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On this day in 1878, former Red and Hall of Famer Miller Huggins was born in Cincinnati. Huggins spent six good seasons as a second baseman with the Reds. He loved to walk, but could barely hit the ball out of the infield so his career on-base percentage is 68 points higher than his slugging percentage. Huggins is best known for his years managing the Murderers' Row Yankee clubs of the late 1920s.
On this day in 1886, the Red Stockings announced that the team would fly its 1882 American Association pennant at the ballpark during the upcoming season. First of all, I don't understand why the team wasn't already displaying the pennant from its 1882 championship season. Second, the team stated that the display of the pennant was "for luck" rather than out of pride or celebration. I guess you had to be there.
On this day in 1900, the Reds sold leftfielder Kip Selbach to the New York Giants. The 1899 season was Selbach's only in the Queen City, but he made the most of it, putting up a healthy .297/.386/.410 line (116 OPS+) along with 38 stolen bases and fine defense. I wrote about Selbach in greater detail this winter.
On this day in 1973, the Reds acquired infielder Phil Gagliano and outfielder Andy Kosco from the Red Sox in exchange for lefty Mel Behney.
On this day in 1989, Sports Illustrated published a piece about Pete Rose and his wagering on baseball games.
On this day in 1993, the Reds traded lefty Chris Hammond to the Florida Marlins for third baseman Gary Scott and a player to be named later. The Marlins later sent right-handed reliever Hector Carrasco to Cincinnati to fulfill the trade.
On this day in 1995, former Red Chet Nichols died in Lincoln, RI at the age of 64. Nichols was a lefty reliever who appeared in three games for the Reds in 1964. His three innings for Cincinnati that year were his last appearances in professional baseball as he retired after the 1964 season.
On this day in 2006, Cincinnati signed outfielder Terrence Long.
On this day in 2007, the Reds signed Henry "Hank-Rod" Rodriguez.
Kevin Mitchell is Batman, ams78, and ken each earned a point yesterday. ams78 still leads the race by one point over Kevin Mitchell is Batman while ken holds down third place.
1) How many times has Pete Rose appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated? I counted all the times that his likeness appeared on the cover even if he was not always the focal point.
2) Among players with at least 1000 plate appearances, Miller Huggins has the fifth highest differential between on-base percentage and slugging percentage (that is, OBP - SLG). One other former Red is in the top 10 (coming in at number eight). Name him.