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Ask Hal: When runners reach second, it’s time to bear down

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A As far as anybody knows, that list is bogus, somebody’s wild guesswork. No credence. And if Aaron Boone took steroids, then I’m a nuclear physicist. He was always skinny, no big muscle mass, and none of his numbers suddenly jumped off the chart. Aaron Boone? No way.

Q Is Travis Wood, the Reds’ Double-A player in Carolina, any relation to former major-league pitcher Wilbur Wood? — Scott, Seattle

A They only things they have in common is the last name and both are left-handed. If they were related, Travis certainly would be throwing knuckleballs, which he doesn’t. Wilbur Wood’s No. 1 pitch for 19 years in the majors was a knuckleball and he had three straight 20-win seasons. Travis, by the way, the 22-year-old No. 2 draft pick in 2005, is 8-3 with a 1.36 ERA for Carolina. Look for a promotion to Class AAA Louisville soon.

Q What is it with the Reds than they can’t beat teams on the weekend? When they took two from Cleveland last weekend it was the first time this year they won games on both Saturday and Sunday? — Dirk, Hamilton

A So they’re not Weekend Warriors, eh? Entering this weekend the Reds were 3-9 on Saturday and 6-6 on Sunday. Hey, nobody likes to work on weekends, right? Sunday pretty much matches their close-to-.500 season, but Saturdays are a washout. A reason? Can’t find one, just the same as I can’t explain why they are 9-4 on Wednesday.

Q Can you find out why Homer Bailey threw only six or seven split-fingered fastballs last week against the Indians when much fuss was made about the new pitch and how it helped him turn things around? — Sean, Cincinnati

A Bailey said after the game that the baseballs were slippery and it made gripping the pitch difficult. And catcher Ryan Hanigan probably didn’t call for that many. Bailey has been told not to shake off the catcher’s signs, something he did often in his first start this year. And Hanigan is given a game plan by pitching coach Dick Pole. Bailey walked seven that night in five innings, so it probably didn’t matter what pitch he threw, or tried to throw.

Q In 1947 Ewell “The Whip” Blackwell has 23 complete games for the Reds and are there any records to indicate his pitch-count in those games? — Bob, Centerville

A Different times, my friend. Pitch counts are a relatively new things and for some reason 100 is the magic number. In Blackwell’s day they didn’t bother with pitch counts. I sat with Bob Feller in Cleveland last weekend and he told me it was nothing for him to throw 150 or 160 pitches a game. I won’t tell you what he said about modern-day pitchers because I don’t want to make you blush.

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Bronson Arroyo just sucks.... Period.

Bad!
11:00 PM, 7/5/2009

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It seems like the Reds are locked into losing 20% of their games b/c of Arroyo's slot in the rotation. With Volquez coming off of the DL after the All Star break and Bailey pitching well. Do you think that Reds are still going to hand Arroyo the ball every fifth day?

Scott, Sacramento
6:09 PM, 7/5/2009

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