Birthdays: 12/31

[chicoruiz]

Reds:

Chris Reitsma (34) -Acquired from Boston as part of the haul for Fonzie Bichette, and later traded to Atlanta for the immortal Jung Bong.

Brian Moehler (40) -Fourteen years in the bigs without ever having what you would call a really good year. Won both the final game at Tiger Stadium and the first game at Comerica Park. Inactive in 2011 but still not officially retired. 2002 was his Reds year.

King Kelly -It's hard to sort out the fact from the fiction in Kelly's colorful career. Suffice it to say, he's credited with inventing or popularizing a number of baseball strategies; some legal and some not.

Others:

Rick Aguilera (50) -In his early years with the Mets he was kind of lost in the background behind all the hoopla surrounding Doc Gooden, but he was a pretty good starting pitcher. He came into his own, however, as a reliever for the Twins. Currently ranks 15th on the all-time save list.

Jim Tracy (56) -The Hamilton, Ohio native has several sons who have followed him into baseball.

[chicoruiz]

I might add that Jim Tracy was one of the last people to be offered a football scholarship to Xavier before they dropped the sport.

If I were to add a new player for today it might be Al Lakeman, because he's a Cincinnati native (Withrow H.S.) and because he played 16 years in the minors, and anyone who does that deserves some love.