Birthdays- 8/28

[chicoruiz]

Sorry this is late; kind of a nutty day...

Reds:

Tom Shearn (34) -Nice human interest story which you all probably know; career minor leaguer finally gets shot in the bigs with hometown team and goes 3-0.

Darren Lewis (44) -Came to Reds with in Deion Sanders trade; the Reds also acquired Burba and Portugal (the pitcher, not the country...)

Joel Youngblood (60) -1970 2nd-round draft choice of the Reds, ended up spending only the very beginning and very end of a long career in Cincy.

Lou Piniella (68)

Others:

Tommy Hansen (25)

Ron Guidry (61) -His 1978 season crosses the line from "great" to "are-you-freaking-kidding-me"...

Mike Torrez (65) Facially he always reminded me a little of Joe Torre, which is not a compliment. Best remembered for two things he'd rather forget: beaning Dickie Thon and giving up the famous Bucky Dent homer.

Charlie Grimm -Looooong career as player and manager without, if you don't mind my saying so, being particularly good at either job. Nicknamed "Jolly Cholly"...

[cumberlandreds]

Guidry-- Yes for two or three seasons he was amazing and as good as it gets. 1978 was just an astonishing season.

[reds1869]

I worked with Tom Shearn's mother when I lived in Columbus and got to know him pretty well (in his pre-Reds days). He is a great guy from a great family. He also has a tremendous sense of humor.

[chicoruiz]

In my haste to get this in last year I neglected to mention Dode Paskert, who played for the Reds for four seasons in the early part of the 20th century. Dode was a slap-hitting center fielder known for speed and defense. He was once imprisoned briefly in 1914 when a car he was driving accidentally struck and killed a young boy; Paskert rushed him to the hospital but it was too late. He did, however, gain a measure of redemption seven years later when he spotted a house on fire and rushed into it to help. He made three trips into the burning house to rescue people, suffering severe burns himself but rescuing fifteen people, including five children he carried out on his shoulders.

His real name, by the way, was George; "Dode" was a turn-of-the-century nickname for someone not considered to be very bright.

[Bob Borkowski]

Sorry this is late; kind of a nutty day...

Reds:

Lou Piniella (68)

One of my top 5 favorite managers during my years of follwing the Reds. (1) Birdie Tebbetts. A psychologist...handled players as individuals, in direct contrast to Rogers Hornsby who had the job before him (2) Fred Hutchinson. Fiery, had a passion for winning (3) Sparky. He was, well, Sparky (4) Lou. See description #2 (5) Davey Johnson. Solid, left the Reds way too soon.