Birthdays: 6/12

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Gerry Arrigo (71) -Pitched two one-hitters and one two-hitter in his career; one of the one-hitters went into the ninth inning before Mike Hershberger got his team's first hit...When I was a kid, Gerry Arrigo lived in my home town, and I always thought it was weird that a major league baseball player would choose to live in Amelia, Ohio. And looking back on it now, I still think it's weird...

Red Dooin -A Cincinnati native and Xavier product who was a Red in 1915, after a long career mostly with the Phillies. He's among the career leaders in passed balls. If he were alive today he'd have a great Chris Berman nickname, like Red "Whatcha" Dooin...

Others:

Hideki Matsui (38) -He was given jersey number 55 in Japan as a young player, in the expectation that he'd break Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 homers in a season. The closest he ever got was 50...Played in his first 518 consecutive games as a major leaguer, breaking a record held by Ernie Banks.

Ryan Klesko (41) -Never became the big star many had predicted, but a solid player for a long time...An avid surfer and hunter; when Barry Bonds learned he had been indicted by a federal grand jury he was on a hunting trip with Klesko.

Matty McIntyre -If you've read Ty Cobb's biography, you know about Matty; he was the leader of the "anti-Cobb" faction of the Tigers when Ty came up, and some blame his hazing for Cobb's nasty attitude.

Joe Hornung -We've had some wonderful nicknames in the last month or so: first "The Nervous Greek", then "The Gallatin Squash". Hornung's nickname was "Ubbo Ubbo", because apparently that's what he used to call out when he made a good play at bat or in the outfield. He was a very good fielder, fielding .948 one season without benefit of using a glove (this was back around 1880). He also hit two triples in one inning (probably for a total of four "ubbos"), and later became a major league umpire.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Ryan Klesko (41) -Never became the big star many had predicted, but a solid player for a long time...An avid surfer and hunter; when Barry Bonds learned he had been indicted by a federal grand jury he was on a hunting trip with Klesko.

Makes ya wonder how many things (animals/non-animals) Barry and Ryan were shooting while together.

[Bob Borkowski]

Hideki Matsui (38) -He was given jersey number 55 in Japan as a young player, in the expectation that he'd break Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 homers in a season. The closest he ever got was 50...Played in his first 518 consecutive games as a major leaguer, breaking a record held by Ernie Banks.

He originally batted right-handed as a child. When he started playing with his older brother and his friends, Matsui was such a good hitter that his embarrassed older brother insisted that he bat left-handed or stop playing with them. He soon became an overpowering left-handed batter and stayed with it as a professional.