Born in 1915 in Bethany, Oklahoma, Reynolds' father was a minister and his mother part Creek Indian (hence the now-regrettable big league nickname "Superchief"). A gifted athlete, he earned a track scholarship to Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (today Oklahoma State University). The 5-foot-11-inch Reynolds arrived on the Stillwater campus weighing only 140 pounds. He initially failed to make the baseball team, primarily because of size (or lack thereof). To add some muscle, he competed in the javelin and discus throws, eventually adding more than 50 pounds to his still-slender frame.

After college, Reynolds struggled with nagging injuries and played some semi-pro baseball. In 1939, Reynolds pitched for Springfield, Ohio of the Class C Middle Atlantic League. Springfield's top prospect was righthander Red Embree, who would win 31 big league games for the Indians, Yankees, and Browns. The third baseman was Bob Lemon, a power hitter with robust arm who was later converted into a hall of fame pitcher. Reynolds finished his first season of professional ball with 11 wins and 8 losses and a 3.60 ERA. In 155 innings, he fanned 140 and walked 107. 

In 1940, Reynolds joined the Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League. The Raiders had captured the 1939 pennant, and they would finish league play atop the standings in 1940 and 1942. Reynolds' teammates included future big league hurlers Paul Calvert, Ray Poat, and Embree. With an injury to player-manager Ollie Marquardt, Reynolds also served as the Raiders right fielder on days he did not pitch. He finished his first season in the Three Eye 12-7 with a 3.59 ERA. In 178 innings of work, he tallied 140 strikeouts and 88 walks. 

The next year Reynolds started the season with Wilkes-Barre of the competitive Class A Eastern League. Embree and Lemon (still playing third) were also on the Barons roster. Reynolds appeared in 3 games before being sent back down to the Class B Three-I League. On July 13, Reynolds faced off against 19-year-old southpaw Warren Spahn of the Evansville Bees. The teenage phenom's streak of 40 consecutive innings of shutout ball ended in the fifth innings when the Raiders scored 2 runs. However, Reynolds surrendered 5 runs in the eighth and Spahn won the game. This was the first of many duels between these two legends. That season, Spahn would lead the Three Eye in wins (19, tied with Decatur's John Clay) and ERA (1.83). Clay, who never played a game in the big leagues, led the Class B loop in games (39), strikeouts (204), and innings pitched (237). Reynolds finished 10-10 and a rather unimpressive 4.63 ERA. He appeared in 27 games (completing 13), and in 167 innings he tallied 153 strikeouts and 97 walks. 

Although Spahn and Clay were the talk of the 1941 season, Reynolds did set a league record with 17 strikeouts in a complete game victory over the Madison (Wisconsin) Blues. Cedar Rapids, with a 72-49 record, finished the regular season in second behind Evansville (80-45). At that time, the Three Eye playoffs featured the league's top four finishers. In 1941, with a shortage of quality players due to the wartime draft, playoff clubs were allowed to supplement their rosters with two players from the four non-qualifying teams (Waterloo, Clinton, Madison, and Moline). In the first round, the Raiders bested the Springfield Browns 3 games to 1, and in the league championship, they beat the Decatur Commies 3 games to 2. Reynolds earned a victory in the finals, surrendering only 6 hits in 8 1/3 innings. 

After several years of solid if not spectacular ball, Reynolds enjoyed a breakout season with the 1942 Wilkes-Barre Barons. He finished 18-7 with 21 complete games and 11 shutouts. In 231 innings of work, he recorded 193 strikeouts and 102 walks with a 1.56 ERA. In his final regular season start, he pitched 10 innings of no-hit ball against the Elmira Pioneers. In the eleventh inning, the Pioneers scored a run on a walk and a bloop single. Spahn, pitching for the Hartford Braves, went 17-12 with an ERA of 1.96. Reynolds was the league's all-star righthander and Spahn the lefthander. After the Eastern League playoffs (Wilkes-Barre lost the opening round to the Scranton Red Sox), Reynolds reported to the Cleveland Indians. He appeared in 2 big league games, surrendering 5 hits and 4 walks over 5 scoreless innings. 

In 1943, Reynolds played his first full season in the Majors. In 34 games (21 as a starter) he went 11-12 with a 2.99 ERA. Led by player-manager Lou Boudreau (also a Three Eye veteran) the Indians ended the year in third place. Between 1943 and 1946, Reynolds appeared in 137 games for Cleveland, winning 51 and losing 47. On October 11, 1946, Cleveland sent Reynolds to the New York Yankees for All-Star second baseman Joe Gordon and utility infielder Ed Bockman. The oft-told story is that Larry McPhail wanted Red Embree, but Joe DiMaggio convinced Yankees management to take a chance on the 32-year-old Reynolds. 

