A: If there had been analytics people showing possible lineups to Sparky Anderson, Billy Martin, Tony La Russa or Tommy Lasorda, that person would be shown the toilet and the flush handle for their lineup card. They made their own lineups based on the eye test. What they see. Now it depends on the team. Some managers are ‘advised’ on lineups bases on numbers. Some teams, the wise ones, peruse the analytics but also let the manager go with his gut feelings on some parts of the lineup. It’s not a scientific project. It’s a game.
Q: Alex Trevino, Dann Bilardello, Dave Van Gorder, Joe Oliver, Eddie Taubensee, Bo Diaz, Devin Mesoraco, Tucker Barnhart, Tyler Stephenson. ... and I am sure I left some out, but who was the best Reds catcher since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench? — LARRY, Washington, Twp.
A: That’s quite a comprehensive list, but you did leave one out and he is my choice. That would be Ryan Hanigan, a superb defensive catcher, a fine handler of pitchers, a down-and-dirty competitor and a leader in the clubhouse. We’ll gloss over his non-hitting. My other two are Joe Oliver and Eddie Taubensee, both of whom could contribute some offense in addition to their defensive duties. However, none of the above will see Cooperstown, unless they are tourists.
Q: Babe Ruth batted more than 8,300 times, so how many time was he hit by a pitch? — RICHARD, Bloomington, IN.
A: Any pitcher who hit The Bambino risked meeting the business end of his 36-inch, 42-ounce oak tree disguised as a baseball bat. Ruth was only plunked 43 times during his 22-year career. Six in one year was the most, in 1919 before he became known as The Sultan of Swat. And did you know that Ruth pitched 14 innings in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series for the Boston Red Sox, to this day the most innings ever pitched by one player in a postseason game. Ruth pitched in 163 MLB games and he hit 29 batters.
Q: Does any MLB team play smallball any more or is that a thing of the past? — JACKI, Dayton.
A: Smallball was buried under the rubble of all the demolished cookie cutter stadiums that were built to house MLB teams and NFL teams. To fit in football fields, the outfields were much bigger. And that made the fences farther from home plate, making home runs more difficult. And they all had AstroTurf so ground balls zipped through the infield and bunting was prevalent. The new stadiums are smaller, more conducive to Bigball and they have natural grass that slows ground balls. So now everybody plays Bigball, that some the analytics gurus support. Now it’s home run, walk or strikeout. The bunt and hit-and-run and slap-hitting for singles are all buried in musty archives.
Q: If the definition of insanity is doing something the same way over and over and expecting a different result, does that make Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell insane for constantly throwing Jusin Wilson out there? — CHRIS, Kettering.
A: Bell is as sane and you and me — well, at least you. You are referring to relief pitcher Wilson losing a game in Washington in the eighth inning and then losing the next day’s game in the eighth inning. Managers have this theory that when a pitcher has a bad day, but him right back on the horse the next day to give him confidence. Unfortunately for the Reds, Wilson’s horse didn’t have a saddle and he took a nasty spill by giving up a first-pitch three-run homer that cost the Reds a 5-2 defeat. On those two days he looked like Flip Wilson.
Q: Who’s more exciting for you to watch, Eric Davis in his prime or Elly De La Cruz? — JOHN, Fort Wayne, IN.
A: Flip a coin. If it’s heads it’s Davis. If it’s tails it’s De La Cruz. They are so similar it is as if they came out of the same ballplayer factory. Both hit for power, both can run like a 40 mph wind is at their backs, both are as good as the Department of Defense. And both wore/wear 44 and did you notice that both have the initials ‘E’ and ‘D’ leading off parts of their names. I’ll pick Davis for now. He did it over the long haul, although I believe De La Cruz’s haul will be much longer in the long run.
Q: If you were commissioner, what cities would you add to the major leagues? — SHAUN, Vandalia.
A: If I were commissioner, before granting expansion, I would bury the automatic runner (in extra innings). Deep. As for expansion, MLB needs two cities to put 16 teams in each league. Build me a new stadium, Montreal, and welcome back to the National League. Large metropolitan cities without an MLB team are scarce. Las Vegas is out because Oakland is going there. Indianapolis is large enough, but Cincinnati and Chicago would cry crocodile tears over infringement. Same with Louisville. Too close to Cincinnati. Hey, Charlotte, come on down. Nashville? Maybe. Or since the National League is international with Montreal, we could put Mexico City in the American League.
Q: Because of the advancement of the human body and overall athleticism, could you see the mound lowered or moved back to cut down strikeouts and improve hitting? — DAVID, Mason.
A: They lowered the mound after the 1968 season when Bob Gibson had a 1.12 earned run average and Denny McLain won 31 games. If they lower it again, it would be almost flat and maybe that’s a good thing. It works in softball. And there has been discussion about moving the mound back. But baseball is so steeped in tradition and the quality of its records that a different distance for the pitching mound would warp all that.
Q: How was Pete Rose as a manager and did The Hit King learn how to handle pitchers? — GEORGE, Morton Grove, IL.
A: That’s some we’ll never know. How distracted was he due to his gambling? The Reds finished second four years in a row under Rose. Could they have finished first without the distractions. Rose, of course, knew baseball, all the ins and outs and intricacies and fundamentals. He was a good manager. Pitchers? Like most hitters, Pete disliked pitchers. But he had a good pitching coach in Scott Breeden and Pete turned all the pitchers over to him. Rose was not afraid to delegate authority and relied heavily on his coaches, especially Breeden, Tommy Helms, Jim Lett and Bruce Kimm. And, of course, he spent his last season, 1989, denying and denying and denying.
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