QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Q: Do you think the Reds have financially strapped themselves not only for this season but next season as well? — DOUG/Marysville.
A: I have never peered into owner Bob Castellini’s wallet or gotten a glimpse of his petty cash fund, so I don’t know. Nobody thought the Reds could come up with $250 million for Joey Votto, $105 million for Homer Bailey or $80 million for Brandon Phillips. Maybe the fruit and vegetable wholesale business is better than we thought and the Reds might continue to come up with the cash. Television money flows into baseball like the Ohio River, so only time will answer that question, especially after the 2015 season when it comes time to pay Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Aroldis Chapman and Mike Leake.
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy knows a thing or two about our nation’s pastime. To tap into that knowledge, send an email to halmccoy1@hotmail.com.
Q: When Reds pitching coach Jeff Pico trots to the mound to console Homer Bailey, do the rules allow him to bring a soda or water? — DAVE/Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: Why just Homer Bailey? Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos, Alfredo Simon and Mike Leake get thirsty, too. When a pitching coach goes to the mound it is seldom to console or to quench thirsts. Usually the message is something like, “Just throw strikes. Babe Ruth is dead.” As for delivering drinks, he is a pitching coach, not a bartender.
Q: Why was GM Walt Jocketty blamed for the losing streak after the All-Star break when the team doesn’t have Joey Votto or Brandon Phillips due to injuries? — MICHAEL/Indianpolis.
A: The only people blaming Jocketty are the frustrated fans, and there always has to be a fall guy. Jocketty is the convenient foil because he hasn’t made a big trade the fans want. Making a trade isn’t easy. Big contracts come into play. Teams have to agree on the players involved. Jocketty has to consider the long-term effect a trade has on the team. If Jocketty doesn’t make a big splash on the trade market and stands pat and the Reds win 14 out of 16, how much credit do you think he’ll get from the fans? Right. None.
Q: In Milwaukee, Chris Heisey lost a fly ball and it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double. Brewers manager Ron Roenicke asked for a review, presumably to see if the ball might have hit Heisey’s glove and bounced over the wall or hit the top of the wall and bounced over. What would have been the difference? — MIKE/Miami Twp.
A: No difference, except for the embarrassment on Heisey’s face if it hit his glove and bounced over. Neon Deion Sanders once had a ball hit him on top of the head and bounce over the wall. Home run. The next day he found a batting helmet with a baseball glove glued on top with a note from Barry Larkin: “Next time, you’ll be able to catch that ball.”
Q: Who was the last Reds pitcher to throw an ephus pitch? — WALT/Dayton.
A: An ephus pitch is also called a blooper pitch — a pitch lobbed in a high arc. Alfredo Simon has done it a couple of times this year. Before him, Jose Rijo was the last I saw do it. Boston’s Bill “Spaceman” Lee threw it twice to Tony Perez in the 1975 World Series. He fooled Perez the first time. The second time? They are still looking for the baseball Perez hit over the wall.
Q: In the past the Reds minor-league system was stocked with future stars, but now not so much. What has happened to the minor-league system? — MARK/Batavia.
A: How far in the past are we talking about? Little more than a decade ago, under owner Marge Schott, the system was as empty as a father’s wallet after taking his family to a major-league game. GMs Dan O’Brien and Wayne Krivsky rebuilt the system and it has been good. And it is still good. The Reds are well-stocked in the lower minors. But you can’t judge it fairly until a few years down the pike.
Q: Whatever happened to my second-favorite Hal, Hal King, who hit one of the more famous home runs in Reds history? — JERRY/Cincinnati.
A: So, who is your favorite Hal, Hal Newhouse, Hal Holbrook or Hal Morris? On July 1, 1973, the Reds trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers by 11 games when third-string catcher Hal King hit a three-run, pinch-hit, walk-off home run to beat the Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader. From there, the Reds couldn’t lose (60-26) and won the division. King, mostly a pinch-hitter, played 35 games in 1973 and 20 the next year. For the next five years he was a designated hitter in the Mexican League for the Saltillo Saraperos. He now owns a power-washing and home maintenance company in Oviedo, Fla.
Q: If you were general manager who would you trade for and who on the Reds would you trade to get him? — HARRY/Kettering.
A: I’d trade two broken bats and a rosin bag for Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and be hailed as the greatest GM since Branch Rickey. Or I’d trade Class A Bakersfield Blaze first baseman Harold Riggins, who is hitting .179, for Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. But I’m not the GM so I can’t do that. Fans and media can make up all the trades they want, but it is all fantasy. If I’m Walt Jocketty I try to acquire Tampa Bay’s Ben Zobrist and/or Philadelphia’s Marlon Byrd, but who knows what those teams want and I wouldn’t pillage the franchise for a quick fix.
Q: What kind of clubhouse rituals have you heard teams do in order to break out of losing streaks? — JOHN/Kettering.
A: Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon brought in Ghostbusters to de-haunt that mausoleum his team plays in. How has that worked? I’ve never heard of any clubhouse ritual to shed losing streaks. I have seen individual players do strange things, like Dave Concepcion taking a shower in his uniform to wash away the demons. And I’ve seen relief pitcher Rob Murphy wear his girlfriend’s black panties under his uniform when he pitched because he did it once as a gag and he pitched well.
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