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On this day in 1869, former Red Jack McCarthy was born in Hardwick, MA.
On this day in 1931, the Reds claimed Hall of Fame center fielder Edd Roush off of the waiver wire from the New York Giants. Roush had previously played in Cincinnati from 1916 through 1926. Although he sat out the 1930 season, he did play 101 games for the Reds in 1931 before calling it a career. He twice led the league in batting average and posted a career mark of .323 though he hit just .271 in his final year.
Roush is also known for wielding an enormous bat that weighed 48 ounces (SABR). For reference, the average weight of a bat today is somewhere in the low 30s. Tim Kurkjian wrote in 1996 that the average bat was about 31 ounces and noted that Julio Franco's 36-ounce bat was one of the heaviest in the game at the time (Sports Illustrated). More recently, I have heard announcers say that Alfonso Soriano uses a very heavy bat by today's standards. According to the New York Times, Soriano used to wield a 33 ½-ounce bat but has since switched to a lighter model as he has aged. Even behemoths such as Miguel Cabrera and Adam Dunn swing bats that weigh 32 ounces (Schonbrun).
On this day in 1942, Cincinnati bought outfielder Gee Walker from the Indians.
On this day in 1960, an exhibition series in Havana, Cuba between the Reds and Orioles is moved to Miami as the O's were worried (for good reason) about the increasing political unrest in the country. At the time, the International League's Havana Sugar Kings were an affiliate of the Reds. The Sugar Kings moved to New Jersey and became the Jersey City Jerseys midway through the 1960 season.
On this day in 2004, the Reds acquired lefty Jung Bong and minor league pitcher Bubba Nelson from the Braves in exchange for right-hander Chris Reitsma.
RoastBeefKazenzakis and kcgard2 each earned a point yesterday.
Edd Roush was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962 along with three other people -- two players and one manager. One person was best known as a manager. One played for the Reds, among several other teams. One played for the Dodgers, and one played for the Indians. Who are the three men? One point will be awarded for each person.