A: I was not aware that any were arrested and on trial? As far as judging players, of course there are questions. There are questions until game 162 is completed. You can’t judge a player, good or bad, on a two-week sampling. There is no doubt the entire starting rotation has questions to be answered. And it won’t take a jury to decide it.
Q: Any idea if any of the Reds’ players, coaches or front office personnel anticipated a fast start? — ALAN, Pataskala.
A: Publicly, they all say they expect to win. They said it last year and the year before and every year back to 1900. They have to say it, but they don’t believe it. If anybody associated with the Reds says they thought the team would win seven of the first nine, they’d have their fingers crossed behind their backs because they were telling a little white lie. But the more a young team like the Reds wins early in the season the more confidence they get and suddenly truly believe, “Why not us?”
Hal McCoy: Latest on Mesoraco, Bailey and Disco
Q: Ballplayers all seem to have nicknames among themselves. What do the Reds call Eugenio Suarez? — RON, Washington Twp.
A: You are right. They are like grade-schoolers with their nicknames, usually shortened derivatives of their first or last names. Suarez is called Geno. Anthony DeSclafani is called Disco. Devin Mesoraco is called Mez. Zack Cozart is Cozy. Tucker Barnhart is Barney. Raisel Iglesias is Iggy. Joey Votto is, well, Joey Votto. That’s respect.
Q: Didn’t Mario Soto come into the first inning of a game and pitch a perfect eight-plus innings early in his career? — BANKER BOB, Villa Hills, Ky.
A: You sent me scrambling to Baseball-Reference.com for a half an hour of futile research, so you owe me 30 minutes of my life. Couldn’t find it. Soto, though, did take a no-hitter into the ninth inning against St. Louis and got two outs before George Hendrick hit a home run to tie the game. The Reds won it in the bottom of the ninth and to this day Soto rues the fastball he threw to Hendrick instead of his famous circle change.
Q: Why does Joey Voto stand in front of first base with a runner on instead of putting one foot on or near the bag for pickoff throws as other first basemen do? — PENNIE, Springfield.
A: Why does Joey Votto do anything the way he does? Because he is his own man and has his own ways. Most of the time when a pitcher throws over to first it is just to hold the runner close, not pick him off. Votto, though, knows exactly when a pitcher is going to try to pick off the runner and adjusts quickly when the pitcher makes his move. It’s just something he feels comfortable with, although it does leave a lot of us scratching our noggins.
Q: What is the future for Michael Lorenzen? — MICHAEL, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
A: As a devout Christian with charisma, he’ll probably be the minister of a large congregation after a rich baseball life. He can be whatever the Reds want and be outstanding. Closer? Yes. Starting pitcher? Yes. Pinch-hitter? Yes. Starting outfielder? Yes. Team trainer? Probably not, but he’d try.
Q: What Reds player that you covered had the most talent and who is your all-time favorite Reds player? — LARRY, Fort Mitchell, Ky.
A: That would be one and the same. Eric Davis. He was the one true five-tool player the Reds have had in the last 50 years. He could hit for average, hit for power, steal bases, throw and play incredible defense. Because he was so reckless in running into walls and running the bases, injuries curtailed his career, which was headed for the Hall of Fame. And he is my all-time favorite because he is an even better person off the field than he was on and that’s saying a ton. My grandson, Eric McCoy, is named after Eric the Red.
Q: Out of all the players, coaches and front office people you have covered in your career, who was the most colorful? — RYAN, Dayton.
A: So many, so many, for so many different reasons. Pete Harnisch was the most humorous and I can’t relate in a family newspaper some of his clubhouse antics (read them in my book, “The Real McCoy”). Kevin Mitchell came to the Reds with a bad reputation and was one of the best guys I ever met. When the Cincinnati media presented him with the Good Guy Award one year, he cried and said, “Nobody has ever called me a good guy.” Neon Deion Sanders was glamour and glitz in public but a caring, down-to-earth guy when he took off all his gold and diamonds.
Q: Which was the greatest team you ever saw and why? — JAY, Englewood.
A: Some people think I covered the undefeated 1869 Reds and would call it the best. And, no, I didn’t cover the ’27 Yankees, either. The answer is easy — the 1976 Reds, who swept the Phillies in the NL Championship Series and swept the New York Evil Empire in the World Series. There was not one weak spot on that team and as Joe Morgan always says, “We knew we were going to beat the other team and the other team knew it, too.”
Q: When and why did MLB go from a 15-day disabled list to a 10-day disabled list? — KEITH, Brookville.
A: This year is the first and I can’t really figure out why, nor have I found an explanation. For one thing, 70 percent of the players who went on the 15-day list the last 10 years were on it longer than 15 days. So why shorten it? It does benefit starting pitchers with minor soreness or tweaks. If they went on the 15-day list they’d miss at least three starts (they start every fifth day). With the 10-day list they’d miss only two starts. But once again, guys who were placed on the 15-day list generally stayed on it longer than 15 days, so what’s the benefit?
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