MiddletownJournal.com

So when do the Reds make the playoffs?

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, October 2, 2008, 11:47 PM

Some thoughts about the early playoffs:

QUESTION: Why did they play the White Sox-Rays game in the afternoon in Florida under a roof and make Cubs fans sit in frigid weather for a night game in Wrigley Field?

ANSWER: That’s easy. Television. And what TV wants, TV gets.

QUESTION: When do the Cincinnati Reds play their first playoff game?

ANSWER: 2011. Maybe.

Did you see Ken Griffey Jr.’s throw in the AL Central playoff game that preserved the White Sox’s 1-0 win over Minnesota that punched their ticket to the playoffs?

Reminded me of the throw George Foster made for the Reds in the 1975 World Series against the Red Sox. Foster, who thought defense was something mandatory you had to do before they let you bat, made a catch near a high wall down the left-field line and when Denny Doyle tagged and tried to score, Foster threw him out.

Have to admit I’m torn over the White Sox-Rays series. I’d love to see Griffey get his World Series ring. But I also love that fact the Rays, with a payroll about the same size as the nearest McDonald’s franchise, have a chance to show the baseball world you don’t have to spend like the Bank of America to win a championship.

Afterwards, Foster said, “I’ve been saving that throw for the right moment. I never had to make one like that before.”

THIS IS ONE that bugs me so much I need insect repellent to watch the ninth inning of some games.

Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels is scything down the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1, no runs over eight innings. And he was barely over 100 pitches.

What does manager Charlie Manuel do? He brings in closer Brad Lidge, who gives up a run and nearly blows the game. Why oh why oh why do managers think just because they have a closer they HAVE to use him? Hamels deserved to finish. The Phillies deserved to lose that game just for that reason.

ANOTHER ONE that bugs me enough to squirt two cans of insect repellent on my personage:

The Brewers have Philadelphia pitcher Brett Myers in deep do-do. He has thrown six straight balls. His walk loaded the bases with one out. Up steps Corey Hart. He swings at the first pitch. The first pitch! After Myers can’t find home plate with GPS!! And he swings at the first pitch!!!

And he hits into an inning-ending double play. Sometimes you wonder if even major-leaguers need to go to a school called Baseball Strategy 101.

The Brewers went to the well one too many times. It was a sure-thing that using C.C. Sabathia on three days of rest four straight times was going to exact a toll. His 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies in Game Two showed that.

ISN’T THAT the Chicago Cubs just being the Chicago Cubs? The guess here? The Dodgers go to the World Series with Manny being Manny.

There is Eva Longoria and then there is Evan Longoria — the best player nobody outside of Tampa and St. Petersburg never heard of.

Reds fans, bet you don’t remember Australian Grant Balfour. He spent one entire season with the Reds without throwing a pitch. Former GM Dan O’Brien signed him as a free agent when he had a bad shoulder. He rehabbed all year.

Now he pitches for Tampa Bay and did you see him on the mound Thursday? He recorded a strikeout and made a fist-pumping gesture. The next hitter, Orlando Cabrera (Jolbert Cabrera’s younger brother), kicked dirt toward Balfour on the mound when his first pitch was wide of the plate and shouted, “Throw the ball over the plate.”

Balfour then struck him out, punched the air again, and yelled at Cabrera, “Go sit down.”

Love it. Couldn’t the Reds used some of what the feisty Aussie shows?

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All over (for the Reds), including the shouting

By Hal McCoy | Sunday, September 28, 2008, 06:11 PM

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t go away like a sly, slinking fox; they went away like a wounded fox with a fear factor complex.

They couldn’t have made a louder thud than if they had, as a team, leaped from the top of the Gateway Arch, losing their last five games of the 2008 season.

And the finale Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals was a microcosm of the way the Reds played when games counted.

The Reds, playing defense as if the baseball was a round piece of dry ice, were obliterated by the Cardinals, 11-4.

Adam Pettyjohn’s first major-league start since he nearly died from colitis in 2001 was not pretty, but a lot of it was because of little help from his friends.

Pettyjohn gave up eight runs on seven hits in two-plus innings, but defensive lapses by second baseman Danny Richar, right fielder Jay Bruce and center fielder Corey Patterson enabled the Cardinals to keep swinging when innings should have been over.

In other words, it was the way the Reds played in April, May and early-June, when they buried themselves into oblivion.

