Some weeks I do more cartoons, some weeks less. It all depends on whether I'm working on other projects. This week I was only able to get to one toon because of the other thing I'm working on. (I can't tell you what that project is just yet, but it might be the most important thing ever.)
New Reds player Scooter Gennett made history Tuesday night by becoming one of the few Major League Baseball players to ever hit four home runs in a single game. His feat was that much more incredible because one of those homers was a grand slam, and he racked up 10 RBIs. We Cincinnatians often get down about the Reds, and it felt good as an editorial cartoonist to celebrate something for a change.
The first sketch was playing off the idea that what Gennett did was a "miracle." When thinking of the divine, I couldn't help but think of heaven. And who in heaven would love Gennett's game? Why, Joe Nuxhall, of course. But while I loved mentioning Nuxy in a sketch, it was getting too far away from the idea.
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Just days before former Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips said Gennett wearing the number four — Phillips number when he played here — was a "slap in the face." Four home runs and a little controversy over the number 4? Sounds like a good direction to go in with a cartoon, and I could do a bit of editorializing, too. I started by drawing four baseballs — one for each home run — and a caption stating that's why Scooter gets to wear number 4. The caption was there, but the drawing was blah.
I saw that after the game, Gennett had to give his uniform up to be sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. That gave me another direction to go in. I drew Mr. Redlegs — my standby avatar for the Reds in general — putting Gennett's uniform into a box destined for Cooperstown. Yes, I know the Reds were wearing a camo-print uniform that night, but I felt using a regular jersey would read better. Once I'd done this sketch, I knew I'd hit on what I was going to draw.
