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By Hal McCoy, Contributing Writer 7:26 PM Saturday, March 20, 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 Have you officially named Aroldis Chapman the Cuban Defector, and why not call him the Cuban Trajector? — Dave, Miamisburg/Centerville/Beavercreek

A Does that have anything to do with an erector set or what? What is a trajector, a tractor with an ejection seat? Chapman doesn’t need a nickname. With that fastball, opposing hitters merely call him, ‘Sir.’

Q With all the fuss over Aroldis Chapman, who was the best Reds’ left-hander in the ‘McCoy Era’? — Jerry, Dayton

A To use current vernacular, that’s a slam dunk, a behind-the-back-pass, a trey at the buzzer. Don Gullett. He was 19 when he made his major-league debut and was 109-50 for his nine-year career with a 3.63 ERA. If he hadn’t hurt his arm (and Dusty Baker had nothing to do with it) he’d be in the Hall of Fame.

Q Did the Reds have to clear it with Brandon Phillips to have Tony Phillips in camp as a guest instructor? — Rob, St. Louis

A Brandon probably would ask for Tony to be his personal coach and permanent companion. Phillips (Tony, not Brandon) is an outstanding individual, one of the most positive men I’ve ever been around. He makes Norman Vincent Peale look like a pessimist.

Q I know Ken Griffey Jr. will go in the Hall of Fame wearing a Seattle Mariners cap, but I hope he doesn’t regret his time in Cincinnati with all the grief fans gave him about injuries. — Jason, Kettering

A Junior is extremely happy in Seattle and wants no part of the Cincinnati scene. He didn’t make the trip to Goodyear with Seattle on Friday and told friends, “I’ll be invisible,” when the Reds go to Peoria, Ariz., to play the Mariners. He refused an interview this spring with a Cincinnati TV station. And that’s too bad because Griffey is one of the best human beings I’ll ever meet.

Q Do you have access to any Opening Day tickets? George, Dayton

A Sure, I can get you front row behind the screen for the Englewood Little League opener. Cincinnati? You’re on your own. Why not wait until Game 2 when there will be about 15,000 in the stands?

Q What’s your best guess about the status of Todd Frazier and Aroldis Chapman when the season opens? — Tim, Hong Kong

A Hong Kong? Wow. Isn’t Japanese baseball closer? My best guess: Frazier makes the team as a utility/fill-in player. In my world, Chapman pitches Game 2 and fills the seats, but there is only one chair behind the desk in the manager’s office and Dusty Baker sits in that, except when he isn’t there and son Darren rifles his drawers.

Q If the Reds and Indians each have a clubhouse in their shared ballpark, is there a third clubhouse for the visiting team? — William, Dayton

A Neither the Reds nor the Tribe use a clubhouse at the ballpark. They dress down the street at their separate training facilities and ride buses to and from the park. The writers? We hoof it and it is a half-mile away. Actually, I sneaked on a bus last week to interview Homer Bailey and Jonny Gomes after they left a game and returned to the complex.

Q Kevin Mitchell got a lot of respect in one of your recent blogs about who you’d want covering your back in a fight. How about John Denny, who was all over Mitchell once in a fight? — Ted, Dayton

A In 37 years, Denny was the only player I ever feared. His steel-gray eyes frightened me. And he once punched a Cincinnati writer. I heard he is now a minister and I wondered if it is with The Church of the Latter Day Contradictions. In a fight, though, I’ll still take Mitchell, who listed two of his best friends as Big Fat Stinky Mike and Japanese Tony.

Q The all-time ‘Got Your Back’ guy in a Reds uniform had to be big No. 18, Ted Kluszewski. When a fight broke out, it was Big Klu tossing bodies around. — Bill, Villa Hills, Ky.

A Not a bad guy to cover your back (and your sides and front). He was the ultimate Gentle Giant and had to be provoked. Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati Post, who was punched by players three times, once told me, “With the way I murdered Klu in print, he should have punched me once a week, but he never had a bad word for me.”

Q Will baseball be getting a new commissioner soon because I think baseball needs a baseball man in the job. — Roger, Riverside

A Bud Selig said he will retire after the 2012 season. Bud takes a lot of bad raps. He has done much for baseball, despite being appointed by the owners. And that’s the problem with the commissioner’s chair. The owners have too much to say about who sits in it. A baseball man? Selig owned the Milwaukee Brewers at one time and that’s about as baseball as one can get.

Q You said Chris Dickerson would start in left field on Opening Day because the St. Louis Cardinals will start right-hander Chris Carpenter. Still feel that way? — Ryan, Fort Loramie

A Those who selected Jonny Gomes (not many) in my Pick The Opening Day Left Fielder Dinner Contest are looking good. Gomes is tearing it up. Dickerson is playing center field and outplaying Drew Stubbs by a ton. Still a couple of weeks to go, but Stubbs needs to shift gears. Fast.

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