Q: I heard you on a TV show at the All-Star break say that the Pittsburgh Pirates would fade and you were right, so now I ask if the Reds can beat the Giants and the Nationals in the playoffs? — Brad, Springfield
A: Don’t think they can beat both at the same time, but I see no reason they can’t do it one team at a time — the Giants first and then the Nationals, if the Nationals win in their first round. There are no super teams, no heavy favorites. Whichever team gets hot, like the St. Louis Cardinals last year, wins it.

Q: I seem to remember a baseball umpires strike some years ago. Did the replacement umpires have similar experiences making the right calls? — Craig, Fort Loramie
A: Replacement umps filled in during a 1979 strike but did not produce a baseball equivalent of the Seahawks-Packers fiasco. In 1999 several umpires resigned in mid-season over real or imagined slights. When MLB hired 25 minor-league umpires to replace them, the umpires rescinded their resignations but MLB said, “We don’t need you.” In effect, they were fired. The minor-league umpires stayed and they all got some major-league experience as fill-ins for major-league umpires on vacation.

Q: What are the chances that the Reds extend their World Series winning streak from nine to 13? — Gary, Jacksonville, Fla.
A: That’s a sucker bet right now because they have to win seven games in the postseason before they even reach the World Series. If they do reach the World Series, winning it in four straight is a long, long shot — but isn’t that what they said in 1976 against the Yankees and 1990 against the Athletics?