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Ask Hal: What about a Volquez-for-Hamilton return?

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Updated 6:39 PM Saturday, July 31, 2010

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

Q: Would you trade Edinson Volquez to acquire Josh Hamilton? — Dave, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek.

A: Ah, good ol’ 20/20 hindsight. Right now, of course I would. Anybody would, based on what Hamilton is doing for the Texas Rangers and how Volquez is struggling to get back to form. Would you have made that trade last year when Hamilton played only 89 games? I wouldn’t have. Volquez had some excess baggage in Texas and there were some extenuating circumstances surrounding Hamilton’s trade from Cincinnati. Would you trade Scott Rolen back to Toronto for the trinkets and bobbleheads the Reds sent to the Blue Jays?

Q: I don’t play the race card, but as a 61-year-old black man it seems to me there is an underlying attitude about Dusty Baker in Cincinnati, and I wonder how much of the angst surrounding Reds fans toward some of Dusty’s decisions is due to his ethnicity? — C.C., Xenia.

A: I hate to believe that, but in some cases I wonder. Baker has this team playing at the top of its abilities, and he constantly seems to play the bench players at just the right time to get maximum results. Yet his draws more criticism than any manager I’ve covered — even the bad ones. Let’s hope it is more the accessibility of the Internet age than it is racial.

Q: Why all the concern about Mike Leake’s innings in 2010? How many innings did he pitch last year at Arizona State and since colleges play only 60 or 70 innings I can’t believe he was overworked? — Larry, Piqua.

A: It isn’t a case of him being overworked at Arizona State. He wasn’t. He pitched 142 innings. The concern is that he has never pitched MORE than that in one year and he is approaching that number of innings with the Reds. They are worrying about him running out of arm strength. And who knows how overworked he might have been in his ecology, medieval history and advanced statistics class at ASU – or was it phys ed?

Q: We never hear about umpires and how much money they make, and do they have contracts like the players? — Carl, Arcanum.

A: Umpires are like ballplayers – they starve to death in the minors but are well-fed in the majors. A minor-league umpire starts at $1,800 a month and all the clubhouse bologna sandwiches they can eat. Few make it to the majors, but the ones who do make from about $84,000 a year to $300,000 a year, depending upon longevity. Yes, they do have contracts like the players, but there are no incentive clauses bases on how many strikes they call, how many balks they call and how many arguments they win (all of them).

Q: Do you believe Major League Baseball will ever make a notation in the record books about suspected drug use in the so-called Steroids Era? — Dan, East Amherst, N.Y.

A: They tried that notation/asterisk once before, trying to place an asterisk next to Roger Maris’ name in 1961 when he hit 61 homers to pass Babe Ruth’s record of 60. Commissioner Ford Frick, who happened to be Ruth’s biographer, said the record needed an asterisk because Maris had 162 games to set the record and they only played 154 games in Ruth’s time. The asterisk was later removed, thank goodness. And I don’t see any notations ever being made in the record books about steroids. Check the record books for all the records set by Pete Rose? I’ll bet you won’t find any notations about his banishment from baseball for betting on the game.

Q: What’s the deal with ballplayers wearing sunglasses on top of their caps? Do they not realize that sun glasses won’t work unless they actually wear them on their faces? — Marty, Middletown.

A: Because that’s the cool way, the stylish way. Sun glasses these days are not to shield eyes from the sun, they are part of the ensemble, which is why Oakley can charge $200 for a pair. How many times have you seen players lose a ball in the sun with their sun glasses on top of their heads. All the time, right? If I’m the manager, I make my players wear the old flip-downs. I know, I know. Not cool. Real geeky.

Q: Why does Brandon Phillips fake — poorly, I might add — a bunt on the first pitch of every game? As a lead-off hitter he gives away a strike because the whole league knows by know he is taking the first pitch. — Jack, Dayton.

A: It is almost tradition that a lead-off hitter take the first pitch, make the pitcher throw a strike right away. Phillips has no intention of bunting, but figures by crouching as if to bunt he might distract the pitcher. Great pitchers, though, concentrate on the catcher’s mitt and the hitter could stand on his head in his athletic supporter and wriggle his ears and it wouldn’t distract the pitcher.

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