Q: How do the Reds get a decent pitcher without giving up too much? — JACK, Miamisburg.
A: We shall see if general manager Nick Krall continues to be a wizard at the trade table. I see three players that he can dangle — Jonathan India, Nick Senzel and Tyler Stephenson. Because of the young players the Reds have with more coming, those three are expendable. Trading India won’t be popular with the fan base, but with Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer and Noelvi Marte (coming soon), there is no room for India. And don’t forget, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are coming back soon ... maybe.
Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, how surprised are you by the Reds first 100 games? — SHAUN, Foley’s, NY.
A: Surprised? Other ‘s’ words like shocked, stunned and stupefied. On a scale of 1 to 10 how about an 11 or 11 1/2. Like most so-called guessperts, I predicted last and more than 100 wins. And they started that way. Then along came Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz and lately Christian Encarnacion-Strand. It was a new team, an aggressive team, an energized team. Now I’ll talk myself into a 12.
Q: Are umpires getting worse at calling balls and strikes? — JOE, Englewood.
A: It is true. But a lot of it is that box superimposed on the screen that ostensibly frames the strike zone. The problem is that it is not entirely accurate. But even without the box, some of those down-and-in and up-and-in pitches that are called strikes are clearly balls to the naked eye. Remember, though, most pitchers are throwing 95 to 102 miles an hour with movement, and the umpire must make a split-second decision. He has a fifty per cent chance of being right or wrong. And they get most of them right.
Q: When the Reds take a called strike three that is right down the middle, are the players signaled not to swing? — PENNIE, Springfield.
A: Never has a player in the history of the game been signaled to take a pitch when he has two strikes, unless it was Bob Uecker, who playfully says they did it to him all the time, hoping for a walk. When a player takes strike three, he usually is fooled. He might be expecting a fastball and the pitcher drops a slider, a sinker or a change-up at him and he freezes, unable to swing. The trip back to the dugout is referred to as the walk of shame.
Q: Could you explain the ‘k’ used for a strikeout in scorebooks? — MARSHALL, Northridge.
A: Henry Chadwick was a baseball writer in the 1880s and, no, I never sat next to him in a press box. Legend is that he invented baseball scoring, numbers for positions and symbols for different plays. He came up with ‘k’ for strikeout because strikeout was too big to fit in a small box, so he took ‘k’ out of the middle of the world to symbolize a strikeout. A regular ‘k’ represents a swinging strikeout. A backwards ‘k’ is a called strikeout. And there is a new one I invented. If a player is called out on a time violation, it is a ‘k’ on its back with the two lines that jut out sticking up, as if the ‘k’ is sleeping. . .which the hitter was doing when he was called out for taking too much time getting into the batter’s box.
Q: Other than Joey Votto making the Hall of Fame, what other past Reds do you think should get a look? — JASON, Dayton.
A: A lot of them got looks in the past, but just passing glances. I have been on a soapbox for years extolling the credentials of shortstop Dave Concepcion. Maybe if he had learned to do the back flip, like Ozzie Smith, he might have made it. My other nominees would be Dave Parker and Vada Pinson. I even support pitcher Jim Maloney. He won only 134 games, but his win percentage was 62%, he had 74 complete games, 30 shutouts and a career earned run average of 3.10. Unfortunately, I don’t foresee any of them making it.
Q: In all your many years that you’ve covered the Reds, have you ever seen so many rookies in a lineup and so many of them being successful? — RON, Barboursville, KY.
A: Never. And I don’t think anybody has seen it on any team. You have Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, all playing like veterans. And Jonathan India, TJ Friedl, Will Benson, Jake Fraley, Nick Senzel and Tyler Stephenson are not far removed from their rookie seasons. It is amazing. Even if they don’t make the playoffs (but I think they will), it has been a remarkable season.
Q: Can you tell me how tall Reds broadcaster Jim Day is because Google says he is 5-7 and I say no way? — PATTY, Kettering.
A: Way. Every source I checked says he is 5-7. But as far as a broadcaster goes, he is 6-7. He stands tall because he is a real reporter, digs up background stories on the players. Most broadcasters are just impressed with their own voices, but Jim Day is a working journalist.
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