“We were playing well, then the last five games they kind of beat us up,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We ran out of gas a little bit. They gave me all they had and gave me effort. We didn’t play very well today, made some costly mistakes and Pettyjohn deserved a better fate.

Pettyjohn gave up a two-run homer in the first to Ryan Ludwick, then had two outs and nobody on in the second.

Pitcher Brad Thompson lobbed one behind first that first baseman Joey Votto and second baseman Richard converged upon — clearly Richar’s ball. But he pulled up and it dropped for a single. Four more hits and three runs followed.

“In that second inning there were a couple of balls we didn’t get to that we should have and that cost us three runs and next thing you know the gates are open,” said Baker.

Baker, though, sees better days ahead and as writers cleared his office for the last time, he smiled and said, “I’ll be talking to you after we make those blockbuster deals.”

But he was more serious after the 74-88 season in which they finished fifth, 23 1/3 games behind the first-place Cubs and 11 behind the fourth-place Cardinals.

“People are going to hear from us. And soon,” he said. “We have a great group of core players and other players around the league are telling me that we’re not that far away. I believe it. I feel the same way.

“We have a couple of things we have to add and I think the experience we had going down the stretch this year will help us next year,” Baker said.

“We have some young players who had to find out if they belong here and they did and now they have come away with the idea they can play here and play winning baseball,” he said.

Joey Votto singled, homered for the 24th time and drove in two runs, making a push, probably too late, for Rookie of the Year. His 24th homer gave him one more than Chicago Cubs rookie catcher Geovany Soto.

Unfortunately for Votto, ballots were due from baseball writers by the end of Sunday’s games and many may have missed his 11-game run down the stretch during which he hit .452 (19-42) with eight multi-hit games, five homers and 12 RBIs.

Nevertheless, Votto is ready to shut it down.

“I’m happy the season is done,” he said. “I want to see my family — my mom, my brother and my girl friend. I thought I could do what I did and I’m happy with the way I finished strong.

“I thought I made big strides defensively and I’ve become part of a team that can do something in 2009,” he added.

Of his shaky day, Pettyjohn said, “I wish I had thrown better and gone deeper into the game. I felt fine and it probably was the long layoff. But it is hard to hang your head after what my wife and I have been through and I just want to thank the Reds and Dusty Baker for giving me this chance.”

Baker, though, admits it is time to shut it down this year.

“Now the year seems long,” he said. “End of the race, end of the road. And you kind of realize where you’ve been and what you have been through.

“But the good thing is that guys see, feel and believe about where we’re going — which is up,” he said.

And with that, Baker yanked shut the zippers on a couple of travel bags, closing the 2008 season, the eighth straight losing year.

BAKER IS LOOKING forward to the offseason, a period of rest, but his itinerary sounds like anything but rest.

“First, I’m going to try to do nothing, which is very difficult for me to do,” he said. “I’m sure I have a bunch of honey-do’s around the house. When you’ve been gone since February 15, the woman of the house is ready for you.

“I have some farming to do, too,” he said. “I have to tend to my grape vines and they’ll produce grapes next year. I’ll spend some time with my dad and my son’s (Darren) various events. He had his first football game yesterday and scored a touchdown and they tied.

“I’ll take some time to go hunting and fishing, I have a couple of speaking engagements and before you know it it is December and time for the winter meetings,” he said.

As for baseball, it is never far from his mind.

“I’ll always be thinking about helping (general manager) Walt Jocketty get this team together,” he said. “Part of the job is trying to talk to free agents (to come to Cincinnati) and I’ll be on the phone quite a bit.

“What you have to do most is take the time to re-charge for next season,” he said. “You have to take the time to re-charge. You have to start the season with the tank full, not three-quarters or half-full. You don’t later want to run out of gas.”

BAKER WAS talking about all the last-season turmoil this year to determine wild card and division champions and remembers fondly a few in which he was involved.

“I remember days like this, the last day when it was decided,” he said. “We had a couple of them with the Dodgers — down to the wire. Going down to the wire? Ain’t nothin’ better than that. Going down to the wire, going neck-and-neck.”

Reds media relations director Rob Butcher is working the World Series this year, helping Major League Baseball, and Baker said, “Next year you are going to be too busy doing your own work.”

Implication? Reds in the World Series.

SOMEBODY CONGRATULATED Javier Valentin on his pinch-hit home run Friday, the sixth pinch-hit home run of his career.

