October 23, 1920: The probe of the 1919 World Series baseball fix grows larger and hits close to home as former Reds player, Hal Chase, is caught up in the investigation. Chase had been a star first baseman for the Reds from 1916-18, winning the 1916 National League batting title with a .339 batting average and known to be one of the best fielding first basemen in baseball. From baseball-reference.com’s bullpen:
The Chicago grand jury indictment adds the names of former featherweight boxing champ Abe Attell and baseball players Hal Chase and Bill Burns as go-betweens in the 1919 World Series scandal. Ed Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Lefty Williams and Happy Felsch sign confessions, which they will later recant.
October 23, 1949: The Reds hire Luke Sewell to be their manager, replacing Bucky Walters who was 61-90 in 1949 after finishing the 1948 season with a 20-33 record for a combined 81-123. The Reds had finished seventh of eight teams in 1949.
Sewell, a former major catcher, had previously won an American League pennant with the 1944 St. Louis Browns. In two full seasons with the Reds, and parts of two others, Sewell will go 174-234, never finishing higher than sixth of eight National League teams.