Infield: Shortstop Hanley Ramirez (2005- ) is one of the most exciting young players in the game today. He’s won a Rookie of the Year, been runner-up for an MVP, led the National League in batting and runs scored, and he’s just now hitting his prime. He’s a .300 hitter with power and enough speed to steal a lot of bases at a very high rate of success, and defensively, while he’s no Gold Glover, he’s good enough that no one is talking about moving him off the position. He is so firmly entrenched as the face of the Florida Marlins franchise that there are probably a lot of people who forget that he came up with the Red Sox and moved to Florida as the key player in the mutually beneficial deal that brought Josh Beckett to Boston. Third baseman Hardy Richardson (1879-92) was one of the early stars of the sport. His full name was Abram Harding Richardson, and he was known as “Old True Blue.” He played his prime years in Buffalo and Detroit, though he was with Boston when he led the Players League with 146 RBI in 1890. Second baseman Harold Reynolds (1983-94) was nowhere near as explosive or talented as HanRam, but he could be an exciting player. He is the answer to a trivia question: Who was the only person other than Rickey Henderson to lead the AL in stolen bases during the 1980s? (Reynolds stole 60 in 1987; Henderson was hurt and stole just 41 bases in 95 games.) He spent a decade as a speedster with a good glove and a mediocre bat, and he won many awards for community service, including being named one of George Bush’s “Points of Light.” Upon retirement, he moved on to a broadcasting career at ESPN that ended abruptly amid charges of sexual harassment. First baseman Herman Reich (1949) is the weak link on this infield. A career minor-leaguer, he spent one itinerant year in the majors at age 31. The Indians claimed him after he had a big year in the Pacific Coast League in the fall of 1948 and then waived him at the end of spring training 1949. The Senators claimed him off the waiver wire, gave him two pinch-hitting appearances, then shipped him back to Cleveland, where he appeared in one game an outfielder before he was waived again. The Cubs claimed him this time and he played part time as a first baseman and outfielder for the reason of the year. The following winter, the Cubs sold him to the White Sox, and he was released and returned to the minors for good.
Outfield: Center fielder Harry Rice (1923-33) played for the St. Louis Browns in the early years of the “Live Ball Era,” when the Browns actually had some good teams. He was a .300 hitter with a little bit of line drive pop, but his career fizzled out in his late 20s. Right fielder Henry Rodriguez (1992-2002) hit 119 home runs between 1996-99, but just 41 home runs in the rest of his career. He was an all-star in Montreal in 1996, and he batted behind Sammy Sosa the year Sosa hit 66 jacks for the Cubs. For a while, it was traditional for fans to throw “Oh Henry!” candy bars on the field after he hit home runs, but that practice ended when they started filing criminal charges against the fans for doing so. Hal “Hoot” Rice (1948-54) would not crack the starting outfield for the all-Rice team (Sam, Harry and Jim Ed), but he gets the nod in left field here. He primarily backed up Stan Musial on the postwar Cardinals.
Catcher: Harvey Russell (1914-15) was a backup for a couple of years in the Federal League.
Rotation: Harry Rasmussen (1975-83) was sort of an odd case. He was born Harold Ralph Rasmussen, but a few years into his major-league career he decided to legally change his name to Eric. If memory serves, he did this in order to reflect his pride in his Scandinavian heritage. Oddly enough, when he became father he named his son … Harry. For initial purposes, we’re giving Harry Rasmussen credit for his entire career, regardless of the name change. He pitched primarily for the Cardinals during their 1970s malaise, and he finished with a career record of 50-77. Lefty Hank Robinson (1911-18) won 273 games in the minors and, in the middle of that career, also managed to go 42-37 in the bigs with a 2.53 ERA. Horacio Ramirez (2003- ) had a spot in the Atlanta Braves rotation for a few years, alongside the likes of Smoltz, Maddux and Hudson. He couldn’t hang with that company, so he's bounced around as a lefty reliever for the past several years. Howie Reed (1958-71) was a very good starter in the minors and spent more than a decade bouncing up and down as a fairly decent swingman in the majors. He pitched for the 1965 World Series champion Dodgers. Humberto Robinson (1955-60) was, like Howie Reed, a very good starter in the minors who never fully established himself as a starter in the majors but spent a lot of time as a very good swingman. He was the first Panamanian to play in the majors, a tall, skinny stringbean. It’s worth noting that Hank Robinson, Howie Reed and Humberto Robinson combined to go 76-79 in the majors, but 522-364 in the minors.