And he said, “I have to do something. I’m a free agent. I have to feed my kids.”

The Reds have nine possible free agents — pitcher Jeremy Affeldt, catcher Paul Bako, pitcher Josh Fogg, infielder/outfielder Jerry Hairston, Jr., pitcher Mike Lincoln, pitcher Kent Mercker outfielder Corey Patterson, Valentin and pitcher David Weathers.

It is likely the Reds will try to re-sign Affeldt, Hairston and Lincoln. Mercker plans to retire and Weathers said he plans to test the market.

“I’ve never had that many free agents on one team,” said manager Dusty Baker, “and when we started the season we had three more (Scott Hatteberg, Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn).”

FIVE PLAYERS on the Reds roster are eligible for salary arbitration — third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, pitcher Matt Belisle, infielder/outfielder Jolbert Cabrera, pitcher Gary Majewski and infielder Andy Phillips.

For sure, the club will offer a contract to Encarnacion, but the rest are dubious — 50/50 at best.

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A meeting in St. Louis under the ARCH

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, September 27, 2008, 07:00 PM

First of all, read this post about the big summit meeting of the big-heads in St. Louis today and how Bob Castellini wanted to know Dusty Baker’s goals.

Should he need to ask? If it isn’t a World Series championship, and pronto, then they have the wrong man. But they don’t.

After reading this, be sure to go to my previous post and read about Sunday’s pitcher, Adam Pettyjohn, and how he was days from death and lost 60 pounds and most of his intestines, but came back to not only live but to pitch again.

Sunday is his first major-league start since 2001, when he was hit with a deadly disease. A heart-warming story.

But first …

Owner Bob Castellini, general manager Walt Jocketty and manager Dusty Baker spent nearly five hours huddled in a St. Louis Hilton hotel suite discussing the future of the Cincinnati Reds.

At one point, Castellini turned to Baker and said, “What are your goals?” If Baker didn’t say, “Win a World Series and win it soon,” he should have been handed a ticket to Sacramento.

Baker sat in his office before Saturday’s game with the St. Louis Cardinals and said, “I told him exactly what I’m telling you now.

“The town, the people (fans) made it a lot less tough and more enjoyable than it could have been,” he said. “There is very little mean-spiritedness. I went into this situation with my eyes open.

“I’m in this for the long run to make this organization better and good for a long time.”

Told that fans are waiting for nothing more than a winner and that they’ve been overly patient during eight years of losing and no playoff appearances since 1995, Baker said, “That’s what I’m waiting for and that’s why I came.

“I’m seeing improvement and I’m seeing fight the way we’ve come back — like Friday night (down 6-4 in the ninth with two outs, Javier Valentin tied it with a two-run homer, though the Reds lost, 7-6) and like in Houston (down 8-1 in the ninth, the Reds scored five runs and had the tying run at-bat).

“Very rarely now are we blown out of games,” Baker added. “There has been only one game we’ve been blown out of in a long time (Cubs 14-9 on Sept. 6, but they also lost to Milwaukee week ago, 8-1).

“I like what I’m seeing and I’m liking this team, especially the nucleus,” he added. “And I’ll tell you there are other people taking notice of this team lately, you know.”

Baker said he hates to see a season come to an end, especially now.

“It’s always sad to me to have a season end,” he said. “It has been a long road and we’ve come through a lot together. Now I’m one year older and one year closer to the end of my career.”

But as he told Castellini, “Sometimes it is difficult to be patient because time is running out. That’s OK, though, because when I leave I want to have made this team a winner, won a championship and leave the organization in a better place than when we got here. I want to do what Tom Kelly did with the Minnesota Twins.”

VOLQUEZ: TENDINITIS

As expected, an MRI Saturday on pitcher Edinson Volquez’s left knee revealed nothing more than tendinitis. He’ll continue treatment and rest.

QUOTE

“The hardest thing about patience is being patient.” — Reds manager Dusty Baker.

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From near-death to back on the mound

By Hal McCoy | Saturday, September 27, 2008, 06:54 PM

When Adam Pettyjohn faces The Great Pujols today in Busch Stadium, he won’t melt into a perspiration puddle. He’ll close his eyes briefly and think back to 2002.

He’ll think back to when he lost 65 pounds in three months. He’ll think back to when doctors told him he came within days of his body functions shutting down. He’ll think about near-death.

