Birthdays: 6/13

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Bill Bergen- Famous among baseball fans for being the absolute worst hitter ever to have a long career (it's not even close). Career BA .170; a hitless streak of 44 or 45 ABs (depending on the source)...this guy must have been an amazing defensive catcher.

Jimmy Clack -Member of the 1876 Red Stockings; he's pretty obscure, but one source lists him as the first player in baseball history to be used as a pinch hitter, so there's that...

Others

Ernie Whitt (60) -Long-time Blue Jay catcher...his real first name was "Leo"...after his playing days he wrote a book which caused a minor controversy by stating that umpire Joe Brinkman was totally incompetent.

Mel Parnell -Red Sox lefty of the 1950s, mentioned in the Terry Cashman song "Talkin' Baseball"...Being a lefty in Fenway Park is a tough gig, but Mel did it about as well as anyone could.

Gene Desautels -A career backup catcher in thr 1930s. Had a philosophy degree from Holy Cross, which probably prepared him for years of sitting on the bench...Once slid into second in a cloud of dust and was called "out" by umpire Cal Hubbard. "You can't call me out", Gene said to Cal. "And why the h*** not?" snarled Cal. "Because", replied Gene, "I'm sitting on the baseball".

[Bob Borkowski]

Bill Bergen- Famous among baseball fans for being the absolute worst hitter ever to have a long career (it's not even close). Career BA .170; a hitless streak of 44 or 45 ABs (depending on the source)...this guy must have been an amazing defensive catcher.

Throughout his 3,228 career plate appearances, Bergen was never hit by a pitch, a major league record that stood for over 85 years until broken by Mark Lemke in 1997.