As Reds fans are discovering, a rebuild takes time
Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy knows a thing or two about our nation’s pastime. Tap into that knowledge by sending an email to halmccoy1@hotmail.com.
Q: The dictionary defines rebuilding as to dismantle and reassemble with new parts, so how can the Reds say they are rebuilding when 13 of their 26 players are 29 or older? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.
A: Merriam-Webster knows words, not baseball. A baseball rebuild is not done overnight. It takes time. The Reds have the dismantling part down perfectly. They got rid of most of their best players. Now they must methodically and carefully replace them. Those players 29 and over are stop gaps, the ones that will go when the Reds decide they’ve developed players to replace them ... at different times. As they say, it’s a process. And sometimes a process works and sometimes a process fails.
Q: Do the umpires stay in different hotels than the visiting teams? — BILL, Waynesville.
A: They certainly do, as far apart as possible. Many teams stay in the same hotels as other teams on the road and the umpires have their own hotels. In that way, it reduces the possibility of assault and battery charges against managers and players ... and, yes, maybe some volatile umpires, too. And it prevents players and umpires from becoming too pals-y in hotel lounges.
Q: The Reds finished a three-game home sweep of the Texas Rangers by coming from behind and winning in the ninth inning in all three games. Can you recall a Reds team that did something like that? — BILL, Jacksonville, Fla.
A: As Meat Loaf sang it, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” The Reds scored walk-off wins in games one and three. In game two, they scored six runs in the eighth to take a 7-6 lead and held that lead in the top of the ninth. In game one T.J. Friedl’s bottom-ofthe-ninth single scored Jonathan India for a 7-6 walkoff win. In game three, Nick Senzel’s two-run homer in the ninth gave the Reds a 5-3 walk-off win. That’s exciting stuff, but it is something The Big Red Machine did routinely, although they didn’t call them walk-off wins then. More like miracles.
Q: When somebody purchases an MLB team, is the new owner responsible for paying deferred
money on contracts given by the previous owner? — DAVID, Kettering.
A: Absolutely. A contract is a contract is a contract. New ownership inherits all debts and contracts. Bob Castellini was not the owner when Jim Bowden constructed the deferred contract for Ken Griffey Jr. It was a $112.5 million deal, with $57.5 million deferred from 2009 to 2024. That means Castellini has been on the hook for $3.6 million a year for Griffey. No wonder Castellini is tight with the cash these days.
Q: If a third baseman has a pop foul hit off his glove and fall to the ground, will the official scorer charge him with an error even though it was in foul territory?
— MARK, St. Henry.
A: To err is human and to drop a pop foul, even in foul territory, is an error. There can be circumstances that change it. If the third baseman must make a long run and sticks out his glove and the ball glances away, the official scorer can rule “no play,” meaning no error. Same thing if he runs into a wall or trips over the rolled-up tarpaulin and drops the ball. But a straight-up pop-up that is dropped with no extenuating circumstances is a ‘E’ for error and embarrassment.
Q: Baserunners are wearing sliding gloves with extended fingers. With the new larger bases doesn’t that give the runner an unfair advantage? — JEFF, Xenia.
A: No, because the glove is legal, and every player can use one. I’ve been waiting for MLB to ban them, but it hasn’t happened. Maybe it will be banned if some player puts on one of those foam rubber hands with the forefinger pointing forward like football fans wear. Now that’s an unfair advantage.
Q: What is the logic and is there a rule regarding a ball being removed from play that is barely scuffed but a batted ground ball is returned to the pitcher and kept in play? — STEVE, Beavercreek.
A: This is one of baseball’s greatest mysteries. I am asked this question at least once a year and sometimes more than once. And I still don’t know the answer. I’ve asked umpires and received no definitive response. There is no rule regarding this strange activity. It seems to be reactionary. A pitch hits the dirt, the catcher holds up his hand, the umpire takes the smudged ball and replaces it in the catcher’s hand with a shiny new $25 ball. I can’t even get an answer as to what happens to the ball taken out of play.
Q: Despite his big contract, the Cubs gave up on Jason Heyward and now he is having an MVP year with the Dodgers, so what changed? — RHONDA, Chicago.
A: Heyward, a budding superstar, signed an eightyear $184 million contract with the Cubs in 2016. Stardom never arrived. Perhaps he felt the pressure of being the big guy. The last couple of years he became a part-time player and heard boos in Wrigley Field. Finally, even though they owed him $22 million, the Cubs paid him to go away after last season. The Dodgers signed him to a minor-league deal and now he is a regular in Dodger Stadium. His slash line of .259/.369/.556 with four homers and eight RBIs in 23 games are not MVP numbers. Reluctantly, I go to the analytics handbook and discover that his chase bad pitches ratio is at an alltime low and that his exit velocity and barreled balls are at all-time highs. He is thriving, probably because he is surrounded by stars and doesn’t have to be The Man. And Dodger fans are laid back and don’t know the meaning of the word boo.
Q: Judging by their record so far, with three wins over the Texas Rangers, shouldn’t the Reds move to the American League? — DAVID, Springfield.
A: Those back-to-back shutout losses to Tampa Bay don’t help the American League dialogue, although they did whip the Rays in the first game of the series, 8-1. So, who do we coax to make the switch, Oakland or Kansas City? It would make more sense to make the Reds, Athletics, Royals, Rockies and White Sox a division of the Class AAA International League. Call it the Rebuilders Division.