

Baker hasn’t officially announced Harang as Tuesday’s starter, but he will be. “We have to make a move when Harang is activated and we don’t know what or who the move is yet.”

Even though he has never worked out of the bullpen, not even in the minors, Volquez is at peace with the move and said, “I’m OK with it. They have Harang coming back and they want to put him in the rotation for now.”

Volquez, who isn’t long off the DL himself after a year’s absence due to Tommy John surgery, insists he is close to 100 per cent - physically.

“I’m real close to where I was,” he said. “My arm and whole body feels fine. It is just a matter of finding my release point and being more consistent in the strike zone. I’ll work with Bryan in the bullpen and they told me if things work out they’ll put me back in the rotation in September. I’m like normal, no pain, no problems. I’m good with it. Don’t know when I’ll pitch - probably when a starter has a tough start. And I’ll work on stuff.

“I was talking yesterday with Chicago’s Ryan Dempster, who had Tommy John surgery, and he told me, ‘Don’t worry about what you’re going through right now because I went through the same thing when I came back.’ He said I’ll feel really, really good next year - that I have to wait until next year.”

SHORTSTOP ORLANDO Cabrera continues fighting a little twinge in his side from a sore left oblique, but is shooting for a return next weekend for the Cardinals series in St. Louis.

“How am I doing? This thing is bleeping slow,” he said. “Unbelievable. I can run and I can hit, but when I throw I can feel a little catch there. Two weeks ago I was on a great pace to return, but I’ve hit a plateau and stay in the same place. I don’t want to aggravate it. I think I can play, but I can only make it worse. I’m not going to do anything for five days, give it time to heal, so I can play in St. Louis. It is an important series and we can put them away.”

Of his absence, with stand-in Paul Janish doing so well, Cabrera said, “If I go out there and play now I’m being selfish. Playing hurt is selfish. Paul Janish - you can’t ask more from him. He is a good player, getting important hits for us and playing great defense. There is no reason for me to push it.”

BRANDON PHILLIPS and his sore hand were out of the lineup for the second straight night and once again right-fielder Jay Bruce batted in Phillips’ leadoff spot and rookie Chris Valaika played second base in Phillips’ spot.

“Brandon is getting a lot of treatment,” said Baker. “We’re lucky we have guys who can fill in. Valaika did a good job Friday (home run, double, made all the plays defensively). Brandon is still Brandon, but you need capable guys to fill-in. Like we said in spring training, we’re going to need everybody and so far we have. You have to have depth. You look at the teams that are in it perennially, they always have depth - the Yankees, Boston, St. Louis, Atlanta - year in and year out. They have good players.”

FOR THOSE WHO are led to believe that the Reds are skipping Johnny Cueto’s turn in St. Loius next weekend to avoid conflict, it isn’t so.

No, Cueto isn’t going to face the Cardinals after he was suspended seven days for kicking a couple of Cardinals during the fight in Great American Ball Park. But he isn’t pitching because his turn doesn’t fall on any of those three days. Figure it out. He pitched Friday against the Cubs. With four days rest, he pitches Wednesday against Milwaukee. With four days rest he pitches next Monday in Denver - no St. Louis over the weekend.

WHEN JONNY GOMES hit his 100th career home run in San Francisco, after nearly five weeks of trying, the fan who got the ball threw it back on the field. Well, they thought it was the ball and retrieved it for Gomes.

“That wasn’t the ball I hit,” said Gomes. “The ball they threw on the field you would have thought Willie McCovey hit that home run. It was all blackd and dirty and scuffed, something the sea gulls would have eaten. So we knew right away. Fortunately, the ball landed a row in front of one of my real good friends, so we were able to find the guy. I gave him a bat and signed it, ‘To Brett, nice catch, thanks, 100th home run.’

“I got THE ball and my agent (Aces Management) gave me a bottle of Dom Perignon, vintage 2000,” said Gomes. And while 100 home runs may not seem like much, they are to Gomes. “I know A-Rod recently got 600 and Jim Thome hit the 500 club, so that gets people’s heads in the clouds. But for me? 100 home runs from where I came from and where I am? And I’m still counting, so I feel just as lucky as those guys.”

ON TUESDAY they’ll announce that Reds broadcaster and former Reds closer Jeff Brantley will be inducted into the State of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, where NFL star Jerry Rice already is enshrined. Said Brantley, “At least I beat Brett Favre because he’s still playing.”

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Wood replaces Volquez for Sunday

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, August 28, 2010, 03:30 PM

Some quick news (more later):

Edinson Volquez will not make his scheduled start Sunday against the Cubs and Johnny Cueto won’t pitch in St. Louis.

Volquez, who gave up five runs in less than an inning in his last start in San Francisco, is being replaced by Travis Wood.

Cueto, who was suspended seven days for kicking St. Louis catcher Jason LaRue and pitcher Chris Carpenter, will pitch Wednesday against Milwaukee, his regular turn and with four days of rest, wouldn’t reach his next turn until next Monday in Colorado.

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