Posting early; I'll be away from the comouter for the weekend. I'll try to get Sunday's done and send it to an admin to post.
Reds:
Bill McCool (68) -Had a 2.48 ERA as a 19-year-old rookie with the Reds. His arm eventually failed him, and he was done by age 25.
Bob Purkey -Knuckleballers today throw the pitch pretty exclusively, but Bob threw it as just another pitch in his arsenal...After his playing days were over he did some sportscasting for KDKA in Pittsburgh and started a successful insurance agency.
Jesse Tannehill -Started and ended his career with the Reds, but spent the bulk of it in Pittsburgh, where he was an excellent pitcher and a good enough hitter to start 87 games in the outfield....One funny story about Jesse: He and several of his teammates concocted a top-secret plan to jump to the rival American League. The plan hit a snag when Jesse injured a shoulder in a fight; he underwent surgery and under the influence of the anesthetic he blabbed the whole scheme to Pirate owner Barney Dreyfus.
Others:
Earl Williams (64) -I couldn't believe this when I read it, but Earl Williams became Atlanta's regular catcher as a rookie in 1971 without ever having played the position in the minors. That worked out about as well as you'd expect, especially when you consider that every fourth day he was trying to catch Phil Niekro...In his first start, George Foster singled, stole second, went to third on Williams' throwing error, and then stole home...He had serious power, though, and teams gave him a lot of chances while they looked for somewhere to hide him in the field.
Crash Davis- Yes, there really was a Crash Davis, and yes, he did play for the Durham Bulls. He didn't look much like Kevin Costner, though...He eventually became the baseball coach at Harvard.
Johnny Murphy -One of the pioneer relief pitchers...He compiled a 1.10 ERA in six World Series, and later became GM of the 1969 Miracle Mets.
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Originally Posted by chicoruiz