There is a line in his biography in the Cincinnati Reds media guide next to 2002 that says, “Did Not Pitch.” It almost could have said, “Did Not Live.”

So when the 30-year-old Pettyjohn makes his first major-league start since 2001 today against Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals, he knows there are things more difficult than locating fastballs and holding runners on base.

The lefthanded Pettyjohn was a No. 2 draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 1998 and steadily moved up the system until he reached the majors in 2001. He was 1-5 with a 5.82 ERA in six games, nine starts and seven relief appearances.

But something was wrong.

On Saturday, a day before his first major-league start in seven years, Pettyjohn smiles broadly and says, “I’ve been through it a little bit.”

He said it matter-of-factly, as if what he went through was nothing more than a long line at the grocery store checkout counter.

“I had ulcerated colitis right after my rookie year with the Tigers,” he said. “They took my entire colon out.”

Usually, Pettyjohn is a solid 200 pounds, but during his illness his weight dropped to 135 in a span of seven to eight weeks.

Pettyjohn paused to think about it, thinking about getting married after his rookie season and what it eventually entailed.

“It was diagnosed in the spring of 2001,” he said. That was the year of his major-league debut. “They diagnosed it and did the colonoscopy and all the proper tests.

“When they gave me the medications, there was about a two-month supply,” he added. “Right when the medication ran out was when I got called up (from Class AAA Toledo to Detroit).”

That’s when things turned ugly.

“I didn’t go back to get my medication,” he said. “I had a million things going on at the time.”

So Pettyjohn pitched without the medication and said sheepishly, “When the season was over, we just went home. A couple of the colonoscopies I had early were so brutal — there was no sedation, they couldn’t put me under — that I was hoping my body would heal itself.”

That wasn’t Dr. Pettyjohn talking, that was youth and stubbornness.

“Being young and strong, I thought that might happen,” he said. “Obviously, that didn’t happen and when the symptoms began coming back in October and November of 2001 (after his rookie) season I just basically hid it, hoping it would heal itself.”

That, as it turned out, was a terrible decision — like throwing Pujols a belt-high fastball right down the middle.

Pettyjohn and his wife went on their honeymoon and when they returned Pettyjohn decided it was time to see a doctor.

“They gave me all the same type of medication as I took before,” he said. “It was too far gone then and they didn’t realize it until mid-March.”

How bad was it?

“I couldn’t walk on my own,” he said. “I was walking with the aid of a walker for the last two weeks before I had surgery in March.” This isn’t good for a 22-year-old pitcher.

“I couldn’t use my voice because it was too sapping of my strength and energy,” he said. This isn’t good for a 22-year-old newlywed.

“I got married on January 12 and I still weighed 195,” Pettyjohn said. “By March 17 I was down to 135 pounds and it had nothing to do with my wife’s cooking.

“It hit fast and it hit hard and was a very tough thing to go through,” he added. “But I’m definitely better for it.”

That’s a positive way to look at near-death, which doctors told him was very close.

“When all this happened, I really didn’t care if I ever played another game of baseball,” he said. “The doctors told me after I had surgery in that when they opened me up I was literally days from my organs shutting down. I was so malnourished and nutritionally depleted. I was lucky to get the surgery when I did.

“What that disease does is spit out anything that’s in your intestines,” he said. “I was going to the bathroom 20 to 25 times a day. I was losing all my nutrients. All my blood. I was anemic, too. I had about half the blood count of a normal person.”

Pettyjohn, though, wouldn’t quit.

“A lot of hard work,” he said about the process of returning to the game. “When I started I couldn’t lift more than 10 pounds. For a year, my body didn’t do anything. Heck, I had a colostomy bag for six months.

“I didn’t have any choice over what I went through, but it definitely gives you a new and good perspective,” he said. “It gives you an appreciation for having your health and being able to go out and play this game.”

It wasn’t easy coming back.

He played briefly at Erie, Detroit’s Class AA affiliate, at the end of 2003, but was released. The San Francisco Giants signed him for the 2004 season and he pitched at Class AAA Fresno before he was sold to Oakland in mid-season and pitched at Class AAA Sacramento.

To stay in baseball, he had to sign with Long Beach of the Golden Independent League for 2005. When he went 10-2 with a 3.92 ERA in 16 starts, Seattle signed him to a minor-league contract for 2006. By June 21, he was released.

So it was back to Long Beach and the independents for just two starts before Oakland signed him again on July 14 of 2006.

