Birthdays- 10/23

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Ewell Blackwell -"The Whip" pitched a no-hitter in 1947 and then took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his next start. Eddie Stanky broke it up.

Lena Blackburne -Played for the Reds in 1918, but is better remembered as the marketer of Blackburne's Rubbing Mud, a variation of which is still used to rub down baseballs at all ML games.

Others:

John Lackey (33) -Fried chicken or no fried chicken, boy did he stink this year.

Bo McLaughlin (58) -Mentioned here because I went to high school with him.

Jim Bunning (80) -Terrific pitcher; only won 20 once but won 19 four other times.

Vern Stephens -In his twenties he was one of the best all-around players in baseball, then he tore up a knee and went downhill fast. Died young and is largely forgotten today.

[Bob Borkowski]

Reds:

Ewell Blackwell -"The Whip" pitched a no-hitter in 1947 and then took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his next start. Eddie Stanky broke it up.

Blackie was extremely intimidating, especially for right-handed hitters. He was 6'6" and had a bizarre sidearm delivery...I remember Bob Elliott of the Boston Braves back then describing his pitches as "coming from third base". The guy had a little bit of a mean streak too, he didn't mind plunking a batter if he felt like it. In 1947 he had a 22-7 season with 16 consecutive complete game victories for a weak-hitting team.

In 1949 he had a kidney removed after it became infected and had to have an emergency appendectomy in 1950. These medical problems, along with the strain on his arm from his unusual delivery resulted in a somewhat shortened career. He was in the bigs from 1946 thru 1955.