A: You mean those hideous black pajamas they wear for Friday home games and call them City Connect outfits? I love the hats, hate the uniforms. Major League uniforms should never be black. They look like Maggie’s Storm Door slo-pitch softballers. Nike designs them in collaboration with the team, so somebody in the Reds front office who might be color blind helped design them.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: How many left-handed shortstops have made it to the big leagues? — CHRIS, Vandalia.
A: None. There has never been a regular southpaw shortstop in the majors. It’s logistics. A lefty can’t make a throw in time from the hole because he would have to backhand it, then turn his body 180° to throw. Even an overweight catcher would beat the throw. However, a couple of left-handers have played shortstop late in games in an emergency situations when the manager runs out of infielders. Royce Stillman of the 1975 Baltimore Orioles, a left-hander, played six games in 1975. Another Oriole, Tom Chism played one game and Mark Ryal of the California Angels played one game in 1987. Since then, none.
Q: Have any Reds started every game this season? — MICHAEL, Columbus.
A: There are no Cal Ripken, Jr.’s left in baseball, nor will there ever be one to play 2,632 consecutive games. Since MLB adopted the 162-game schedule in 1962, one Reds player has played all 162, Joey Votto in 2013 and 2017. It isn’t likely to happen because so many managers use platoon players these days. Elly De La Cruz would like to do it and may do it if he stays healthy, but manager Tito Francona will talk him into a day or two of rest. He has played in all 97 before the All-Star break with one game as designated hitter.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: What is your favorite all-time Reds double play combination? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: I eliminate recent combinations because MLB banned taking out the shortstop or second baseman with high, hard slides. So it is easier now to turn a double play. And my favorite is a tie — Davey Concepcion/Joe Morgan and Barry Larkin/Ron Oester. Both shortstops, Concepcion and Larkin, covered the infield like a tarpaulin and made quick, strong throws. Both second basemen, Morgan and Oester, were rabbit-quick in receiving the throw and whipping it quickly to first base. Oester was fearless at standing his ground and paid for it. In July of 1987, Mookie Wilson of the Mets slid into Oester and tore the ACL in his left leg. He was unable to play until 1989 and was never the same.
Credit: FROM THE ARCHIVES
Credit: FROM THE ARCHIVES
Q: What kind of guy was Bob Howsam, the builder of The Big Red Machine. — GEORGE, Morton Grove, Ill.
A: When it came to a man with a smile on his face, Howsam should have done a Pepsodent commercial. He was the nicest person you could imagine, reminded me of my jolly grandpa. Folks in the front office loved him because he treated them so well. But he was the good cop and he had a bad cop, assistant general manager Dick Wagner, who ran the Ice Capades before coming to Cincinnati. He was hard-skinned and a taskmaster, a guy who would fire an usher for wearing his straw hat crooked. Unfortunately for the Reds, when Wagner succeeded Howsam as president/general manager he didn’t change his harsh ways and it didn’t work. And he didn’t have the Howsam baseball acumen.
Q: Why do the home fans boo when the opposing pitcher makes a pickoff throw to first base? — ALAN, Sugercreek Township.
A: That one has perplexed me for years. Makes no sense. They don’t boo the home pitcher for doing it. Players tell me they think fans perceive it as a stalling tactic that delays the game and disrupts the hitter’s timing. Well, it delays the game when the home pitcher does it, does it not? My thinking is that they do it because everybody else does it. I’d wager if you asked a fan why he does it, he’d shrug his shoulders and say, “Because everybody else is doing it.”
Q: Why hasn’t anyone given Doug Flynn an opportunity to manage? — MATTHEW, Earth, Tex.
A: Ah, Earth, the only town in the world named Earth. So why on Earth hasn’t Doug Flynn been asked to manage? Maybe he has and doesn’t want to start in the minors. As part of the Big Red Machine, Flynn was a utility infielder with a sharp baseball mind and the right personality to be a manager. He was good on Reds broadcasts as an analyist, but his contract was not renewed with no explanation why. He still runs the Reds Fantasy Camp and does an outstanding job.
Q: Are the rumblings that the pitch clock is causing injuries to pitchers true? — JOE, Englewood.
A: Not unless a pitcher runs into the clock. There is no scientific proof or any other method to indicate clock-caused injuries. And why would it? It doesn’t cause pitchers to change mechanics. What it does is prevent pitchers from fondling the rosin bag forever, taking his hat off and on four times and reading Rob Manfred’s signature on the baseball. And it has helped speed up the game, cutting about 30 average minutes per game.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: During the All-Star break, do most players stay in the city where they play and if they go home who pays for the airfare to and from where they live? — BRYSON, Lewisburg.
A: It is a personal preference. Most do go home for the four days to spend time with the wife and kids. If they do, though, the cost of airfare comes out of their very deep pockets. And if they don’t make it back in time for the first game after the break the team goes deeper into those pockets with a fine.
About the Author