Milwaukee signed him to a minor-league contract for 2007 and he won 16 games at Class AA Huntsville and Class AAA Nashville.

The Reds signed him last December as a minor-league free agent and he won 16 games for Class AAA Louisville and was rewarded with a promotion to the Reds on September 12, even though he was not on the 40-man roster.

And now, this afternoon in Busch Stadium, all the packing and moving and perseverance pays off. Albert Pujols? Who’s he?

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Another one down the drain (story, game)

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 26, 2008, 11:49 PM

Bet most of you don’t know of the hundreds of stories I’ve written over my career that never see the sports page. They are written, then things changed, and they are destroyed, never to see the light of print.

And it’s a bummer. Baseball writers hate it. It happened AGAIN in St. Louis. It always seems to happen in St. Louis and Houston, where the time differernce makes games end right on deadline.

That’s what happened Friday night. St. Louis led, 6-4, with two outs and one on in the ninth. Two strikes on pinch-hitter Javier Valentin.

So I sent my story, pushed the button on my computer. Back in the office, they began to edit it to get it quickly into the paper.

Then…bing, bam, boom. Valentin hits a home run to tie it, 6-6. The story is meaningless. Written for nobody but myself. Hey, guys, I’ve been at this a long, long time. I don’t need to practice.

I furiously began re-writing. Then the Cardinals won in the bottom of the ninth and I quickly filled in the gaps and pushed the button again. One game. Two stories. One meaningless.

The bane of the baseball writer.

The troops are retreating, two by two like Noah’s Ark, back to sick bay and points beyond, making it difficult for Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker to fill out a lineup card.

He lost a couple more for the St. Louis series when closer Francisco Cordero underwent foot surgery and when Andy Phillips returned home for the birth of a child.

And with the recent defections to the surgeon’s table by outfielder Chris Dickerson and second baseman Brandon Phillips, Baker’s roster is full of crossed-out names, leaving him short even with the September call-ups.

That’s why Jerry Hairston Jr. was in unfamiliar territory Friday, left field, where he misplayed three balls into triples that led to two runs and an eventual 7-6 defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium.

It ended dramatically but quietly in the bottom of the ninth in front of a full-house of 44,709 when Mike Lincoln gave up a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to Troy Glaus.

Hairston, a stand-up guy, stood in front of his locker afterward describing the frustration of his night of triples.

“Wasn’t my finest hour, or I should say, my finest day,” he said. “One of those days. Couldn’t do anything right and if you play the game long enough it is going to happen.

“If it had been football, I put my defense behind the 8-ball,” Hairston added.

Baker only has to fill out two more cards after Bronson Arroyo reached 200 innings Friday for the fourth straight season, but gave up a career-high 13 hits, getting no-decision and finishing 15-11.

“It’s nice to get 200 four years in a row because it is kind of a goal, especially doing it the hard way this year,” he said. Then he smiled and added, “I would have taken 199 with a win.”

The Cardinals opened with rapid fire on Arroyo in the first after he issued a one-out walk to Felipe Lopez. Albert Pujols, Ryan Ludwick and Glaus each singled for two runs.

“Kind of a funny inning,” said Arroyo. “A couple of checked swings and a broken bat (Pujols) that also blooped in. They just found the holes.”

The first seven Reds made outs against Braden Looper before Ryan Hanigan singled in the second, then Joey Votto drew the Reds even in the third.

After Jeff Keppinger opened with a single, Votto drove his 23rd home run over the right field fence to tie it, 2-2. Votto also singled and walked.

The Reds took a 4-2 lead in the fifth, first scoring a by-the-book run — Hanigan singled for his second hit, Arroyo sacrifice bunted successfully for the second straight time and Jeff Keppinger’s second hit, a single, plated Hanigan.

Just how they draw it up in spring training, but seldom does it work that easily.

Votto walked and Edwin Encarnacion singled for another run.

It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to catch up at 4-all — just the bottom of the fifth. Lopez singled and Pujols crushed his 36th home run that was last seen headed for the Mississippi and the possible sinking of the Casino Queen riverboat.

“I thought Albert was looking inside and I tried to challenge him away,” said Arroyo. “Left it in the middle of the plate, right on the tee for him. A guy as good as he is isn’t going to miss that too often.”

About Hairston’s defensive exploits, Arroyo smiled and said, “That kind of stuff happens. Jerry hasn’t played much outfield in his career. We have a lot of guys were mixing and matching at different positions and stuff happens.”

