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Happy Birthday–August 16

If you like old baseball nicknames, this is your day:

Hick Carpenter (1855)
Baby Doll Jacobsen (1890)
Fats Fothergill (1897)
Tiny Bonham (1913)
Gene Woodling (1922)
Puddin' Head Jones (1925)
Buck Rodgers (1938)
Mike Jorgensen (1948)
Al Holland (1952)
Rick Reed (1964)
Xavier Hernandez (1965)
Damian Jackson (1973)
Roger Cedeno (1974)

Pitcher Rick Reed was drafted out of Marshall University in the 26th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1986.  He made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 1988, and spent the next eight years bouncing back and forth between AAA and the majors, first with the Pirates, then with Kansas City, Texas, and Cincinnati.  After playing at AAA for all of 1996 with the Mets, Reed finally made the big-leagues to stay in 1997 at the age of 32.  He was a rotation starter for the Mets, and a good one, from 1997 through July of 2001, when he was traded at the deadline to Minnesota for Matt Lawton.  Reed did not pitch well for the Twins that year, but had a solid year in 2002, helping the team to the playoffs.  After a poor 2003, when he was 38, the Twins released him.  He signed with Pittsburgh that off-season, but did not make the team and called it a career.  He became the pitching coach at Marshall University in 2005, but apparently no longer holds that position.

This entry was posted by Jeff A on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Featured Articles. It is one of 540 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.

6 comments to Happy Birthday–August 16

  • davidwatts
    August 16th, 2009 at 8:53 am

    also, Rick Reed was a replacement player in 1995 (the 1994 Strike marked its 15 year Anniversary last Tuesday)

    and of course, you can't bring up Rick Reed without mentioning how Jim Thome abused him. .444/.500/1.481/1.981 slash line in 30 plate appearances. 12 hits, 9 of them HR's (also 1 double) in 27 at bats. In 2002, Thome had 8 hits against Reed, 7 of them homers, the other hit a double

    • SBG
      August 16th, 2009 at 9:14 am

      That's cover your eyes bad.

    • Rhubarb_Runner
      August 16th, 2009 at 10:44 am

      Maybe I recall incorrectly, but I believe he chose to be a replacement player during the strike because he had medical bills (mother?) that needed paying. There was some sort of mitigating circumstance.

      • brianS
        August 16th, 2009 at 11:29 am

        According to ESPN The Mag:

        Seven years ago, the minor-league players who crossed the line perhaps weren't aware of the potential severity of their decision and the risks involved. Rick Reed knew. He was pitching for the Reds' Triple-A club, his 10th year of pro ball. He was told by the Reds to cross the line or he'd be released, then blackballed. Reed's mother was sick, he was paying her medical bills, and he couldn't stop working. So he played. Late in the 1995 season, he was recalled by the Reds because they badly needed pitching. General manager Jim Bowden called a team meeting to inform the players of what he was planning to do. One player stood up in the back of the clubhouse and screamed his opposition, claiming he would never be a teammate with a "scab."

        Reed was recalled, making for a tense situation, but he didn't stay long, and didn't do particularly well. Two seasons later, he won 13 games for the Mets. Three years after that, he pitched in the World Series. "He's one of us," said Mets pitcher John Franco.

  • Jeff A
    August 16th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    Rick Reed's numbers as a Twin: 72 games (65 starts), 25-25, 4.47 ERA in 390.2 IP, a WHIP of 1.3.