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John Fay
John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Bonding to the karaoke beat

It may not lead to one more win. It may not mean a thing. But things like the karaoke night the Reds had Sunday are good for building team chemistry.

"It was a lot of fun," Marcus McBeth said. "I'm glad they did it for us. A lot of bonding."

The idea was Adam Dunn's, although he would not take full credit for it.

"I think it was a collaboration," he said. "But everyone showed up. Everyone had a lot of fun. We have a lot of new guys, so it was good for them. It's something we haven't done in the past. It went really well."

Jay Bruce said his rendition of the Copa Cabana went well.

"Awesome," he said. "I killed."

But McBeth was the winner. He did "As Good As I Once Was" by Toby Keith and "Gin and Juice" by Snoop Dogg. McBeth's voice is about as deep as James Earl Jones'. But he had never sung before.

"I sound good in the shower, though," he said. "I'm glad they didn't give me a high-pitched song."


27 Comments:

at 9:40 AM Blogger Champ Summers said...

I envisioned his voice as more of a Tone Loc type

 
at 10:02 AM Blogger redfuture said...

Bonding is good. There was a disturbing report on XM's morning baseball program this morning. The report was Josh Hamilton's (he of the 13 consecutive streak of hits/walks) Texas teamate Ian Kinsler invited him for dinner over the weekend and Josh said, "That was the first time he had every been asked to dinner by MLB teammate." Wow! Do you think that is true?

 
at 10:51 AM Blogger Jake said...

I would hardly call that report disturbing.Even though some on this site would like to compare him to the Babe.Sounds to me like he did not endear himself with his team last year.You cannot just blame his Reds mates.

 
at 10:52 AM Blogger jdeezman said...

redfuture, what's disturbing about a Texas Ranger player and his eating habits?

Volquez and Cueto are the good Reds stories that are fun to discuss, not some Texas Ranger who will not affect our team in any way, shape, or form.

Let it go people, Hamilton is NOT a part of Cincinnati.. while our karaoke crooning young guys are.

 
at 11:38 AM Blogger gannfan said...

I agree with jdeezman. I thought Josh Hamilton was the next Mickey Mantle, and as much as I liked him he's a Texas Ranger.

We have to remember that having a winning team is what counts, not individual stats.

See how many WS rings A-Rod and Barry Bonds have between them.

 
at 11:42 AM Blogger redfuture said...

Saarloos, last year's #3 starter hopeful, go cut from the watered-down Athletics roster this weekend. What a difference a year makes!

 
at 11:50 AM Blogger Brad said...

I think there were a lot of other Reds jealous of Hamilton last year, and that was the impetous of the trade. The Kriv-Dog caved to Griffey and Dunn. Not taking anything away from Volquez, I think Hamilton was gone regardless.

 
at 12:17 PM Blogger Arden Dulou said...

Only time will truly tell the tale of the Volquez, Hamilton trade but early results are very positive for the Reds. Krisky will deserve the credit if Volquez is truly a front line pitcher.

Now imagine if Cueto and Volquez are the real deal (not even mentioning Bailey or Maloney). The Reds will have gone from no good pitching period, to a dominant pitching lineup in 3-4 years.

 
at 12:31 PM Blogger KevinFtMyers said...

Lets also remember, Jay Bruce, Baseball Americas #1 waiting in the wings. So the expectation is that Bruce will be as good as Hamilton.

So given a little optimistic license you could say in seasons to come we still have a Hamilton like player AND a #5 starter(possibly better)

 
at 12:35 PM Blogger KevinFtMyers said...

A word on Hamilton, if I would compare him to a player, it wouldnt be Mantle.

Im thinking more like Dale Murphy

Great player, but probably wont be in the game long enough to be mentioned with the really greats.

 
at 12:37 PM Blogger Mr. Redlegs said...

For all those pining for Hamilton, imagine where this rotation would be without Voltron. You can replace outfielders, you can't buy starting pitchers without robbing a few banks.

If Voltron, age 24, starts developing this year like Rijo did at roughly the same age, the Reds are going to be in fat city on a starting rotation for the next 4-6 years. It's the kind of rotation in which you can win a short, postseason series.

