Jeff Reed (baseball player)

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Jeff Reed is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Minnesota Twins (1984-1986), Montreal Expos (1987-1988), Cincinnati Reds (1988-1992), San Francisco Giants (1993-1995), Colorado Rockies (1996-1998) and Chicago Cubs (1999-2000). He batted left-handed (considered a rarity for catchers) and threw right-handed.

Reed was the Twins' first-round pick (and 12th overall) in the 1980 amateur draft.

Despite playing for an impressive 17 seasons in the majors, he was usually relegated to a backup role. Reed rarely appeared in more than 100 games per year, thanks largely to his unimpressive .250 lifetime batting average. However, he was widely regarded as a solid defensive backstop -- despite tying a 68-year-old record for catchers with three errors in the seventh inning of a game on July 28, 1987.

Reed secured his spot in baseball history on September 16, 1988, when (while filling in for an injured Bo Diaz), he caught Tom Browning's perfect game in the Cincinnati Reds' 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium. In his autobiography, Browning credited Reed as an integral part of the performance. "...He did a phenomenal job, especially considering what was at stake in the later innings," Browning wrote.

During the late innings of Browning's perfect game, Reed had to continually slow down his pitcher. According to Browning's book, Reds manager Pete Rose was worried that his pitcher was working too quickly, which could lead to an errant pitch. At one point in the game, Reed stood up and raised his arms, palms facing out, to signal Browning to slow down.