Birthdays: 5/14

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Jim Crowell (38) -Lefty who pitched six innings for the 1997 Reds, then surfaced a number of years later for brief cups of coffee with Philly and Florida.

Tony Perez (70) -My absolute favorite Red ever. On the field, off the field, whatever... a great hitter and a class act all the way. It still feels wrong that he's not with the Reds organization... thanks, Leatherpants.

Others:

Roy Halladay (37) -Before each start he goes into "isolation mode" where he visualizes the entire game and refuses to acknowledge anyone who speaks to him.

Dennis Martinez (57) -Winningest Latin pitcher of all time. Currently the Minister of Sport for Nicaragua.

Dick Howser -First Florida State alum to make the majors. The field there is named for Howser, who died tragically of a brain tumor at age 51.

Earl Combs - Underqualified HOFer in my opinion. Pronounced his last name to rhyme with "tombs".

Ed Walsh -Lowest career ERA of any long-time starter: 1.82. In 1908 he went 40-15 with a 1.42 ERA, the last pitcher to win 40...Talk about your lack of support; in 1910 he went 18-20 with an ERA of 1.27!

[cumberlandreds]

Earl Combs is from Hazard, Kentucky. One of the few MLB players from the mountains of Kentucky.
Perez is one of my favorites too. It seemed he would always have a big day on his birthday in his playing days.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Thanks, chico, for posting these.

[Bob Borkowski]

Tony Perez (70) -My absolute favorite Red ever. On the field, off the field, whatever... a great hitter and a class act all the way. It still feels wrong that he's not with the Reds organization... thanks, Leatherpants.

Tony was never on the disabled list during his 23-year Major League career.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Tony was never on the disabled list during his 23-year Major League career.

That is an amazing stat IMO. I knew doggie was durable, but to NEVER go on the DL?!? Wow.

[Bob Borkowski]

That is an amazing stat IMO. I knew doggie was durable, but to NEVER go on the DL?!? Wow.

Yep, I thought so too. My source on that piece of info is Tony's page on Wikipedia.

Quote: Pérez was never on the disabled list during his 23-year Major League career. The longest stretch of games that he missed due to injury was 10, after he was struck on the right thumb by a pitch from the Philadelphia Phillies' Jim Lonborg in 1975.