RMJ 140 July 5

SATURDAY, JULY 5 ● Houston, vs Cincinnati

Mr. Mom. Feed the dogs, feed the cats. Feed the manager. Pick up the cleaning. Get the mail. Check the answering machine. Lock the doors.

It’s tough being a housewife. I’m glad this is only a two-day fling. I miss Judy and Ryan already — especially Judy.

 

Summer is official now: it didn’t drop below 80 degrees last night. The distant glow of fireworks was opaque; more water-colored than sparkling.

And that’s about the way we’ve been playing. Drayton keeps asking me, “What can I do to help? What can we do to get better?”

I keep shaking my head. “It’s one of those things you go through,” I said. “Sometimes you just don’t come out of it. On the plus side, we haven’t had a long losing streak. That could have easily happened, the way we’ve been playing. But on the other side, I haven’t seen a spark in this dugout. Haven’t felt it. It’s something we cannot win without. I’ve tried a lot of combinations, hoping to find some magic, but it’s elusive.”

“How can we find that spark?” Drayton asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “If I knew, I’d make millions selling it to all the team owners.”

“You’d have a good market,” he conceded.

“A lot of things have to come from within,” I said. “Like last year, when Biggio and Bagwell were nominated as team captains. It didn’t work, because it didn’t emerge from within. The spark has to come naturally too. When I sense it, I will know that my most difficult and important challenge is upon me: I have to keep the spark alive. And there will be all kinds of people and things that can put it out.”

“Do me a favor, would you?” Drayton asked, commanded. “Watch 12 O’Clock High again. Tell me again what it says about leadership. We picked you, and you’re the right man for the job. Be an assertive leader. And keep charging!”

He gave me the two-thumbs-up sign, and he seemed just a little less effusive than usual.

I really like this guy. I wouldn’t wish owning a ballclub on him, any more than I would wish it on myself. It would be a lot easier for a man of means to buy seats and suites and spring-training junkets. A lot cheaper, too.

 

Kent Mercker is going for the Reds tonight. When I broadcast the Braves/Rockies playoff series in 1995, play-by-play man Pete Van Wieren told me something I have not forgotten. He said, “Mercker is as talented as the others (Glavine, Smoltz, Maddux et al) but he doesn’t seem to want it as much. He comes from money, and I don’t know if he has the right attitude for pitching.”

After watching his career progress with the Braves and the Orioles, I figured he was just about finished. Now, he has found the spark with the Reds. He was their Pitcher of the Month in June. He is on a roll. 

Our guy, D.K., is on a pretty good streak of his own.

 

The game went true-to-form, and then some. Kile had a no-hitter in the eighth, but was clinging to a 2-0 lead.  I had just inserted Bill Spiers at third base to try for a little edge. Deion Sanders was up, with one out.   

“Where do you want Bagwell?” Cubby asked. “In or back?”

“Leave him alone. He knows where to play,” I said.

Bagwell and Kile are pretty good friends. Baggy has a good head for the game. This is one case where I don’t want to be in charge. I probably would have had him halfway — about where he played on his own. Any deeper, and Sanders could bunt for a hit.

Sanders hooked a 1-1 curveball over Bagwell’s head. If he had been playing back, he would have had it. Well, at least it was a clean hit.

Now the only thing is winning the game.

Kile got the last two outs, and we failed to score. I had Wagner start throwing in the bullpen. I made a mental note to double-switch with Ausmus if I put Billy into the game.

Willie Greene hit the first pitch of the ninth inning into the mezzanine seats, and our lead was suddenly cut to one run. I motioned for Tony Eusebio to go to the mound. He didn’t pick up on it, and I didn’t want to go to the mound, or send Vern, because that would have forced Kile to pitch to Taubensee.  

Kile can get Taubensee out — and probably would have — but I wanted Wagner, and I needed to buy some time for him to get ready.

Vern said, “He’s ready.”

I said, “He can’t be!”

“That’s what they’re signaling.”

“All right, I’m going out. I hope he’s ready.”

I walked slowly to the mound and told D.K. I was going with Billy.  He seemed all right with it, though I think he would have been happy to go on.

“Hang here a minute like we’re talking,” I said. I want to give Billy a few more throws.”  

 About that time, umpire Gerry Crawford reached the mound.

“All right guys, break it up.” he said. “What are you going to do?”

I waved Wagner into the game.

The Reds had the momentum. Whenever you break up a no-hitter and the score is close, it changes the momentum.

Wags was a little wild; he walked a batter, and Joe Oliver – as hot as I have ever seen him — looped a curve ball to left for a single. Wagner got ahead of Bret Boone, then went 2-2. Boone hit a hard grounder to Biggio.

The rest was as easy as 4-6-3.

The victory was sweet, but it was not a real confidence-builder. We have to find a way to score more runs.

           

I talked with Ashley right after the game, and I met her with Craig and Chris and Sharon Baker at Craig’s apartment. We had some wine and some polite conversation.  

Craig and Chris are up with sports, but to hear Sharon ask if the Pirates can possibly win the division with such a small payroll is amazing. If you asked her about the Pirates last summer, she would have been thinking of Captain Hook or Blackbeard. She would have been imagining the type of ship, and the wardrobe of the buccaneers. This year, she is into it.

 

When I got home, it was midnight, and we have a day game tomorrow. But I’m heading for the Deck and the Dogs. This win deserves a good cigar, and I need to think about my player evaluations.