Bullpen: Closer Hal Reniff (1961-67), affectionately known as “Porky,” pitched for the Yankees at the end of the Mantle-Berra-Ford era, which is to say at the end of the dynasty that stretched across four decades. He pitched in two World Series, allowing no runs in four relief appearances, but the Yankees were on the losing end both times. He finished his career with 45 saves. Hank Ritter (1912-16) sounds like a country singer but he was actually a relief pitcher who had a short and mostly ineffective career with the New York Giants. Hector Ramirez (1999-2000) also had a short career in which he did little to distinguish himself. Venezuelan righty Henry Rodriguez (2009- ) is a young guy who came up with Oakland and now pitches for Washington. He’s just now getting started, but it wouldn’t take much for him to move up the hierarchy of the H.R. bullpen. Hans Rasmussen (1915) is no relation to Harry (or Eric). He was a 6-foot-6, 220-pound behemoth who pitched a couple of innings for the Chicago Whales in the Federal League as a 20-year-old and then disappeared from the baseball landscape. Hal Raether (1954-57) pitched two innings for the Philadelphia A’s in 1954 and then came back to pitch two more innings for the Kansas City A’s in 1957. Charles Finley apparently resisted the temptation to bring him back to work two innings in Oakland in 1968.
Bench: Infielder Heine Reitz (1893-99) played on the rough-and-tumble Orioles teams who dominated the NL in the late 19th century. His 31 triples in 1894 was the single-season record for many years and is still the second-highest total. In 1914, Reitz had the distinction of becoming the first major-league player to die in a car accident. Backup catcher Hank Riebe (1942-49) was a terrible hitter, but then, you knew that when you saw that he couldn’t beat out Harvey Russell for the starting job. Hal Rhyne (1926-33) was a weak-hitting utility infielder for the Red Sox and Pirates. Harry Raymond (1888-92) was also a weak-hitting infielder. He was born Harry H . Truman. There is no indication of (a.) why he changed his name or (b.) if he was any relation to the future president. Completing the team’s collection of infielders, Hector Rodriguez (1952) was a Cuban third baseman who started for the White Sox in 1952 but other than that spent his professional career collecting more than 2,300 hits in various minor leagues in the U.S. and Mexico. Henri Rondeau (1913-16) came up as a catcher but later moved to the outfield, which is where he’ll play on this team. He never did anything noteworthy, other than being apparently the only player named Henri in major-league history.
Manager: According to baseballreference.com and retrosheet.org, no H.R. has ever managed or coached in the majors. For now, we'll let Heinie Reitz manage the team, hoping that he will benefit from his proximity to Ned Hanlon, John McGraw and Uncle Robby during his playing career.
Outfield: Center fielder Harry Rice (1923-33) played for the St. Louis Browns in the early years of the “Live Ball Era,” when the Browns actually had some good teams. He was a .300 hitter with a little bit of line drive pop, but his career fizzled out in his late 20s. Right fielder Henry Rodriguez (1992-2002) hit 119 home runs between 1996-99, but just 41 home runs in the rest of his career. He was an all-star in Montreal in 1996, and he batted behind Sammy Sosa the year Sosa hit 66 jacks for the Cubs. For a while, it was traditional for fans to throw “Oh Henry!” candy bars on the field after he hit home runs, but that practice ended when they started filing criminal charges against the fans for doing so. Hal “Hoot” Rice (1948-54) would not crack the starting outfield for the all-Rice team (Sam, Harry and Jim Ed), but he gets the nod in left field here. He primarily backed up Stan Musial on the postwar Cardinals.
Catcher: Harvey Russell (1914-15) was a backup for a couple of years in the Federal League.
