The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Ask Hal: Phillips looks good at leadoff, or No. 2 spot

Reds hit 3 homers in big win over Rockies
5/27/12
Miami baseball ends with loss
5/27/12
Ask Hal: Imitation of others just part of the game
5/27/12
Trotwood's McCray gets OSU offer despite Michigan commit
5/27/12
Commentary: Hang in there, soccer parents
5/27/12
> More sports headlines

11:52 PM Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hall-of-fame baseball writer Hal McCoy knows a thing or two about America’s pastime. If you’d like to tap into that knowledge, send a question to halmccoy1@hotmail.com. For more Ask Hal, log on to DaytonDailyNews.com/reds

Q Would you agree that catching the St. Louis Cardinals and $5 will get manager Dusty Baker a cup of coffee at Starbucks? — Dave, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek

A Five bucks will get Baker a couple of cups of coffee at Starbucks, and if he shows up at my Kroger Starbucks I’ll buy. Heck, even my vente nonfat latte only costs $3.85. As of Friday, the Reds were six games behind the Cardinals with 19 games to go (and they don’t play each other), so catching them is fantasy.

Q Brandon Phillips obviously is the best leadoff hitter on the team, so why did it take Dusty Baker all year and for Phillips to volunteer before getting the job? — Keith, Brookville

A You’re right about Phillips being the best leadoff hitter, but he is probably the best No. 2 hitter, which is where he really should be if only Drew Stubbs could quit striking out and become a leadoff hitter. That’s what Dusty wanted — Stubbs one, Phillips two. Didn’t happen and probably won’t happen. With what Phillips is doing in the leadoff spot, look for him there in 2012, unless Pete Rose is re-instated.

Q The Reds won’t pick up Coco Cordero’s option for $12 million for 2012, but he continues to be a decent closer. With no other options is there a chance he could re-sign for a lesser salary? — Patrick, Dayton

A There are other options — Aroldis Chapman, Nick Masset, Bill Bray. I said options, not good options, although Chapman might be the answer. Cordero says he’ll sign for less for a multi-year deal, but he is 36 (in Dominican years).

Q I’m looking for winter therapeutic ways to handle my end of the Reds season of depression, so what two books (one about the Reds) would you suggest? — Kim, Beavercreek

A I’d say my book, but you’d have to read my mind because it’s still in my head. The Baseball Bible is Roger Kahn’s ‘Boys of Summer,’ a classic. The best book I’ve read about the Reds is Joe Posnanski’s ‘The Machine.’ It is about the 1975 Reds. I was there and I lived it, but Posnanski told me things I didn’t know about that team and no other book about that era ever did that.

Q Is that your nephew playing for the Cleveland Browns, and he is looking better and better at quarterback? — Bill, Dayton

A I keep shaking and shaking the family tree, hoping Colt McCoy will fall out. Hasn’t happened. And it’s the same with Mike McCoy of the Toronto Blue Jays. I do have a nephew named Mike, but his last name is Mitchell. I guess I have to stick with the Hatfields & McCoys as my relatives — the McCoys, not those infernal Hatfields (I always disliked former major-league infielder Fred Hatfield).

Q Has anyone considered making Scott Rolen the player/manager or just the manager of the Reds for 2012, because wouldn’t the players respect him and he wouldn’t be afraid to take the players to task? — Seth, Cocoa, Fla.

A Last time I checked, the Reds had a manager for 2012. I think his name is Dusty Baker. While teammates respect Rolen mightily, he isn’t the type to take anyone to task. He is the strong, silent type. And don’t assume, just because he appears laid-back, that Baker doesn’t take his players behind closed doors and give them what-for. He does. When Rolen retires, he is the kind of guy who will go back to Jasper, Ind., and be content being a father and husband.

Q Watching the walk-off victory celebrations with rugby scrums and shaving cream pies makes me wonder if these were common in your earlier days of reporting because I can only imagine the reactions of old-school pitchers like Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and Tom Seaver? — Brian, Bellbrook

A Football players dance in the end zone, basketball dunkers pound their chests and point to themselves, women’s soccer players take off their shirts. It is the time in which we live — TV face time and YouTube. Gibson, Drysdale and Seaver seldom gave up walk-off hits, but I can visualize Gibson joining the other team’s rugby scrum at home plate and watching bodies fly.

Q A ruthless guy like Tony La Russa would have gotten rid of a guy like Fred Lewis a long time ago, and isn’t that why Tony has rings and Dusty Baker doesn’t? — John, Indianapolis

A In 33 years of managing, La Russa has two World Series rings. In 18 years of managing, Baker has none, losing the only World Series he managed. And neither La Russa nor Baker make personnel moves. That’s the general manager’s job. When the season began, Baker’s options in left field were Lewis or Jonny Gomes. He tried them both. Then he tried Chris Heisey, with mixed results. They’re still searching for a left fielder and have you noticed Yonder Alonso is getting more time there these days than Lewis?

Q After watching the Toyota promotion for three years I am convinced the only way a Reds player could hit the sign is for them to re-hang the sign under the press box windows, right? — Jim, Hunter, Ohio

A Fortunately, Mark McGwire never played for the Reds when the hit-the-sign promotion was in play or they would have given away about 10 Toyota trucks a year — but we all know how McGwire accomplished his long-distance homers. And isn’t it nice that nobody hits the sign so the Reds can give the truck to a fire department after the season, and wouldn’t it look nice in the Hunter Fire Department garage? There is a Hunter. I looked it up. Population: 2,250.

1 | 2 next page »

Share this article