This day in baseball: Bumpus Jones throws a no-hitter
Posted: October 15, 2021 Filed under: 19th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bumpus Jones, Cincinnati Reds, history, Major League Baseball, MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates, sports Leave a commentCharles “Bumpus” Jones of the Cincinnati Reds threw a no-hitter in his first major league appearance on October 15, 1892, which also happened to be the last day of the season. Jones’s performance came against the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Reds were victorious, 7–1. Jones gave up four walks in the outing, and an error led to an unearned run to prevent a shutout. Nevertheless, Jones became the first major league rookie to throw a no-hitter.
Bumpus Jones, c.1897-1898 with the Columbus Senators (SABR)
This day in baseball: Black Sox admissions
Posted: September 28, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: 1919 World Series, Baseball, Black Sox, Black Sox Scandal, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Commissioner of Baseball, Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, history, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Lefty Williams, Major League Baseball, MLB, Shoeless Joe Jackson, sports, World Series Leave a commentOn September 28, 1920, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Joe Jackson, and Happy Felsch admitted to a grand jury that they had thrown the 1919 series in return for a bribe. The grand jury would indict eight White Sox players on charges of fixing previous season’s World Series against the Reds. The eight members involved in the Black Sox Scandal would go on to be cleared of the charges, but they would be banned for life from baseball by Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball’s first commissioner.
1919 Chicago White Sox (umkc.edu)
This day in baseball: Sewell released by Cincinnati
Posted: July 28, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Bill Veeck, Cincinnati Reds, history, Luke Sewell, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Yankees, Rogers Hornsby, sports, St. Louis Browns Leave a commentOn July 28, 1952, the Cincinnati Reds fired manager Luke Sewell. Sewell was then replaced by the recently released skipper of the St. Louis Browns, Rogers Hornsby, who was fired due to a disagreement with Bill Veeck over an incident against the Yankees. The Reds went 27-23 for the rest of the season.
Wikipedia
This day in baseball: Waner turns down his 3,000th hit
Posted: June 17, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Boston Braves, Braves Field, Cincinnati Reds, Eddie Joost, history, Jerry Moore, Major League Baseball, MLB, Paul Waner, Pittsburgh Pirates, Rip Sewell, sports Leave a commentOn June 17, 1942, Braves right fielder Paul Waner stood on first base during the second game of a double-header against the Cincinnati Reds and gestured at the official scorer not to credit him with a hit. Waner had just reached base on a ground ball in the hole that was knocked down by Reds shortstop Eddie Joost.
Waner had entered the game at Braves Field batting just .263 for the year, but he was nearing a major milestone — his 3,000th career hit. When the ground ball knocked down by Joost was initially scored a hit, Waner grew furious. “No, no. Don’t give me a hit on that. I won’t take it,” he yelled. Waner didn’t want a questionable roller to be his historic 3,000th hit.
Jerry Moore, who was acting as official scorer for the game, relented, and he changed the scoring on the play to an error by Joost. (I haven’t been able to find anything depicting Joost’s reaction to this decision, however.)
Two days later, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Waner laced an RBI single off Rip Sewell, his former teammate on the Pirates. In doing so, he became just the seventh player in major league history to hit the 3,000 mark.
Box score for Waner’s 3,000th hit game (The Sporting News)
Branch Rickey’s scouting report of Hank Aaron
Posted: June 11, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: Baseball, Branch Rickey, Cincinnati Reds, Hank Aaron, history, Library of Congress, Major League Baseball, Milwaukee Braves, MLB, sports 3 CommentsHere’s an interesting find from the Library of Congress. Dated May 2, 1963, Branch Rickey wrote up a scouting report of Hammerin’ Hank Aaron.
Cincinnati, Ohio
May 2, 1963
Cincinnati vs Milwaukee
AARON, HANK
Surely one of the greatest hitters in baseball today. Can hit late with power, – good wrists. But in spite of his hitting record and admitted power ability, one cannot help think that Aaron is frequently a guess hitter. Will take three strikes down the middle and in fact frequently acts frozen on pitches. For years I have believed and I still believe that Aaron has more trouble with the breaking stuff. He stands close enough to the plate to pull the outside ball and does pull it. However, he is a foot length further from the plate than Frank Robinson of Cincinnati.
BRANCH RICKEY
[Transcribed and reviewed by volunteers participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.]
It’s an interesting review of Aaron’s hitting, pretty much right in the middle of his MLB career. Looking at the box score, Aaron went 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs in this game, but also struck out twice.
While I am too young to have ever watched Aaron’s hitting, what limited knowledge I have makes me think Rickey might not have been alone in his perception of him as a “guess hitter.” At the same time, I would also wager that Aaron might have read pitches better than he sometimes let on.
If you’re interested, you can find the digital document on the Library of Congress website here.
Quote of the day
Posted: October 17, 2020 Filed under: Quote of the day | Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, Cincinnati Reds, Jim Palmer, Joe Morgan, Major League Baseball, MLB, quotes, sports Leave a commentI knew if I walked him and he felt good, he’d steal second. And if he felt really good, he’d steal third. That would be like throwing a triple. So I gave him a low fastball, and he hit a home run.
~Jim Palmer on Joe Morgan
Jim Palmer and Joe Morgan (Getty Images)
RIP Joe Morgan
Posted: October 12, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Cincinnati Reds, Gold Glove Award, Houston Astros, Joe Morgan, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Silver Slugger, sports, World Series 2 CommentsLegendary second baseman Joe Morgan played Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. Over the course of his career, Morgan won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the National League MVP in each of those years. Morgan was also a ten-time All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove winner, and won the Silver Slugger award in 1982. Morgan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, and he has also been inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame and the Astros Hall of Fame.
Joe Morgan died on October 11, 2020 in Danville, California at the age of 77.
Rest in peace.
Joe Morgan, 1973 (Baseball Hall of Fame)
RIP Tom Seaver
Posted: September 3, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, coronavirus, COVID-19, Cy Young Award, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National League, New York Mets, Rookie of the Year, Tom Seaver 1 CommentWith a nickname like “Tom Terrific,” you know he was good at his job. Born November 17, 1944, Tom Seaver pitched for twenty seasons in Major League Baseball. Over the course of his career, he played for the New York Mets, the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago White Sox, and the Boston Red Sox.
Seaver won the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1967, and during his career, he won three NL Cy Young Awards. He was also a 12-time All-Star, compiling 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 ERA. Just to pad the résumé a little, Seaver even threw a no-hitter in 1978.
Tom Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He passed away a few days ago, on August 31, 2020 from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
Rest in peace.
Wikimedia Commons
Sparky Anderson’s Hall of Fame induction speech
Posted: April 11, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Baseball, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Sparky Anderson, sports Leave a commentThis might be my favorite Hall of Fame induction speech that I have listened to thus far. Sparky Anderson speaks with an energy and an attitude that makes me smile. I particularly like how he pronounces “Cincinnati.” Sparky Anderson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.
This day in baseball: Red Barber hired
Posted: April 5, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: Baseball, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Larry MacPhail, Major League Baseball, MLB, Red Barber, sports Leave a commentOn April 5, 1934, Cincinnati Reds president Larry MacPhail hired Red Barber to broadcast the team games on WLW radio. Nicknamed “Ol’ Redhead,” due to the color of his hair, Barber spent the first five years of his Hall of Fame career in Cincinnati before moving to the Dodgers alongside MacPhail in 1939.
University of Florida
