A: Maybe they are proud to be in the record books for something, the only way they’ll ever be remembered. Or maybe they are like John Callison from the Philadelphia Philles team that lost an MLB record 23 games in a row and the 1988 Baltimore Orioles came close with 21 straight losses. When Hall of Fame writer Jayson Stark asked Callison if he felt the Orioles’ pain, he laughed uproariously and said, “No, I’m happy as hell about it. I’ve been hoping they’d lose 30 in a row so our team would be forgotten. It was terrible.”
Q: Why is everybody so obsessed with Elly De La Cruz and his .260 batting average (.268 through Thursday) when if Pete Rose hit only .300 he’d tell you he had a bad year? — MARK, Cocoa, FL.
A: How does 59 stolen bases and 20 homers sound (through Thursday), something only Eric Davis and Joe Morgan accomplished for the Reds? Times have changed and batting averages don’t mean much. The MLB average is .243 and De La Cruz is 25 points higher (through Thursday). Rose? He never hit more than 16 homers in a season and his top stolen base total was 20 and he was caught 11 times. Elly is the Real Deal.
Q: What happens if a batted ball hits the roof of Miami’s loanDepot Park? — DORIS, Centerville.
A: It won’t happen. The roof is so high Babe Ruth’s most towering home run wouldn’t have scraped it. Not even that 480-foot home run Miami’s Jesus Sanchez rocketed into the upper deck against the Reds came close. That retractable roof weighs 19 million pounds and takes 13 to 15 minutes to open at 39 feet a minute. The stadium was built, at a cost of $840 million, on the site of the old Orange Bowl football stadium in Little Havana.
Q: Do you think that since Noelvi Marte isn’t hitting after serving his 80-game suspension that Santiago Espinal should be the regular third baseman? — ED, Kettering.
A: With his current hitting binge, Espinal is the Flavor of the Month, just as Rece Hinds was until he went 1 for 17. The back of Espinal’s baseball card says he won’t keep it up, but manager David Bell is riding the wave right now. Marte had no spring training and had to jump right in. Is he what he is showing right now or is he the splendid player he was last September? The Reds have to find out. Keep him at third base and continue to sprinkle Espinal into the lineup at different positions until he inevitably cools down.
Q: Why doesn’t somebody tell Elly De La Cruz to wear red stirrup socks and pull up his pants to give umpires a better glimpse of his strike zone? — JIM, Cincinnati.
A: One would think he might consider that since he is 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-2 of it appears to be legs. Elly is his own enemy by swinging at so many low-and-inside pitches, although he has been better lately in laying off. But high pants might help umpires better see where his knees are. Most likely Elly, an image-conscious fellow, considers the pajama bottom pants a fashion statement and abhors his friend Jonathan India’s walking shorts uniform pants.
Q: With so many Reds games now on pay-TV like Peacock, Roku and Apple, do you see Reds CEO Bob Castellini doing away with free telecasts on Bally Sports Ohio? — KEITH, Brookville.
A: This one can’t be blamed on Mr. Castellini. It is the money-grubbing MLB. Those pay-TV networks are another revenue stream and that revenue comes from those of us who have to subscribe to those streaming networks to see a game. Bally Sports Ohio provides too much money to the Reds for them to dump BSO cameras into the Ohio River. Most fans, like me, listen to Tommy Thrall and Jeff Brantley on the radio when pay-TV surfaces.
Q: Do you foresee MLB using a salary cap to level the playing field for small market teams? — RYAN.
A: Ownership would love it and has tried, but the Major League Players Association has to approve it and always blocks it. The union wants those fat salaries for its players. As a compromise, in 1997 they came up with the Competitive Balance Tax. This year, the threshold is $237 million. Teams that have a 40-man roster payroll over $237 million must pay a 20% luxury tax on the overage. With their $317 million payroll, the Mets are $80 million over. At 20% that’s a $16 million tax. For the rich Mets, that’s a mere annoyance. Other teams paying the luxury tax are the Yankees ($308 million), the Astros ($254 million), the Phillies ($248 million) and the Dodgers ($240 million). The Braves just ducked under the tax man at $236.2 million.
Q: Back in the days of scheduled doubleheaders, how much time did players have between games to shower, change uniforms and grab a sandwich? — SEAN, Kettering.
A: Doubleheaders are no longer scheduled. They are only used to make up rained-out games. Used to be teams played doubleheaders every Sunday and on holidays. There were 30 minutes between games. No showers. No uniform changes. Just a quick bologna sandwich. Amazingly, the 1927 Boston Braves played doubleheaders on nine consecutive days. From Sept.r 4 through Sept. 15 they played 18 games in 12 days, Needless to say, it didn’t go well. They were 4-14.
Q: You have some meaningful treasures in your Man Cave so is there any player you wish you had a memento from? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: Nothing in the Man Cave but a TV, a recliner chair, a couch, a refrigerator and cigar smoke. There are some posters. I’m not big on keeping memorablila except for personal awards like plaques and trophies. Those are in my home office and Nadine calls it, ‘Hal’s person shrine to himself.’ That’s pretty harsh and they are great accoutrements to my shelves filled with 300 baseball books.
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