Birthdays: 3/7

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Jack Armstrong (47) -Starting pitcher in the 1990 All-Star Game. His son is a top prospect now.

Others:

Jeff Kent (44) -MVP in 2000. Had a reputation as kind of a crank even before he played wth Barry Bonds.

Joe Carter (52) -Famous, of course, for winning the 1993 World Series for Toronto with a walk-off home run, the first one since 1960.

Jeff Burroughs (61) -A good hitter and the 1974 MVP, but maybe the worst left fielder I've ever witnessed personally. Coached a team to the Little League World Series Championship (after the other team was DQ-ed), and, I think, coached Chase Utley in Little League. One other note: when he signed his first professional contracts, he demanded that a clause be included specifying that his parents were to get none of his money whatsoever. I bet there's a backstory there...

J.R. Richard (62) -I must conferss, I thought James Rodney was dead; apparently I was wrong. He seems to have turned his life around, actually. In his prime he was probably the most intimidating pitcher of the 1970s.

Bobo Hollomon- On May 6, 1953, Bobo pitched a no-hitter in his major league debut- the only 20th-century pitcher to do so. It was one of only three career wins for Bobo; he was back in the minors by the end of the season. He also drove in three runs in the game; they were the only RBIs of his career.

[gilpdawg]

Armstrong is 47? Man I feel old.

I'm surprised you didn't throw in a crack about Jeff Kent washing his truck. I once named a fantasy team "Jeff Kent's Truck Wash."

[oneupper]

JR is alive? I also thought he was dead. The guy had a heart attack while still playing and then after retiring was living under a bridge somewhere, IIRC.

[_Sir_Charles_]

JR is alive? I also thought he was dead. The guy had a heart attack while still playing and then after retiring was living under a bridge somewhere, IIRC.

What?!? I've met JR several times through the years. There was a couple of years that I delivered pizzas as a second job and JR's house was on my route. He lives in a nice neighborhood with a beautiful 2 story home. Really nice guy too.

And he had a stroke, not a heart attack.

~edit~ Wow, you were right. After I'd known him, he got divorced (twice) and was homeless for a while. Really sad. He's now a minister.

My apologies oneupper.

[cumberlandreds]

Richard was one of the hardest throwing pitchers I still have ever seen. He was something else before he had his stroke. I thought for a long time also that he had died. I think someone posted an article on RZ about him a while back? Back just before he had the stroke he started complaining about his arm hurting and not feeling right. Doctors examined him and couldn't find anything wrong. Lot of people said he was just being lazy and was wanting a new contract. Wasn't long after that was when he had his stroke. Since then I have never questioned a players injury or well being. I'll take his word for it and won't judge that part of him.

[Bob Borkowski]

During Richard's first 4 years in the Astro organization he bounced back and forth between the minors and the big club because of his wildness. However, Richard often told reporters that racism played a role in keeping him from becoming a regular with the big club sooner.