Are Cincinnati Reds players less likely to run through a wall for Bryan Price because of his nice guy mannerisms and his pretty face? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek
I’ve never seen a player run through any wall for any manager. In fact, I once heard former Reds outfielder Kal Daniels say, “I ain’t running into no wall for nobody.” Don’t let Price’s uber-intelligence and movie star face fool you. I’ve witnessed his anger, and I’d prefer not to be the recipient of it. Have you forgotten about his 77 F-bomb explosions in 5½ minutes at a beat writer a couple of years ago? The incident is believed to be under Guinness World Records consideration.
Whom do you believe has been unjustly excluded from the Hall of Fame? And it can be more than one. — JIM, Covina, Calif.
I can think of two from the same team, and they would be Pete Rose and David Concepcion, excluded for different reasons. Rose isn’t in, of course, because he is banned for life from the game and isn’t eligible forever and a day. Concepcion isn’t in because he didn’t play in New York, where Hall of Fame shortstops Phil Rizzuto and Pee Wee Reese played. Concepcion was, in my opinion, better than both. Hall of Fame members are voted in by the opinion of many and, of course, they aren’t always right. There are many in who don’t belong and many out who do belong. My opinion.
It seems that the Reds have a lot of young pitching, so are they going young because these kids could develop or is it because they don’t have anybody else and we are seeing the effects of Joey Votto’s huge contract? — RYAN, Dayton
They are going young because they are rebuilding, and that’s the first step in rebuilding. They have stockpiled a lot of arms, and you are going to see a lot of them going up and down. In fact, you already have, and it will continue. Joey Votto’s contract is a nonissue. Without Votto, this team might not win 50 games.
Is the number shown in the box score how many fans attended the game or how many tickets were sold? — ALAN, Cincinnati
That one bugs me, too. Teams always announce late in the game, “Here’s tonight’s attendance.” That should mean how many fans “attended” the game, right? Wrong. It is the number of tickets sold. The Reds keep announcing 12,000 and 13,000 and 14,000 as the attendance when about half that many are actually seated in the stands. The announcement should be: “Here are tonight’s tickets sold.” Instead, they announce empty seats as part of the attendance.
Amir Garrett is listed as 6 feet 5, so does his tall stature give him an advantage against hitters? — JOHN, Oxford
He only has an advantage if he throws strikes and throws them on the corners and at the bottom or the top of the strike zone and not, as Jeff Brantley says, “Right down Broadway.” It doesn’t matter if you are 6 feet 5 or 5 feet 6, control and command are how to get hitters out. Garrett’s tallness didn’t intimidate the Brewers last week when they scored 10 runs against him in 3⅓ innings.
Q: Comparisons are often made between the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and the 1927 New York Yankees. How do they compare statistically? — CARL, Kettering
That comparison is impossible. Those teams played a half-century apart. Equipment has improved tremendously. The game has changed immensely with how pitchers are used. Blacks, Latinos and Asians were not part of the 1927 game. Players are bigger, stronger and faster these days. Comparative statistical analysis is not quantifiable. Does that sound scientific or what?
Whatever happened to just saying “game-winning home run” and where did the walk-off home run come from? — STACY, Union City
As in everything, vernacular changes in baseball. A sinker used to be a drop. A screwball used to be an outshoot. A split-finger used to be a forkball. A rundown used to be a pickle. A message pitch used to be a beanball. How many ways can you say home run? Dinger. Round-tripper. Go yard. Johnson. Four-ply wallop. Bridge (a player’s term). Dial 8. Walk-off is just another phase term until somebody comes up with a new one.
Why don’t batting practice pitchers throw at game speed, and if a team is going to face a pitcher like Bronson Arroyo, why not throw breaking pitches? — WORDMAN, Troy
If a batting practice pitcher could throw at game speed, he wouldn’t be a batting practice pitcher. He’d be in the rotation. And if a BP pitcher could throw breaking pitches like Bronson Arroyo, he, too, would be in the rotation. It is why BP pitchers throw from 45 feet instead of the official 60 feet, 6 inches. At 45 feet their pitches seem to be as fast as regular pitches throwing from 60 feet, 6 inches. And you can’t use your real pitchers for batting practice, or you’d wear them out. To me batting practice is overrated, and it seems that on days teams don’t take BP, sometimes they hit better in games.