Rotation: Harry Rasmussen (1975-83) was sort of an odd case. He was born Harold Ralph Rasmussen, but a few years into his major-league career he decided to legally change his name to Eric. If memory serves, he did this in order to reflect his pride in his Scandinavian heritage. Oddly enough, when he became father he named his son … Harry. For initial purposes, we’re giving Harry Rasmussen credit for his entire career, regardless of the name change. He pitched primarily for the Cardinals during their 1970s malaise, and he finished with a career record of 50-77. Lefty Hank Robinson (1911-18) won 273 games in the minors and, in the middle of that career, also managed to go 42-37 in the bigs with a 2.53 ERA. Horacio Ramirez (2003- ) had a spot in the Atlanta Braves rotation for a few years, alongside the likes of Smoltz, Maddux and Hudson. He couldn’t hang with that company, so he's bounced around as a lefty reliever for the past several years. Howie Reed (1958-71) was a very good starter in the minors and spent more than a decade bouncing up and down as a fairly decent swingman in the majors. He pitched for the 1965 World Series champion Dodgers. Humberto Robinson (1955-60) was, like Howie Reed, a very good starter in the minors who never fully established himself as a starter in the majors but spent a lot of time as a very good swingman. He was the first Panamanian to play in the majors, a tall, skinny stringbean. It’s worth noting that Hank Robinson, Howie Reed and Humberto Robinson combined to go 76-79 in the majors, but 522-364 in the minors.
Bullpen: Closer Hal Reniff (1961-67), affectionately known as “Porky,” pitched for the Yankees at the end of the Mantle-Berra-Ford era, which is to say at the end of the dynasty that stretched across four decades. He pitched in two World Series, allowing no runs in four relief appearances, but the Yankees were on the losing end both times. He finished his career with 45 saves. Hank Ritter (1912-16) sounds like a country singer but he was actually a relief pitcher who had a short and mostly ineffective career with the New York Giants. Hector Ramirez (1999-2000) also had a short career in which he did little to distinguish himself. Venezuelan righty Henry Rodriguez (2009- ) is a young guy who came up with Oakland and now pitches for Washington. He’s just now getting started, but it wouldn’t take much for him to move up the hierarchy of the H.R. bullpen. Hans Rasmussen (1915) is no relation to Harry (or Eric). He was a 6-foot-6, 220-pound behemoth who pitched a couple of innings for the Chicago Whales in the Federal League as a 20-year-old and then disappeared from the baseball landscape. Hal Raether (1954-57) pitched two innings for the Philadelphia A’s in 1954 and then came back to pitch two more innings for the Kansas City A’s in 1957. Charles Finley apparently resisted the temptation to bring him back to work two innings in Oakland in 1968.
Bench: Infielder Heine Reitz (1893-99) played on the rough-and-tumble Orioles teams who dominated the NL in the late 19th century. His 31 triples in 1894 was the single-season record for many years and is still the second-highest total. In 1914, Reitz had the distinction of becoming the first major-league player to die in a car accident. Backup catcher Hank Riebe (1942-49) was a terrible hitter, but then, you knew that when you saw that he couldn’t beat out Harvey Russell for the starting job. Hal Rhyne (1926-33) was a weak-hitting utility infielder for the Red Sox and Pirates. Harry Raymond (1888-92) was also a weak-hitting infielder. He was born Harry H . Truman. There is no indication of (a.) why he changed his name or (b.) if he was any relation to the future president. Completing the team’s collection of infielders, Hector Rodriguez (1952) was a Cuban third baseman who started for the White Sox in 1952 but other than that spent his professional career collecting more than 2,300 hits in various minor leagues in the U.S. and Mexico. Henri Rondeau (1913-16) came up as a catcher but later moved to the outfield, which is where he’ll play on this team. He never did anything noteworthy, other than being apparently the only player named Henri in major-league history.
Manager: According to baseballreference.com and retrosheet.org, no H.R. has ever managed or coached in the majors. For now, we'll let Heinie Reitz manage the team, hoping that he will benefit from his proximity to Ned Hanlon, John McGraw and Uncle Robby during his playing career.
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