On this day in 1902, former Red George "Kiddo" Davis was born in Bridgeport, CT. Cincinnati acquired Davis from the New York Giants in August of 1937. He appeared in 40 games for the Reds that season and five more games the next year before Cincinnati released him. Davis also played for the Jersey City Giants in the International League in 1938 before retiring from professional baseball.
On this day in 1903, Hall of Famer and former Red Chick Hafey was born in Berkeley, CA. I wrote more about Hafey's qualifications for Cooperstown last summer.
On this day in 1935, the Reds released pitcher Ray Kolp. In his eight seasons in Cincinnati, Kolp compiled a 47-65 (.420) record with a 3.85 ERA (105 ERA+) in nearly 1100 innings.
On this day in 1959, former Red Dode Paskert died in Cleveland at the age of 77.
On this day in 1986, Todd Frazier was born in Point Pleasant, NJ.
On this day in 2002, the Montreal Expos hired Hall of Famer and former Red Frank Robinson as the team's manager. The announcement came just one day after Major League Baseball acquired the franchise from Jeffrey Loria. Robinson managed the club for the next five years, compiling a 385-425 (.475) record during a tumultuous period that saw the team move to Washington, D.C. For comparison, the Expos went a combined 135-189 (.417) during the two seasons prior to Robinson's hiring while the Nationals compiled a 132-191 (.409) mark in the two years after his departure. Thus, despite the overall losing record, Robinson's squads performed well when juxtaposed with other Montreal/Washington teams of the era.
Kevin Mitchell is Batman and Charlie Scrabbles each earned a point last time.
1) Frank Robinson is one of four players to win an MVP award and later win the Manager of the Year award. Who are the other three? A point will be awarded for each player.
2) On this day in 1949, former major league shortstop Enzo Hernandez was born in Valle de Guanape, Anzoategui, Venezuela. While with the Padres in 1971, Hernandez set a major league record for the fewest number of what in 600 or more plate appearances?
For those of you who have not yet participated in Howie's game of sheep and wolves, I highly recommend that you check it out.