Birthdays: 1/29

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Jim Baumer- Utility IF who began the 1961 season with the Reds before being traded for another utility IF, Dick Gernert, in May.

Hank Edwards- OF who played for the Reds in the early '50s.

Other:

Jair Jurrjens (26) -Jair speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamoto.

Jason Schmidt (39) -Struck out 16 on 6/6/06 to tie a Giant franchise record held by Christy Mathewson.

Steve Sax (52) -Despite being a five-time all-star and having almost 2000 career hits, he's mostly remembered for the spell he had in which he was unable to throw the ball to first base. Pedro Guererro, an OF pressed into duty at third that year, said, "When I'm at third, the first thing I do is pray it's not hit to me. The second thing is pray that it's not hit to Sax".

Bill Voiselle -If anyone asks you what major leaguer wore the name of his hometown on his jersey, the answer is Big Bill Voiselle, who hailed from Ninety-Six, North Carolina and got dispensation from the commissioner to wear that number to honor his hometown.

[UKFlounder]

Pedro Guererro also once said (paraphrasing): "The trouble with the media is they print what I say, not what I mean."

[oneupper]

Most Curaçaoleans (like Jair Jurrjens) speak those four languages. Papiamento is the local dialect. English and Dutch are taught at school. And Spanish they get from watching telenovelas (soap operas) from Venezuela. Curaçao is close enough to Venezuela to get over the air TV signals.

[Bob Borkowski]

Steve Sax (52) -Despite being a five-time all-star and having almost 2000 career hits, he's mostly remembered for the spell he had in which he was unable to throw the ball to first base. Pedro Guererro, an OF pressed into duty at third that year, said, "When I'm at third, the first thing I do is pray it's not hit to me. The second thing is pray that it's not hit to Sax".

During that period when Sax's accuracy declined, fans sitting behind the first base dugout began wearing batting helmets as mock protection.