The Cardinals took a 5-4 lead in the sixth when Hairston misplayed two balls into triples, one by Adam Kennedy and one by Looper, then Hairston misplayed another Kennedy hit into a triple in the eighth that led to another run and a 6-4 lead.

Javier Valentin’s two-out pinch-hit home run in the ninth, his sixth pinch-hit homer, tied it, 6-6, then Lincoln came in with a runner on first and walked Pujols on 3-and-2 and hit Ryan Ludwick on 1-and-2 to load the bases and set up the game-ending sacrifice fly.

“Looked like Triples Night in left field,” said manager Dusty Baker. “You don’t often see triples to left. Usually it’s to right. Tough way to lose on a sacrifice fly, especially after we came back on Valentin’s home run.”

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The ranks keep getting thinner

By Hal McCoy | Friday, September 26, 2008, 06:37 PM

Left Dayton this morning at 6:20 a.m. and arrived in St. Louis at 6:30 a.m. (an hour time difference). Jumped a train from the airport to downtown and was at the hotel by 7 a.m. (Good job, American Airlines).

They even had my room ready, so I slept until noon at the Westin, my favorite hotel in the league.

Now I’m in Busch III for the the final three games of the season, wondering where the season went.

Just wondering. When rookie Johnny Cueto pitched this spring, and was lights out, he wore No. 77. Then he changed to 47, the number worn forever by pitcher/bullpen coach Tom Hume, until he was let go after last season.

Shoulda stayed with 77, Johnny.

Arrived in St. Louis to discover that the Reds are falling like trees in a tornado - and we know about that in Dayton.

Did you think Francisco Cordero was a bit, uh, overweight this year? Did you think Cordero was a bit slow running to cover first base? Did you think he walked too many this year and got into too many jams?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And there was a reason.

Turns out the Reds’ $46 million closer pitched all season with a sore right foot and on Friday he had a bone spur removed.

Cordero was unable to do the normal running pitchers do to stay in shape and keep the pounds off.

Nevertheless he 5-4 with 34 saves in 40 opportunities and appeared in 72 games.

“It bothered him all year long and we were trying to keep him to use against teams that were in the playoff hunt,” said manager Dusty Baker. “He’ll be in a boot for four weeks, but should be ready for spring training. This thing has bothered him since spring training. He couldn’t run, couldn’t cover first base. He said some days it felt fine and other days it would kill him. That plays tricks on your head. And that’s one reason his weight was up. The bicycle is one thing, but running is another, especially when you are used to running.”

Asked who the closer will be for the last three games, Baker smiled and said, “We’ll see. Probably David Weathers. He has done it the most.”

Edinson Volquez, shut down from his scheduled Sunday start with a knee problem that has bothered him for several weeks, was back in Cincinnati to have it examined Friday.

Outfielder Chris Dickerson underwent surgery Friday to remove a bone from his left ankle.

JOEY VOTTAO woke up Friday morning with an extra triple. After reviewing the tapes, Major League Baseball reversed the official scorer’s call on a ball Votto hit to left field.

Ty Wigginton, normally an infielder, was playing left field and badly misplayed the ball, turning in different directions, but didn’t touch it. It was ruled an error until MLB changed it after the Reds appealed.

“It was a fair change,” said Baker. “The thing is, he is not an outfielder and you have to take that into consideration, too.”

In the same game, Votto hit a ball that thudded against a yellow line on the right field wall. Umpire reviewed it to see if it was a home run and ruled it was not. Since umpires reviewed that play, it is not eligible to be overturned by the MLB committee.

MICAH OWINGS, strictly a pinch-hitter now, plans an offseason of hard work on his troublesome shoulder so he will be ready this spring to compete for the one spot that appears available in the rotation behind Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto.

“I’m going to be doing a lot of exercising and shoulder isotonics, really stay on top of it,” said Owings. “I’m going to start throwing a little earlier in the offseason than I usually do to get ready for spring training. I usually start just before Christmas, but I’ll start earlier.”

Owings thought about pitching winter ball, but the Reds haven’t mentioned it, so it is on hold, “Although I’d do it if they wanted me to. With the two starts I had at (Class AAA) Tucson, I still had 115 innings. The most important thing for me is to stay with the stretching and strengthening.”

