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On this day in 1854, former Red and Hall of Famer Old Hoss Radbourn was born in Rochester, NY. Radbourn is most famous for setting the single-season wins record with 59 in 1884. Old Hoss pitched 678.2 innings (second place all-time) for the first place Providence Grays that year. He led the league in winning percentage (.831), ERA (1.38), strikeouts (441), and ERA+ (205) among other categories. His pitching performance was worth a staggering 18.6 bWAR. To get a feel for his dominance that season, imagine someone pitching with the effectiveness of Aroldis Chapman in 2010 (206 ERA+) for 678.2 innings, or about three average seasons for Bronson Arroyo as a Red (213 innings per year). Radbourn spent the last season of his career (1891) in Cincinnati.
On this day in 1888, former Red Fred Toney was born in Nashville, TN. Toney was one-half of the famous "double no-hitter" between the Reds and the Cubs on May 2, 1917. Both Toney and Chicago's Hippo Vaughn threw nine innings of no-hit ball before the Reds scratched across a run in the top of the 10th. Toney finished the job in the bottom of the 10th to preserve his no-hitter.
On this day in 1923, the Reds bought submarine right-hander Carl Mays from the New York Yankees.
On this day in 1959, former Red and Hall of Fame first baseman Jim Bottomley died in St. Louis at the age of 59.
On this day in 1991, the Reds traded closer John Wetteland and righty reliever Bill Risley to the Montreal Expos for third baseman Willie Greene, outfielder Dave Martinez, and lefty reliever Scott Ruskin.
On this day in 1992, the Reds signed second baseman Juan Samuel.
On this day in 2001, the Reds traded outfielder/first baseman Dmitri "Da Meat Hook" Young to the Detroit Tigers for outfielder Juan Encarnacion and right-hander Luis Pineda.
On this day in 2009, the Reds signed outfielder Laynce Nix.
Buckeye Brawler and ams78 each earned a point last time.
Both of today's trivia questions feature horrific on-field injuries.
1) On August 16, 1920, Carl Mays hit a batter in the head with a fastball. The batter later died of the injury. Who was the batter?
2) On August 31, 2007, Juan Encarnacion was hit in the eye by a foul ball while waiting in the on-deck circle. The ball broke Encarnacion's eye socket and ended his career. Which player hit the foul ball?