Happy Reds birthday, Dave Tomlin!
June 22, 1949
The Reds traded Dave Tomlin to the Padres after the 1973 season for Clay Kirby. He spent four years in San Diego before he was traded to the Rangers for Gaylord Perry. Before h threw a pitch in Texas, though, the Reds purchased his contract and he spent more years in Cincinnati. He later played for the Expos and Pirates.
Happy Reds birthday, Bryan Price!
June 22, 1962
Bryan Price is inexplicably in his fourth season as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. His ineptness as skipper has been on full display since his first season. While he was initially a welcome change to Dusty Baker, it is clear he was not the right option to lead this team. He was a fantastic pitching coach, and I hope when the Reds finally sever ties with him, he is able to fill that role for another team again.
Happy Reds birthday, Jackie Collum!
June 21, 1927
Jackie Collum showed signs of brilliance early in life. As a 10-year old sixth grader, Collum played second base for Newburg High School in Iowa. His older brothers were pitchers on the team. After they graduated, he moved to the mound, and for a time was the only pitcher on the high school roster. In one double header, Collum pitched and won the first game left-handed, then pitched and won the second game right-handed. In three years with the Reds, Collum went 23-22 with a 3.70 ERA.
I’ve Been Everywhere, Man
Well, not quite everywhere. I love visiting other teams’ ballparks and watching games there. This past weekend, my wife and I took a quick trip to California and caught the Angels hosting the Royals in Anaheim. Unfortunately, the Dodgers were out of town (in Cincinnati, actually), and we only had a few days in the Golden State. I was disappointed Mike Trout was injured, but I saw him play in the All-Star Game a couple years ago in Cincinnati, so it’s all good. We also took a stroll down Santa Monica Pier and spent Saturday at Disneyland. It was a pretty cool weekend.
Here is a list of all the current MLB teams, when I visited their stadium, and which stadium. I’m hoping to add another team and stadium next summer.
| Baltimore | 2010, 2011 | Camden Yards |
| Boston | 1991 | Fenway |
| New York Yankees | 1991 | old Yankee Stadium |
| Tampa Bay | 2016 | Tropicana Field |
| Toronto | ||
| Atlanta | ||
| Miami | ||
| New York Mets | 1991 | Shea Stadium |
| Philadelphia | ||
| Washington | 2010 | Nationals Park |
| Chicago White Sox | 1989, 1992 | old Comiskey, new Comiskey |
| Cleveland | 1988 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| Detroit | 1988 | Tiger Stadium |
| Kansas City | ||
| Minnesota | ||
| Chicago Cubs | 1989, 1992, 2001 | Wrigley Field |
| Cincinnati | many | Riverfront, Cinergy, Great American Ballpark |
| Milwaukee | ||
| Pittsburgh | 1988, 2011 | Three Rivers Stadium, PNC Park |
| St. Louis | 2014 | Busch Stadium |
| Houston | ||
| Anaheim | 2017 | Angels Stadium |
| Oakland | ||
| Seattle | ||
| Texas | ||
| Arizona | ||
| Colorado | ||
| Los Angeles | ||
| San Diego | ||
| San Francisco |
Obviously, I need to make a few more trips out west.
Happy Reds birthday, Gary Varsho!
June 20, 1961
Gary Varsho is only pictured on four baseball cards as a Cincinnati Red, and I’m not sure two of those really count. He has two cards in the 1993 Bicycle Playing Cards set, but both show him wearing blacked-out Pirates gear. The only two cards actually showing Varsho in Reds duds are 1993 Kahn’s (which I don’t have) and 1994 Pacific (which I also don’t have).
Happy Reds birthday, Paul Bako!
June 20, 1972
Paul Bako played in the majors for 12 years, and spent time with 11 different teams. He reached career highs in 2008 with the Reds, his second-to-last team, in games played, plate appearances, runs scored, home runs, and RBI.
Happy Reds birthday, Juan Castro!
June 20, 1972
Juan Castro played in part of 17 seasons in the majors, including two stints with the Reds (2000-2004 and 2006-2008). He also played for the Dodgers, Twins, Orioles, Dodgers again, Phillies, and Dodgers a third time. He was also a part of the Rockies organization for a few months in 2008, but spent that entire time in Colorado Springs.
Happy Reds birthday, Jerry Reuss!
June 19, 1949
Jerry Reuss is somewhat of a legend among card collecting bloggers. Way back in 2010, Reuss took the time to comment on one of Night Owl’s posts. This isn’t the last time a player has commented on a card blog, but this was the first that I recall and it caused a bit of a stir in this at-the-time-much-smaller community. You see, back in 2010, there weren’t five hundred gazillion blogs. They were easier to keep up with. Now, there’s a blog for every conceivable niche of collecting. Night Owl was, and still is, one of the very best. Maybe the best. I can’t think of better off the top of my head.
Sadly, Reuss was never featured as a Red on cardboard. He split 1987 between three teams: the Dodgers, Reds, and Angels. His 1987 cards all show him in Los Angeles, while his 1988 base cards picture him in the other Los Angeles (of Anaheim). His Cincinnati career is relegated to a line on baseball-reference.com. Fortunately, there is photographic evidence that Reuss played in Cincinnati found on his flickr page along with a ton of other awesome photos from his career.
Happy Reds birthday, Bruce Chen!
June 19, 1977
Bruce Chen is one of several Panamanian-born players in baseball history. The two most famous are Hall of Famer Rod Carew and future Famer Mariano Rivera. Chen played for 11 different teams in 17 years: the Braves, Phillies, Mets, Expos, Reds, Astros, Red Sox, Orioles, Rangers, Royals, and Indians.
Happy Reds birthday, Devin Mesoraco!
June 19, 1988
Injuries have hampered Devin Mesoraco since his 2014 All-Star appearance. The catcher who was once seen as the future of the franchise isn’t even on the All-Star ballot this year, as he started the season on the disabled list. He was a first-round draft pick in 2007, which was an impressive class: David Price, Jason Heyward, Madison Bumgarner, and Matt Wieters were also taken among the first fifteen picks.