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Votto: Rookie of the Year (Almost)

By Hal McCoy | Monday, September 22, 2008, 05:11 PM

I don’t vote for Rookie of the Year. I vote for MVP and Manager of the Year.

If I had a vote, I’d vote for Joey Votto. Call me prejudiced, call me a homer, call me anything but late for dinner.

I’ve seen Votto all year and I’ve seen a superstar in the making.

I know. He won’t win. He is up against Chicago Cubs catcher Geovany Soto, who has THREE ADVANTAGES. He made the All-Star team and Votto didn’t. He plays for the division-winning Cubs and Votto plays for a stinkeroo. And Soto is a catcher, an extremely important position on a winning team.

Their numbers are so close they almost are a 1 and 1A entry.

Anyway, Votto has my vote - if I had one.

Votto admits he thinks about it, knows he is probably second choice, knows that the odds are long because Soto made the All-Star team and plays for the Cubs.

“That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on it, but I sincerely believe that when Geo was the catcher for the All-Star game it was pretty locked up,” said Votto.

“But I want to finish strong and I want to play to my best capabilities, but you can’t deny what he has done and what that club has done. Playing for the Cubs is a huge, huge deal and I tip my cap to him. He’s had a great, great year.”

And so has Votto — .288, 22 home runs, 30 doubles, 79 RBIs. Soto’s numbers are eerily similar — .286, 23 home runs, 28 doubles, 84 RBIs.

Votto continued stuffing the ballot box with glossy numbers Monday that included his 22nd home run and a two-run double.

The Reds came from four runs behind with a six-run seventh inning, punctuated emphatically by Votto’s two-run opposite-field double, and beat the Florida Marlins 7-5 in the final 2008 game in Great American Ball Park.

Starter Aaron Harang was down, 4-1 when lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh, but when the Reds scored six he was the winning pitcher.

“Did Aaron get the win? Good. I’m glad we helped him because we owe him,” said Votto. “There was an early three-month stretch where we weren’t helping him at all and we owe him a few more and hopefully we’ll give that to him in 2009.”

While talking about 2009, Votto was asked if he wishes this season could continue, instead of ending after six games on the road.

“I wish we were playing in October and I wish we were playing in the playoffs, but we didn’t earn that this year,” said Votto.

With Harang down 4-0 in the sixth, Votto crushed a 406-foot home run with two outs.

Then came the seventh.

Danny Richar singled and Corey Patterson doubled. Richar scored on pinch-hitter Ryan Hanigan’s fielder’s choice on which he reached base. Jolbert Cabrera batted for Harang and walked, filling the bases.

Jerry Hairston Jr. singled for two runs — one of his three hits — to tie it, 4-4. Facing a rugged lefthander, Arthur Rhodes, Votto drove a two-run double the opposite way to left field.

“Been a long time since we scored Harang a lot of runs and they came just on time,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We extended him, left him in there (122 pitches) to get him a victory.

“Votto’s hit against a guy with the experience of Arthur Rhodes says a lot,” said Baker. “He is real tough on lefthanders and he had a zero ERA up there. A great hit by Joey.

“I’m very proud of what he has done, especially what he has gone through (his father’s death at mid-season) and he is a clutch hitter who works hard, studies, works hard on his defense and baserunning. Sooner or later he’ll be an All-Star.”

And, hey. We haven’t even talked about Jay Bruce.

THE HOME SEASON is over for the Cincinnati Reds, their final game Monday played in Great American Ball Park in front of the Red Sea (oh, those were a sea of empty red seats, about 40,000 of them).

So how about a recap:

Record in GABP: 43-38

Longest home winning streak: 9 (May 7-28)

Longest home losing streak: 8 (Aug. 5-16)

Four memorable moments:

ONE: Rookie Johnny Cueto’s major-league debut on April 8 against the Phillies — two runs, five hits, no walks eight strikeouts — and he never came close to that afterward.

TWO: Former Dayton Dragon Paul Janish’s first major-league hit is a 10th-inning game-winning walkoff single against the Marlins after the Reds blew a six-run lead in the ninth. Janish’s reward? A shaving cream pie in the face.

THREE: Former Dayton Dragon Jay Bruce makes his major-league debut against the Pirates on May 27 and goes 3 for 3 with two walks and the crowd shouts, “Bruuuuuuce, Bruuuuuuce,” on every at-bat, hit and walk, something they continue to do, even on the road.

FOUR: A decent meal in the media dining room on July 26.

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