When was the last time you could say that about Reds pitching?

 
at 12:40 PM Blogger KevinFtMyers said...

Sorry "in the game long enough" doesnt apply to Murphy as it does to Hamilton

Murphys problem was out of his 18 plus years, he only had 4 or 5 great years

 
at 1:05 PM Blogger redfuture said...

Regardless of whether they are Reds or not any longer, it will be interesting to watch the CFers of the AL West: Denorfia of the A's and Hamilton of the Rangers.

 
at 1:07 PM Blogger redsfanwoody said...

1990 was the last time you could say that about the Reds pitching. But then they also had a pretty good bullpen. So we'll see about this years 'pen. I personally think it will be one of the more greatly improved areas. Or I hope.

The Hamilton/Volquez deal actually might work out for both teams. I'm pretty sure if they could of swung a deal and not give up Hamilton, they would of. I would be hard press to compare Hamilton to anyone except himself. Can't think of a player that came in with so much potential and so much personal problems.

So I apologize to all for bringing Hamilton into the topic. Please don't boot me off your christmas card list.

 
at 1:08 PM Blogger redfuture said...

I hope Cueto keeps #77 on the back of his uniform, cause he is going to be a double dose of good luck!

 
at 1:15 PM Blogger MJ said...

I think its time to move on from Hamilton. He's gone and we got a much needed SP for him. Its not fair to Volquez to compare him to Hamilton. He's had a good spring.

 
at 1:16 PM Blogger MJ said...

Not sure if most people realize but Volquez was almost traded to Minnesota for Johan Santana.

 
at 1:22 PM Blogger KevinFtMyers said...

With all the talk about Cueto, Volqez, and to a lesser extent Fogg, Arroyo has kind of flown under the radar. I think we all agree he has something to prove right now as well.

His line for spring:

2 games, 6IP, 3H, 1R, 1.50ERA

Pretty good, but I think in his next start theyll stretch him out a bit, maybe hell go 5 or 6. It will likely be againt a mostly A lineup and we should get a better feel for how hes throwing then.

If Cueto pitches well again today, Arroyos next start will be the last one of any significance this spring.

 
at 1:34 PM Blogger MJ said...

Cueto had a rough first inning though. A couple flare hits got him into a jam that he had to pitch out of while giving up 2 runs. He kept his composure though. We got one back in the bottom half with a single from Junior.

 
at 1:44 PM Blogger MJ said...

Cueto settled down in the second inning. Had a fairly quick inning. Hatteberg just hit a nice double.

 
at 1:59 PM Blogger redfuture said...

Great News: Dusty just said on the FOX game that Affeldt is going to the pen!!!

 
at 2:04 PM Blogger MJ said...

Fox Cincinnati isn't broadcast in HD so I was watching the game on Fox Detroit that is and missed the ingame interview. Anything else you can provide insight on?

 
at 2:04 PM Blogger redfuture said...

Regardless of anything else about Dusty you have to admit that his forthrightness, openess and honesty are refreshing. He just finished the in-game interview on the fox game.

 
at 2:08 PM Blogger redfuture said...

I think previous managers have always looked back over their shoulder and always concerned about what the FO thinks about his comments. Dusty doesn't care about any of that, he says what he wants to say!

 
at 2:15 PM Blogger redfuture said...

I suppose the most revealing other thing was his responses about Votto. You can tell that he really wants him to be the guy at first base, but he is just a bit concerned about the slow start and attributes a lot of it to him taking hittable fast balls early in the count. But like I said Dusty likes his speed, his arm, and his defense. You can just tell that Dusty thinks that the total package of Votto is very good. He just needs to see him start hitting.

 
at 2:35 PM Blogger traceyjoneswho? said...

two weeks baby! it's almost time!

 
at 7:10 PM Blogger reaganspad said...

I liked Votto's Bunt. the guy just gets it, and will be fine at 1st base...

Dale Murphy was a great player. Back to back MVP's are not easy to do.

Pretty good for a catcher turned center fielder. Too bad for the knee cause he was a very good catcher

 
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