Ask Hal
Skinny on Arroyo: Needs more muscle
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Q You quoted Walt Jocketty as saying, "Trust me, me and Dusty Baker are very motivated." How can we have confidence in a guy running the show who uses improper vocabulary? — Dave, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek
A Vocabulary? Don't you mean grammar (and that's not your mother's mother)? Hey, if the team wanted a grammarian, it would have hired an English professor from Harvard or a descendant of Daniel Webster. What matters is if Jocketty knows the meanings of talent, draft, trade, free agency and keeping CEO Bob Castellini cool, calm and halfway collected.
Extras
Q Wouldn't the Reds sell more tickets to see Bronson Arroyo perform if they had him play the Friday night concert series this summer in the Fan Zone? — Mark, Bloomington, Ind.
A As long as they keep Chris Welsh away from him and they don't do anymore JTM commercials. How tired of that are we? Arroyo was 9-3 in his first 15 starts for the Reds in 2006. Since then he is 14-26 in 59 starts. My personal take? The guy is too skinny and needs to put some muscle on those bones. The only thing that keeps him from blowing off the mound is that long flowing hair that serves as a stabilizing sail. He's a great guy, one you pull for because he never makes excuses and he works hard. But he isn't getting it done right now.
Q Why do major-league players have to have a new ball on practically every pitch? There was an infield out in a recent game, and when the throw to first base was low, not in the dirt, they threw the ball out. — Rick, West Chester
A That's because the ball was hit on the ground before it was thrown to first, and it might have a nick, a cut or a smudge, giving the pitcher an unfair advantage of being able to make the ball do unnatural movements. Don't we take a baseball for granted? Know what it is? It weighs five ounces and is between 2.86 inches and 2.94 inches in diameter. Its center is composition cork encased in two thin layers of rubber, one red and one black, surrounded by 121 yards of tightly wrapped gray and blue wool yarn, 45 yards of white wool yarn, 53 more yards of gray-blue wool yarn, 150 yards of fine white cotton yarn, a coat of rubber cement and a cowhide cover that is held together by 216 slightly raised red cotton stitches. Drop all that on people at a party, and see how quickly you're by yourself.
Q When I look at Major League Baseball standings, I'm reminded that all divisions in both leagues have five teams with the exception of the NL Central with six and the AL West with four. Wouldn't there be more fair competition if the Astros moved to the AL West? It might even make scheduling smoother. — Bruce, Waynesville
A Just the opposite. If Houston moved to the American League, there would be 15 teams in each league. That means that every day of the season one team in each league would have nobody to play. And let's not even suggest an interleague game every day. There already are too many, which knocks scheduling out of whack. How fair is it this year for the Reds to have to play the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays in their interleague games against the AL East and not get to play Baltimore and Tampa Bay? Plus, they have home-and-home series with the Cleveland Indians. My solution? Fold about 14 franchises and go back to eight in each league so that everybody playing is a genuine, bona fide, real-deal major-leaguer.
Q I recently purchased some Reader's Digests, and in the April 1947 issue, there is a story entitled, "What Baseball Owes Babe Ruth." The story refers to Ruth's 730 home runs. When Henry Aaron was chasing Babe, the number was 714. Do you recall baseball reviewing Babe's numbers and changing them? — Bill, Villa Hills, Ky.
A Sounds as if baseball owes The Bambino about 16 home runs. What did the story say baseball owes Ruth? Never heard that one. But I have read that at one time baseballs that bounced into the seats were ruled home runs. Now they are ground-rule doubles. Maybe they took away 16 one-bounce home runs and reclassified them as doubles. Doesn't sound fair to me. It was the rule at the time.
Q In the 1970s, San Diego had two pitchers that beat the heck out of the Reds, Clay Kirby and Fred Norman. So Bob Howsam simply traded for them. Think the Reds could acquire Bill Hall and Lance Berkman? — Mark, Sun Valley, Calif.
A For the Brewers to trade Hall to the Reds and for the Astros to trade Berkman to the Reds (both teams are in Cincinnati's division), they probably would want Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez, Homer Bailey and the fake steamboat in center field. I'd give 'em the steamboat, but nothing else. Amazingly, Hall doesn't beat up on other teams, but Berkman is good at assaulting most teams. You're right about Howsam, but he was never able to get Randy Jones from the Padres. Jones, a soft-throwing left-hander, frustrated Pete Rose so much because he couldn't hit him right-handed that he batted left-handed against Jones for one at-bat. Rose struck out.
Q I feel this may be a stupid question, but is Bronson Arroyo out of options? Can he be sent to Louisville without clearing waivers and being designated for assignment? — Mike, Stanton, Ky.
A No question is stupid if you don't know the answer — even though the first question I ever asked as a baseball writer was to Reds manager Dave Bristol, and he said, "That's a stupid bleeping question. Next." On Arroyo, it doesn't matter even if he has options. He has enough service time that the Reds would need his permission to option him out. The conversation would go like this: "Would you go to Louisville to get straightened out?" Answer: "No." End of conversation. Believe it or not, Ken Griffey Jr. has all three options left because once he made the majors he was never sent back to the minors. And what do you think his answer would be?
Question of the week
Q Do you think Wayne Krivsky could have saved his job had he done a better job of working with people rather than alienate them, good people like Johnny Almaraz and Larry Barton Jr. — Mike, Houston
A He might have had more success, and that would be a yes. Krivsky, of course, brought in a lot of his own people and was more inclined to trust them than holdovers such as Almaraz and Barton. Both quit when they were not included in the inner circle and both are brilliant baseball men who could have helped Krivsky.
