Hal McCoy: Scooter’s feat not quite Reds greatest

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 halmccoy@hotmail.com.

Q: What if the next time the Atlanta Braves come to Cincinnati the Reds schedule a promotion for fans to trade in their PHILLIPS 4 jerseys for GENNETT 4 jerseys? — DAVE/Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.

A: Won’t work. Atlanta doesn’t come back to Cincinnati this year and when they come back next year Phillips won’t be with them. He is a one-year rental and they’ll let him go when the Reds no longer are paying $13 million of his salary. How about when the Reds go to Atlanta in mid-August Scooter Gennett says, “I’m annoyed that Brandon Phillips wears my number.” Nah, Gennett is too classy.

Q: Of all the great baseball feats you have seen over your career, is Scooter Gennett's four home runs and 10 RBIs the greatest ? — WORDMAN, Troy.

A: Nope. I saw Mark Whiten hit four home runs against the Reds in 1993 and drive in 12 runs. It was nice to see what Gennett did, though, because he is such a fantastic guy in the clubhouse and he did it for the Reds instead of against them. Tom Browning’s perfect game ranks up there and over the long haul Pete Rose’s 44-game hitting streak is at the top of my list. And who can forget the inside-the-park home run hit by Champ Summers, who collapsed at home plate, his face green, after he swallowed his chewing tobacco.

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Q: Cincinnati’s Art Shamsky once hit four consecutive home runs over two games, but how many did he hit in each game? — TOM/Dayton.

A: It took Shamsky three days to hit home runs in four consecutive at bats, something only 26 players have done. He did it Aug. 12 and Aug. 14, 1966 (he didn’t play Aug. 13). He entered a game against Pittsburgh in the eighth inning and hit three home runs in three innings of an extra-inning game. Two days later he hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh — four at-bats, four home runs over three days. I like Scooter’s four straight in one game a lot better.

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Q: I’ve noticed an absence of strong throwing arms on outfielders. Don’t they work on improving and strengthening arms anymore? — NICK, Liberty Twp.

A: Can’t agree, Nick. When I first began covering baseball in 1973 I saw some strong arms and I saw some weak arms. Now that it is 2017 I see the same thing — some strong arms, some weak arms. Fans like to generalize and reflect back to the good old days in baseball. As far as throwing arms go, the good new days are no different than the good old days.

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Q: Teams treasure the hard-throwers, the 95-97 miles per hour guys, but who were some of the most successful soft throwers over the past 45 years? — KEN/Miamisburg.

A: There are many who barely broke the interstate speed limit or threw so slow the radar gun wouldn’t register. You can start with Bronson Arroyo, who throws nearly every hitter at least one pitch in the 60s each at-bat. Jamie Moyer threw so softly his arm lasted until he was nearly 50. Mark Buehrle couldn’t shatter crystal with his fastball but threw two no-hitters. Hall of Famer Greg Maddux barely touched 90, and not often, and won four Cy Youngs. If you can consistently paint the black, velocity is not a necessity.

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Q: What is wrong with Amir Garrett? He looked so good but now looks like a minor leaguer? JIMMY/Dayton.

A: It is called growing pains and the learning curve. Rookie pitchers don’t just come up and continue to dominate the way he did in his first three starts. Word gets out on what and how he throws and teams adjust. Now he must adjust. Baseball is a game of adjustment and if you don’t make the adjustments your team will adjust your venue and you’ll find yourself back to riding gaseous and smoky minor league buses.

Q: How does a regular-sized guy like Scooter Gennett hit for such power when to look at him he’d be the last player expected to hit four home runs in a game. — ALAN/Sugaercreek Twp.

A: You are making your judgment on one game, an anomaly. Before his four-homer game he had hit three homers in his previous 111 at-bats. And before his Superman imitation he had 38 home runs in his previous 1,638 major-league at bats — hardly a power plant. On that one night the moon and stars aligned, Scooter’s bat was a magic wand and the little guy’s walk-up song that night should have been “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Q: Why is it that the National League Central was strong last year and this year it seems down? — JAY, Englewood.

A: It’s baseball. It’s why they play the games instead of listening to the pundits. The Chicago Cubs were expected to run away and hide — and still could do it. The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are feeling the aches and pains of age. The Brewers and Reds are better than most expected. But we’re barely one-third of the way through the season. The strongest usually survive and the Cubs will soon have a liftoff.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Q: Will we ever see another MLB pitcher reach 300 wins during his career? — JOE/Kettering.

A: I put that question to Hall of Fame pitcher and 324-game winner Don Sutton when he was in Cincinnati last week as an Atlanta Braves broadcaster. He says no and who am I to argue. I agree. “We used to pitch every fourth day and now they pitch every fifth day so pitchers don’t start as many games. And starters are content to get five innings,” Sutton told me. “Everybody is content to get five or six innings out of their starters. It has gotten to the point where it is more important to get the closer a save than it is to get the starter a win.” In Don I trust.

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