Birthdays: 3/16

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Don Blasingame (80) -"Blazer" was the second baseman on the 1961 pennant winners; he later played in Japan and managed the Hanshin Tigers.

Hobie Landrith (82) -Backed up Andy Seminick and Smoky Burgess with the Reds in the early 1950s. Later became the first selection by the Mets in the 1962 expansion draft.

Lloyd Waner -Beter remembered as a Pirate, but he was a Red for a while. Holds the record for runs scored by a rookie (133). He's in the Hall of Fame, although modern sabermetricians aren't real fond of his selection.

Others:

Rick Reichardt (69) -Two-sport star at Wisconsin; the intense bidding war for him helped lead to the adoption of the draft. Later had to have a kidney removed, after which he was never quite the same player.

Buddy Myer -Splendid 2B who's largely forgotten today, but was every bit as good as number of players in the Hall. I remember reading somewhere that he was a part of the only infield in baseball history in which all four members batted left and threw right.

Jerry Denny -The last player to play his entire career without using a fielder's glove. He was ambidextrous, so it helped him to not have a glove on either hand, I guess. Set a record by handling 16 chances at third base in one game.

[Bob Borkowski]

Originally Posted by chicoruiz

Hobie Landrith (82) -...Later became the first selection by the Mets in the 1962 expansion draft.

Mets manager Casey Stengel justified the choice by explaining that, "You gotta have a catcher or you're gonna have a lot of passed balls."