[This post was written by John Ring, who is the Nation’s correspondent from Afghanistan, where he is serving the entire nation.] It’s all quiet —- some would say too quiet -— on the Reds front. No news on Arroyo. Choo is gone. No trades. Nothing. So while we collectively ponder the state of the current […]
It’s my belief that baseball is a game that is made up of more small moments that craft themselves into great and memorable moments than any other sport in the world.
Even Buzkashi
The game’s natural movement from step A to step B enables small dramas to be inserted into contests throughout the season, and the years. This is what shapes our baseball memories, small moments, significant to us and often to the history of the game On the franchise level, the Reds grabbed the golden ring as summer kicked off with a bang when one player became the 27th Red to perform a rare batting feat…a feat that is so rare that only 23 players in the long history of the franchise have achieved it. A feat that Ted Kluszewski accomplished, Frank Robinson as well… why, Gus Bell did it twice!
Heck George Foster did it….and even Pete did it.
But ya know what?
Joe Morgan never did it. Ken Griffey Jr., Tony Perez and Adam Dunn never did it. Lee May, Wally Post: nope.
But Chris Heisey has.
November 21, 1870: The Cincinnati Red Stockings were no more. On this date, the Cincinnati Base Ball Club announced it would only use amateur players for the 1871 season. From “Redleg Journal” by Greg Rhodes and John Snyder:
October 28, 1996: The Cincinnati Reds acquire former all-star outfielder Ruben Sierra from the Detroit Tigers for two minor league prospects, pitcher Ben Bailey and outfielder Decomba Conner. The Reds were looking for some outfield help after the 1996 season. The Reds had finished first in the 1995 National League Central Division with a 85-59 […]
September 24, 1924: Reds starting pitcher Carl Mays wins his 20th game of the season as the Reds defeat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-6.
Oh, wait…may be this happened on September 20th….baseball-reference.com’s bullpen says it’s the 24th of September, as does “Redleg Journal” (by Greg Rhodes and John Snyder), but baseball-reference.com’s team pages say it was September 20th. Nevertheless, Mays becomes the first pitcher to win 20 games with three different teams. Mays won 22 and 21 for the Boston Red Sox in 1917-18, won 26 and 27 for the New York Yankees in 1920-21, and won 20 for the Reds in 1924. Only two other pitchers won 20 or more games with three different teams, Hall of Famers Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander and Gaylord Perry.
Mays finishes his 1924 Reds season with a 20-9 record and a 3.15 ERA (119 ERA+). Mays had one another excellent Reds season, going 19-12 with a 3.14 ERA and leading the league with 24 complete games in 1926. For his career, Mays was 208-126 with a 2.92 ERA; with the Reds over five years, Mays was 49-34 with a 3.26 ERA. Mays is best known or an unfortunate incident, for he’s the only major league pitcher to kill a batter with a pitched baseball. Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was hit in the temple by a Mays pitch (Mays was with the New York Yankees at the time) and died the next morning. Mays wasn’t a popular player and this made things worse and some teams called for him to be banned from baseball. Mays said repeatedly the incident was an accident, but the beaning may have been what has kept Mays out of the Hall of Fame. More about Mays can be read here.
Summarizing the Redleg Trade Review series, today I’ll list my ten worst Reds trades ever. You can search all the trades that were reviewed by going to the Redleg Nation search engine at the upper right corner of the page. I don’t know if it’s a matter of perspective or exactly why it seems this way, but it sure seems that we’ve made a bunch of, let’s just say, not-so-profitable trades over the years.
1. December 15, 1900….Christy Mathewson traded to the New York Giants for pitcher Amos Rusie. I’ll make it simple: Christy Mathewson is one of the five best pitchers of all time, winning 373 lifetime games. He won one with the Reds. Amos Rusie is also a Hall of Fame pitcher. He won 245 lifetime games, zero with the Reds.
2. December 9, 1965: Frank Robinson is traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and Dick Simpson. Unfortunately, this is one of the most famous baseball trades of all time with no good light shining on the Reds.
3. December 13, 1934: Johnny Mize is purchased by the Cincinnati Reds from the St. Louis Cardinals.
April 15, 1935: Returned to the St. Louis Cardinals by the Cincinnati Reds following previous purchase.
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April 5, 1996: Eduardo Perez is traded by the California Angels to the Cincinnati Reds for Will Pennyfeather. November 10, 1997: Dmitri Young traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Cincinnati Reds for Jeff Brantley. February 5, 1998: Roberto Petagine is traded by the New York Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Yuri Sanchez […]
February 15, 1988: Jeff Montgomery is traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Kansas City Royals for Van Snider.
November 27, 1991: John Wetteland is traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Tim Belcher to the Cincinnati Reds for Eric Davis and Kip Gross.
December 11, 1991: John Wetteland is traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Bill Risley to the Montreal Expos for Willie Greene, Dave Martinez and Scott Ruskin
November 17, 1992: Trevor Hoffman is drafted by the Florida Marlins from the Cincinnati Reds as the 8th pick in the 1992 expansion draft.