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Reds use 100-plus baseballs per game
By Hal McCoy
Staff Writer
Question: You are on the witness stand and I'm the prosecutor. Ken Griffey Jr. was never on the disabled list until he became friends with Barry Larkin. Fact or fiction? — Dave, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek
Answer: If you are the prosecutor, Dave, I immediately throw myself to the mercy of the judge, even if he is Roy Bean. Actually, Griffey was on the DL five times in Seattle, a couple thousand miles away from Larkin. And your questions always have more fiction in them than Orson Welles.
Q: How many baseballs are used in one game? — Tom, Hamilton
A: If it's the Cincinnati Reds and either Eric Milton or Dave Williams is pitching, many more than normal. Usually, though, it is nine dozen, and if Miss Gargoyle taught me right in third-grade math, that's 108 baseballs. Mark Stowe, the visiting clubhouse attendant at Great American Ball Park, says sometimes they use as many as 10 dozen. "We lose about 18 at the end of each half inning when the players toss 'em into the stands," he said.
Q: I saw a foul ball go near the press box in Great American Ball Park the other day and it got me to thinking, "How many foul balls has Hal McCoy caught in the press box over his thousands of games?" — Scott, Kettering
A: Caught? It is difficult to catch a baseball when you are ducking under your work space. Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals parted my hair down the middle with one last year. Another time when I tried to catch one in Dodger Stadium, my wedding ring flew into the lower deck and hit some guy in the neck. Fortunately, he saved the ring and my marriage for me. I've caught a few and always have thrown them into the stands — all but one. In the 1996 World Series I caught one hit by Derek Jeter. That was a keeper.
Q: With his son pitching in Lexington, Ky., close to Cincinnati, is there any way the Reds try to sign Roger Clemens? It would take a financial commitment, but he could be the starting pitcher to put this team in the playoffs, and think of the fans he'd draw on days he pitched. — Keith, Lexington
A: Clemens has four sons, all with first names beginning with 'K,' as in strikeout (Koby, Kory, Kacy, Kody), so would he leave Houston to see just one? Doubt it. Last year Houston paid him $21 million to match his uniform number. Maybe if he took uniform No. 2, the Reds could afford him. But even he wouldn't put the Reds in the playoffs. He only pitches every fifth day and they'd still be running some of those other guys out there.
Q: Eric Milton had back-to-back wins last year in Los Angeles and San Diego where home runs don't come as cheaply as they do in GABP. The National League Central, with almost all of them home run parks, is the worst he could be in. — Mike, Union
A: There has been talk about putting the outfield stands in GABP on barges and floating them across the Ohio River on days Milton and Dave Williams pitch, but some of those upper-deck shots would have gotten wet if the stands hadn't stopped them. As for the other NL Central parks, it's called Pitch and Pray.
Q: Does it make the media angry when a pitcher like Eric Milton doesn't stick around to be interviewed the way he did after his last bad start in Cincinnati? — Parsin, Dayton
A: Not angry, just spiteful. He was in front of his locker after his first two wins. To be fair, it was uncharacteristic of Milton. After all of his 15 losses last season he was there, cooperative and talkative. What players don't understand is that if they talk after bad games they can explain themselves and be remorseful and apologetic and tug on our heart strings. If you stand us up, you permit us to write what we saw, and what we see sometimes isn't pretty and our hearts turn black.
Q: Tom Browning has a new book out on his baseball career and Pete Rose wrote My Prison Without Bars. Do these players ever consult with you when writing their books? — Chris, Dayton
A: Never. Why let the facts stand in the way of a good story? Browning's book is excellent and accurate and I'm not just saying that because he wrote about me on the back cover. Well, maybe. Rose? Trust me, he didn't write it; he dictated it. As he once said, "I wrote a book before I ever read one." And I know that book is full of inaccuracies. The one mention he made about me was a falsehood. Rose and I once were friends, but when I had to do a lot of investigative questioning during his gambling problems it became a "Kill the Messenger" relationship.
Q: Tony Womack seems a bit redundant the way Brandon Phillips, Rich Aurilia and Ryan Freel have been playing. Does he have any trade value? The Indians might be able to use him and they have a wealth of young talent. — Tim, Singapore
A: He is a $1.1 million redundancy, which is what the Reds are paying him to be the fourth second baseman. Give GM Wayne Krivsky a deep bow. We all questioned his love for second basemen when he traded for Phillips when he already had three second basemen. But Phillips right now looks like the second coming of Joe Morgan, without the ego. Trading Womack won't be easy because of age (36) and it would take more than just him to pry loose good pitching from Our Tribe.
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Originally Posted by CincyRedsFan30
