The Real McCoy

About The Real McCoy

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.

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June 2008

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• All-Star matchup: Volquez vs. Hamilton
• Patterson is back ... and playing
• The stench of a 9-21 record
• Life, Liberty and Danny Herrera
• Road Wimps - The Big Washing Machine
• Griffey speaks about '600'
• J-Roll, meet J-Bruce (Babe Bruce)
• It is Homer Bailey time -- again
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Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > June > 03 > Entry

Life, Liberty and Danny Herrera

By Hal McCoy | Tuesday, June 3, 2008, 03:06 PM

At noon - a Philly cheesesteak at Jim’s on South Street with Reds assistant media relations directory Jamie Ramsey (his first cheesesteak) and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon.

At 1 o’clock - gaping proudly at the Liberty Bell, my first visit in a few years and the first for Mark Sheldon.

They still don’t know who cracked the darn thing and though they twice fixed it, the crack kept coming back. Hey, a little history with your ball.

Doesn’t get much better than that - steak, Cheese-Whiz, onions and a bell more famous than Gus or Buddy.

I know, I know. Some of you think Geno’s is better. Or Pat’s. Or Rick’s. Matter of taste, my friends. I’ve sampled them all. Geno’s is second and I have a lot of people who agree with me.

Ramsay’s report: “Outstanding, man. Very, very good. Deliciously delectable.”

Equipment manager Rick Stowe, two of his sons, and traveling secretary Gary Wahoff visited Independence Hall.

“Along about noon, we were looking at the ink well they used to sign the Declaration of Independence and a copy of the Declaration, both under glass,” said Stowe. “One of the guards said, ‘You folks look trustworthy, like you won’t etch your initials into anything. I’m going to lunch. Lock up when you leave.”

Said Stowe, “I told Wahoff, you take the ink well and I’ll take the Declaration and we’ll put those babies on eBay. But we didn’t.”

Good Americans.

And then the Reds made another roster move as they get younger and younger and younger. Kent Mercker and his troublesome back are back on the DL and the Reds called up left-handed relief pitcher Danny Herrera from Louisville.

Herrera? He is Part II of the trade that sent Josh Hamilton to Texas. The Reds got Edinson Volquez (good enough, right?). They also got 23-year-old Herrera.

He started the season at Class AA Chattanooga and was 3-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 10 relief appearances. After a promotion to Class AAA Louisville he was 0-1 with three saves and a 1.27 ERA in 16 appearances.

He is only 5-7 and 145 pounds (he admits, “I’m only 5-foot-6”) and throws about 84 miles an hour and his best pitch is a screwball. But success is success. He was 10-0 in 17 starts in 2006 at the University of New Mexico, then was a 45th-round (45? Forty-five?) pick in 2006.

Before Monday’s game, Adam Dunn was busily hooking something up to a clubhouse TV.

“It’s old-school, man. Real old-school,” said Dunn. “It’s a Sega Genesis game. NBA Jam. I play one game every day at home against our video guy (Jeff Graupe). We’ve been winning at home, so I brought in on the road.”

Asked who usually won, Dunn said, “You need to ask?”

Then he and Graupe played and Dunn lost, “In triple overtime. You believe that?” Dunn hit a two-run double in Monday night’s game, but the Reds lost, 5-4.

Maybe they should try “Pong.” Grandson, don’t ask.

Ken Griffey Jr., out of the lineup for the second straight night with general soreness, said his son read the paper and thought he was out of the lineup with genital soreness. Well, uh, no.

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