A: Because that’s the way one manager along the way came up with the concept and MLB teams are great copiers. No team left behind. The idea is that a starting pitcher works every fifth day and has four days to recuperate. Why the 100-pitch danger level? Again, somebody started doing it, so they all do it. A relief pitcher could work three days in a row, so their innings are limited, although pitch counts are incorporated. I’d like to see some manager try to lift Bob Gibson or Nolan Ryan if they were pitching a shutout in the seventh inning and hit 100 pitches. They’d need a new clubhouse.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: After watching the Reds’ Tyler Callihan break his forearm last week, I wonder what are the worst injuries you’ve witnessed? — RICHARD, Troy.
A: Other than when I twice fell and broke each hip? The first one was in 1973 when Reds shortstop Dave Concepcion ran from first to third, slid late and hard into the third base bag, fracturing his fibula and dislocating his knee. I’ll never forget the screams from Concepcion emanating from the training room after the game. In 1994, Tom Browning was pitching in San Diego in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. On an 0-and-1 count to Archie Cianfracco he threw one of his patented screwballs. Except... as he released the ball, we in the third deck of San Diego/Jack Murphy Stadium could hear a snap, like a rifle shot or a power line breaking. The ball fell a few feet from Browning as he grabbed his arm and fell on the mound. And his scream could be heard in the press box. He fractured the humerus bone between his elbow and shoulder. In both instances, the stadium and press box were quieter than an empty church.
Q: If you could go back in time, is there a discussion you would like to have with a member of The Big Red Machine? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: If I could borrow Dr. Who’s time machine, the TARDIS, I’d use it to go back to a cold November day 1971 and sit in the office of Reds GM Bob Howam when he was discussing the mammoth trade with Houston that brought Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Ed Ambrister to the Reds at the cost of Lee May and Tommy Helms. Houston’s GM was Spec Richardson and one might say he had a real bad day.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: Why did management trade Jonathan India when Matt McLain is not a better second baseman and has no power, while India shows some power? — MAX, Dayton.
A: That’s a popular stance because India was a popular fellow in Cincinnati. Right now, it’s the ol’ baseball wash, neither are stunning. But McLain is a much better defensive player with a much wider range and much stronger arm. India isn’t even playing second base for the Royals. He is serving mostly as a designated hitter and is batting .220 and just recently hit his first homer and has only six RBI. McLain missed all of last season and is coming back slowly — .160 as of early last week with no homers, but does have 12 RBI.
Q: Why wouldn’t the feat of hitting two grand slams in the same inning, as was done by the Cardinals’ Fernando Tatis Sr. in 1999, be the rarest accomplishment in baseball? — RICH, Oxford.
A: While that is extremely rare, one of the things that makes baseball so intriguing is that you see something rare or have never seen before constantly. Johnny Vander Meer’s back-to-back no-hitters are the rarest of the rare. Will anybody go back-to-back-to back? No. Pitcher Tony Cloninger’s two grand slams in one game won’t be matched due to the DH. One can make many suggestions for the rarest of the rare and get a baker’s dozen arguments.
Q: Have any MLB players had it in their contract to have a certain day or days off during the season? — CHRIS, Vandalia.
A: No, something like that is not acceptable in an MLB contract. But some Jewish players refuse to play on Yom Kippur, the most famous being Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers when he controversially refused to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because if fell on Yom Kippur. Elliot Strom was a teenager at the time and caught grief from his baseball fan father for supporting Koufax. Strom is a rabbi now and said, “Koufax became the great hero. For American Jews, what Koufax did was huge.”
Q: I never see the infield fly rule called any more, so is it no longer a rule? — TIM, Xenia.
A: When I saw it called last week, I thought the same thing. It was the first time I saw it all year. Yes, it’s still alive. The situation must not have come up during games you watched. In short, the situation is with runners on second and first, or with the bases loaded, and less than two outs. If the batter pops one up to the infield, he is automatically called out. That is to prevent an infielder from purposely dropping the ball, knowing on a pop up the runners have to hold. If he drops the ball, he can get a double play or even a triple play. But not with the infield fly rule.
Q: Who is the blonde woman we see in the Reds dugout during games? — RICHARD, Brookville.
A: She is Ashley Meuser, the team’s director of nutrition. She makes sure no hot dogs or pizza slip into the dugout. She makes certain the players stay hydrated with electrolyte drinks and stay nourished with power bars and fruits. So far I haven’t seen her doing patdowns, looking for Butterfingers, Reese’s Cups or Hostess Ho-Hos.
Q: Is Game 6 of the 1975 World Series the greatest game you ever covered? — RYAN, Englewood.
A: Not the greatest, but the most entertaining and exciting. There were nearly 200 writers there and I’d wager 95% agree. Watching Carlton Fisk hopping up and down, waving the ball fair as it hit the foul pole for an 11th-inning walk-off Boston win over Cincinnati, may be the most dramatic play I ever covered.
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