A: Ever hear of Ernie Banks? How about Ken Griffey Jr., Gaylord Perry, Andre Dawson, Ron Santo and Ralph Kiner? Not only did these guys never play in a World Series, they all are in the Hall of Fame. Kiner led the National League in home runs and RBIs one year and Pittsburgh Pirates part owner Branch Rickey cut his salary and said, “We finished last with you, we can finish last without you.” Votto is more likely to join these guys in the Hall of Fame than he is to play in a World Series, unless the Reds trade him.
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Q: When are the Reds going to give Homer Bailey his walking papers? — GARY, Fairborn.
A: Reds pitchers don’t need walking papers. They lead the league in walks without any papers involved. As for releasing Bailey, if they do they would pay him $70 million just to walk away. That’s how much they still owe him through 2020. Let’s at least give him one more year to see if he can bounce back from three arm surgeries the last couple of years. His velocity is there, his stuff is there, he just needs to recapture his command and control. If he has a good first half next season the Reds might be able to trade him to a contender at the deadline.
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Q: What do the SP, RG and ML represent on the sleeves of the MLB umpire this year? — LARRY, Piqua.
A: They are all former American League umpires who died this year — Steve Palermo, Russell Goetz and Mike Johnson. Palermo is more famous for rushing from a restaurant after a Texas Rangers game to aid two waitresses who were being mugged in the parking lot. He was shot and paralyzed from the waist down. Speaking of umpires, it is doubtful the players will ever wear JW and AH on their sleeves because Joe West and Angel Hernandez are lowly-regarded by MLB players.
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Q: Sports have boundaries, but is baseball the only sport that allows out of bounds plays like catching balls in foul territory and runners advancing on throws in foul territory? — ERICH, Oakwood.
A: Never thought about that but I believe you are correct. In football, basketball, hockey, tennis, golf, soccer, lacrosse — you name it — out of bounds is out of bounds. That’s another reason baseball is unique. Isn’t it strange that you can catch a pop foul and it is an out, but you can’t make a play for an out on a ground ball foul? There are so many contradictory rules in baseball that it is no surprise even umpires carry a rule book in their pockets. I’ve covered baseball for 44 years and played it for 30 years and every year some rule pops up that I didn’t know anything about.
Q: It feels as if the fan base is receiving a shakedown because the Reds are allegedly building toward next year, but is September baseball really the evaluation period that the Reds want fans to believe? — RON, Clemmons, N.C.
A: Former Reds managers Dusty Baker and Davey Johnson always said, “Players can fool you in September and in spring training.” I believe that. So many teams are out of the race in September and, like the Reds, are trying to evaluate young players. For them, it is like spring training and you aren’t always facing a team’s best. In my humble opinion, the Reds should have taken longer looks during the season at pitchers like Amir Garrett, Cody Reed, Rookie Davis, Jackson Stephens and Robert Stephenson. Decisions on these guys have to be made sooner than later.
Q: How likely is it that a contender in a large market could trade for Joey Votto? — JOHN, Oxford.
A: Why would the Reds want to trade one of the best hitters in the game? Yes, he makes a lot of money, but the Reds are rebuilding with young players who don’t make much money, so Votto’s contract isn’t stifling. Could they trade him to the New York Yankees, Boston, the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Chicago Cubs? Sure they could. But here’s the final kicker. Votto has a no-trade clause and is on record as saying he isn’t going anywhere. He loves Cincinnati and plans to stay there.
Q: Are the Reds trying to hide pitcher Jimmy Herget, who is only 23 and pitching at Class AAA Louisville, because he is doing well and I haven’t heard his name mentioned? — RICK, Vandalia.
A: You can’t hide players in the minors, especially good ones, and I’m sure every team in baseball knows about Jimmy Herget. He is 23 and was drafted in the sixth round in 2015. He is strictly a relief pitcher and has moved all the way to Triple A in two years. He started this year at Class AA Pensacola and had 16 saves in 19 opportunities with a 2.73 ERA. He was promoted to Class AAA Louisville and is 7 for 10 in save opportunities with a 3.62 ERA. But he is not on the 40-man roster and probably won’t be called up in September. My bet is that he’ll be added to the 40-man roster this winter and will get a good look next spring. If the Reds were contenders, you might see him in the bullpen right now. And I’ll be shocked if he isn’t in the bullpen next year.
Q: I agree that Mario Soto’s performance for the 1982 Reds (101 losses) may well have been the best accomplishment by a pitcher on a terrible team (He owned 23 percent of the team’s wins and I’m impressed by Roger Craig winning 25 percent of the 1962 Mets wins (120 losses), but what other impressive pitching performances were achieved on very bad teams? — LARRY, Brookville.
A: Roger Craig isn’t in my top 10. Yes, he won 10 games for the ’62 Mets, who lost 120. But he lost 24 with a 4.51 ERA. How about Randy Johnson, who won 16 in 2004 for an Arizona team that won 51 games. Remember a guy named Cy Young? At age 40 he was 20-15 for the Boston Americans, who lost 105 of 154 games (49 wins). My No. 1, though, is Steve Carlton’s 1972 season. He won 27 games for the Phillies, a team that won 59 games. He won the Cy Young that year with every vote but one. Mine. I voted for L.A.’s Jerry Reuss that year because I saw him beat the Reds four times.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Q: Shouldn’t the Reds forget about Scott Schebler and Jesse Winker because Phillip Ervin is the guy? — RON, Vandalia.
A: If Ervin wasn’t a No. 1 draft pick in 2013, he probably would be gone. In 2014 and 2015 at low Class A Dayton he hit .237 and 240. Nevertheless, he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola in 2016 and hit .239. Nevertheless, he was promoted to Class AAA Louisville this year and hit .256 in 99 games. He has played a week in the majors and looks like the second coming of Roberto Clemente. But it is a minuscule sample and way too early to anoint him the right fielder. He’ll get a good look in September and in spring training, but I doubt he can supplant either Schebler or Winker. That being said, to use one of manager Bryan Price’s favorite terms, sometimes it clicks in all of a sudden, and there is a reason the Reds drafted him No. 1. We shall see.
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