Birthdays: 11/10

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Mike Vail (60) -Hot prospect with the Mets who never quite blossomed; came over to the Reds in 1981 as part of Dick Wagner's master plan to ruin the Big Red Machine.

Birdie Tebbetts -Managed the Reds in the mid-late 1950s when they were hitting all those home runs.

Others:

Norm Cash -A fine player who had one out-of-this-world season: 1961 when he hit .361, the highest average anyone acheived in the 1960s. Had a lot of fun playing the game; once attempted to call time out while caught in a rundown. Died young in a boating accident.

Gene Conley (81) -The only man to win world championships in two of the major sports: in 1957 with the Braves and three times in basketball backing up Bill Russell with the Celtics.

Jimmie Dykes -The first manager to win 1000 games without winning a pennant.

[George Anderson]

Originally Posted by chicoruiz

Reds:

Mike Vail (60) -Hot prospect with the Mets who never quite blossomed; came over to the Reds in 1981 as part of Dick Wagner's master plan to ruin the Big Red Machine.

.

He and Larry Biitner were the first free agents ever signed by Wagner.

No doubt good times were ahead!!!

[cumberlandreds]

I think Cash was the player who brought a piano leg with him to bat against Nolan Ryan. He said he had no chance to hit him with a regular bat. He also,IIRC,admitted to using a loaded bat during that 1961 season.

[Bob Borkowski]

Originally Posted by chicoruiz

Birdie Tebbetts -Managed the Reds in the mid-late 1950s when they were hitting all those home runs.

Wikipedia says: "Perhaps most revealing of Tebbetts's character is his recollection of an umpire who suffered dizzy spells following his return from World War 2. Afraid of losing his job, the umpire asked Tebbetts, then the Detroit Tigers catcher, to help calling balls and strikes, and Tebbetts tipped him off with hand signals following each pitch."