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Babe Ruth’s Refuses Reds Offer: Today in Sports History

On March 9th, 1936, Babe Ruth nearly unretired to play in Cincinnati, but his wife convinced him otherwise. After 28 games with the Boston Braves, Ruth retired in 1935, calling an end to a legendary career. However, the 41-year-old travelled down to Miami to watch some Spring Training the following season. While down there, Babe watched the Reds and Philadelphia A’s play and hit a few rounds of golf. He then met with Cincinnati general manager Larry McPhail and hinted at a return to baseball. It got to the point that McPhail said that the Reds were prepared to have “signed him at his own terms”, but the deal failed to materialize. A few days later, Babe told McPhail that his wife convinced him otherwise. Her argument was with the weight Ruth was carrying around, playing would be detrimental to the health of his legs. Maybe she was right, but The Bambino was already well past his prime. With the Boston Braves, he hit a measly .181 batting average with six home runs.

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Baseball Sees the Light

On May 24, 1935, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Crosley Field — in the first night game in Major League Baseball history. Baseball had been a day game for 60 years. Owners thought playing under lights was a gimmick that cheapened the sport. Most ballparks didn't have electricity beyond the clubhouse. Then Reds GM Larry MacPhail — a marketing-mad innovator who'd later push the Yankees to play night games too — convinced the league to allow Cincinnati one experiment. The Reds installed 632 floodlights, totaling one million watts. President Franklin D. Roosevelt threw the symbolic switch from a button at the White House. 20,422 fans showed up — more than triple the Reds' average attendance that year. Paul Derringer threw a complete game for the Reds. Babe Herman drove in the winning run. Most importantly: nobody got hurt under the lights. The experiment worked. Within five years, half of MLB had installed lights. Within 50, day games were the rarity, not the night ones. Every MLB ballpark today plays the vast majority of its games at night. Every World Series game since 1985 has been a prime-time broadcast. The infrastructure that built modern baseball — the TV money, the prime-time culture, the dad-takes-his-kid-to-a-game-after-work tradition — all traces back to one Friday night in Cincinnati.

@ChuckieHussy

Six for Six and Catching

On May 9, 1937, Cincinnati Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi went 6/6 at the plate as the Reds destroyed the Phillies 21-10. Six hits in six at-bats all while squatting behind the plate for nine innings, in a wool uniform, in May. The picture above is another one of his party tricks; he could hold 6 baseballs at a time in his hand. Lombardi was already one of the slowest runners in baseball history. Infielders famously played him on the outfield grass because he couldn't beat out a dribbler if his life depended on it. He never had a leg hit. Every one of his career 1,792 base hits had to be earned with the bat. Which is why a 6-for-6 day from Schnozz mattered so much: every one of those hits was clean. He'd win the NL batting title the next year, win an MVP that same season, and retire as one of only two catchers ever to win two batting titles. The Reds added 7 runs in the third inning alone that day. The catcher with the heavy bat and the slow legs led the parade. 3 Touchdowns for the Cincy Beng....errr Reds!

@nick

Hits from A Rose: Today in Sports History

On this day in 1978, Cincinnati Reds legend Pete Rose became the 13th player in MLB history to reach 3,000 career hits and he did it faster than anyone before him, in just his 16th season and 2,370th big-league game. At Riverfront Stadium on a chilly night in front of 37,823 fans, Rose went 2-for-4 against the Montreal Expos: - 2,999th hit (3rd inning): High chopper to Expos pitcher Steve Rogers.- ruled a single. - 3,000th hit (5th inning): Clean single to left field off Rogers (bases empty, two outs). The game was stopped for a lengthy standing ovation as Rose’s teammates poured out of the dugout to congratulate him. Former Reds star (and current Expo) Tony Perez, playing first base, greeted him with a big hug at the bag. The Reds ultimately fell 4-3, but Rose later said: "If I had to dedicate my 3,000th hit, it would be to the Cincinnati fans. It’s 35 degrees and 37,000 people show up. That is something." He added, “The thing I’m proudest about is that I’ve been the most consistent player of my generation.” Rose would go on to smash Stan Musial’s NL hits record and eventually become MLB’s all-time hits leader with 4,256. Later that same 1978 season, he kicked off his record 44-game hitting streak - the longest in the National League in the modern era. Hits from P. Rose, one of the most iconic moments in Reds and MLB history.