Q: Will Freddie Benavides be the Reds manager next season and if not who is your guess who it will be? — KEITH, Brookville.
A: I have no guess because I always guess wrong. But I will say Benavides was a five-game lame duck. I am pretty sure that at this point the Reds have no idea. My choice would come from between two former Cincinnati Reds back-up catcher. We all know catchers make great managers, so I’m talking about former Cubs manager David Ross and current Reds roving instructor Corky Miller. Both are knowledgable baseball men, both have leadership abilities, both have outgoing personalities, both are well-liked by everybody. Now I’ve put the whammy, the jinx and the hex on both. Other rumors: Skip Schumaker, Barry Larkin, Jim Tracy, Miguel Cairo and the first baseball person offering to work for food and gas money.
Q: Regarding your thoughts on Shohei Ohtani being the obvious MVP, won’t writers have a difficulty voting a designated hitter as MVP when fielding takes a toll on your offensive performance? — MIKE, Indianapolis.
A: While I’ve never been enamored with the DH, I’ve searched the MVP ballot top to bottom and back to front and nowhere does it say, “Thou shalt not vote for a DH.” The MVP should go to a player whose performance is indispensable to his team. There is no way to look askance at 50-plus home runs and 50-plus stolen bases. Where would the Los Angeles Dodgers be without Shohei? Probably lost in some ravine. I’d wager he will win unanimously, but at least one non-Los Angeles writer will make a hometown vote.
Q: When a minor leaguer is called up in September, does he get any added benefits? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: To start with, he gets to fly on chartered airplanes instead of ride buses, gets to stay in five-star hotels instead of Motel 6′s and gets to eat in fancy steakhouses instead of Wendy’s. Those are fringe beneits. The big benefit is in the wallet if he isn’t on a major-league contract. The major-league minimum is $740,000 a year. If that minor league player is on the big-league roster all of September, 30 days, his paycheck goes from about $2,500 a month to approximately $30,000. What a difference a league makes.
Q: With the bases loaded and two outs, if the catcher drops strike three can the batter try to make first base, even though all bases are occupied? — MIKE, Centerville.
A: Yes, he certainly can. But if the catcher drops strike three with the bases loaded, all he has to do is pick up the ball and step on home plate for a force out. Inning over. If that happened with no outs or one out, the runner could not try to make first base. If first base is occupied with less than two outs, he can’t run. If first base is unoccupied, if the catcher drops the ball no matter how many outs, the batter can try to make first. Confused? Just don’t ask me why this is a rule. It’s one of many head-scratchers in the baseball rulebook, which is as difficult to read as ‘Ulysses’ by James Joyce.
Q: Who wins National League Rookie of the Year, Pittsburgh pitcher Paul Skenes or San Diego outfielder Jackson Merrill? — SHAUN, Englewood.
A: Some voters believe a pitcher shouldn’t win any award except the Cy Young because they don’t play every day. That’s a rosin bag full of nonsense. Merrill is have a sensational season for a good team while Skenes is having a sensational season for an awful team. To me, what Skenes is doing is tougher than what Merriill is doing, 11-3 with a 1.99 earned run average for a last-place team. For me, it’s Skenes.
Q: The Oakland A’s soon are to be gone, so what are your thoughts and were you with the Reds in the Coliseum? — JIM, Tiffin.
A: It hasn’t been revealed what they’ll be called when they temporarily move to Sacramento until a new stadium is ready in Las Vegas. The Sacramento A’s? The California A’s? The Las Vegas A’s? With all their moves, they should be the Las Vegas Vagabonds. The A’s started in Philadelphia, moved to Kansas City, moved to Oakland and now are moving on again. Yes, I traveled to Oakland with the Reds to cover games in the Mausoleum, including the memorable 1990 World Series.
Q: You mentioned Homer Bailey recently so do you have any good stories about him? — BRENDAN, Bellbrook.
A: One of the most misunderstood players I ever covered. Other writers disliked him and ignored him, but I always seem to get along with the misfit. Homer and I were close and I talked to him nearly every day because he was intelligent and could talk about more things than a slider and a sinker. Fans disliked him because they misread his attitude. Yes, he was stubborn and opinionated, but the man pitched two no-hiiters and endured a 1-14 (2018) season whle pitching with a sore shoulder and no run support. And he once gave me a pair of bright pink running shoes.
Q: I’m amazed when I go to games and see fans with a player’s name on his back and have you ever worn a player’s with his name on the back? — RICHARD, Tipp City.
A: That’s always been a head-scratcher for me. Why does a grown man want to wear a Reds’ jersey with ‘De La Cruz’ on the back? Fans know he’s not really Elly. But to each is own. No, I have never done it and if I did the player would approach me and say, “Take that off and quit embarrassing me.” I do, though, have a huge collection of game hats from most of the MLB teams. When, for example, I wear my San Diego Padres hat, fans will stop me and say, “Why not a Reds hat?” And I tell them I don’t work for the Reds and the Dayton Daily News doesn’t issue game caps.
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