Over the next eight seasons, Reynolds would win 131 and lose only 60. Although he won 20 or more games only once, he averaged 16.4 wins a season in pinstripes. He also notched a then-impressive 41 saves with the Yankees. "Reynolds is two ways great, which is starting and relieving, which no one can do like him," Casey Stengel once said. "He has guts and his courage is simply tremendous." If not for the high number of relief appearances, Reynolds was a likely candidate for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Yankees roster from his era includes hall of famers Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, and Phil Rizzuto. 

In 1951, Reynolds became the first American League pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same season. On July 12, he bested Cleveland's Bob Feller 1-0 and on September 28, he beat the Red Sox 8-0. In the second no-hitter, Reynolds had to retire Ted Williams twice for the final out because catcher Yogi Berra dropped a foul ball. "Don't let it bother you," Reynolds told the distraught Berra (yet another future hall of famer). "Let's get that guy now." Incredibly, Williams again popped up behind home plate, but this time the Yankee backstop caught the ball. As a six-time All-Star (1945, 1949-1950, and 1952-1954), Reynolds finest season was 1952 when he finished tops among A.L. pitchers in ERA (2.06), strikeouts (160), and shutouts (6). That year he finished second in MVP balloting behind Athletics southpaw Bobby Shantz. 

Although Reynolds' regular season statistics are impressive, he will long be remembered for his post season triumphs. The Yankees captured the A.L. pennant in all but two of Reynolds eight seasons in New York (1948 and 1954 when the Cleveland Indians captured the league title). During that span the Yankees won six World Series, defeating the Dodgers four times and the Phillies and Giants once. All told, Reynolds appeared in 15 World Series games, compiling a 7-2 record with a 2.79 ERA. He recorded either a save or victory in his 6 relief appearances, including the series-ending games of 1950, 1952, and 1953.

In late 1954, Reynolds career came to a crashing halt when the Yankees team bus hit an overpass in Philadelphia. The 39-year-old hurler suffered a back injury and never regained his big league form. He retired with 182 wins and 107 losses, with 137 complete games, 36 shutouts, and a 3.30 ERA. After baseball, Reynolds returned to Oklahoma and enjoyed a successful business career. He died on December 26, 1994 at the age of 79.

Born in the small southern Illinois community of Anna, Rice played high school baseball in nearby Mound City. He then spent some time in the semi-pro leagues of St. Louis before embarking on a professional career. In 1923, Rice played for Danville of the Class B "Triple Orb" and Tulsa of the Class A Western League. In Danville, he appeared in 101 games, batting .355 with 134 hits and 18 home runs. The Veterans did not fare as well, ending the year in seventh place, 26 games below .500. Rice then ended the season with the Tulsa Oilers, where he batted an impressive .403 in 34 games. 

He spent the entire 1924 season with the St. Louis Browns, serving as an occasional pinch hitter and utility infielder. The following year, manager George Sisler moved the 24-year-old Rice to the outfield, where he played 85 games. All told, Rice appeared in 103 games that season, batting .359 with 127 hits, 11 home runs, and 47 RBI. He finished sixth among American League batters in average, on-base percentage (.450), and slugging percentage (.568). He also finished fifth in MVP balloting. After two more solid years in St. Louis, Rice was traded to Detroit. For two-plus seasons, he was a fixture in the Tigers outfield, impressing teammates and opponents alike with his solid bat and above-average arm and speed.

In May 1930, Rice and pitcher Ownie Carroll were sent to the Yankees for Waite Hoyt and Mark Koenig. In 100 games in Yankee pinstripes, Rice batted .298 with 103 hits and 74 RBI. But it was his fielding that drew praise from the Bronx faithful. "Bob Meusel has been regarded as the greatest throwing outfielder in the metropolis until Rice arrived. Then the fans changed their minds," reported Who's Who in Major League Baseball  of 1933. Yet by the next season Rice was in Washington, playing a half season for Walter Johnson's Senators. With his best days apparently behind him, the 29-year-old Rice ended the year with Baltimore of the International League. 

In 1932, he remained in the high minors, helping Minneapolis capture the American Association pennant. In 117 games, Rice, playing center field, batted .345 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. The Donie Bush-managed Millers won 100 and lost 68, winning their first A.A. crown since 1915. Rice returned to the majors the next year, following Bush to the Cincinnati Reds. He appeared in 143 games (all but 2 in the outfield) batting .261. Rice ended his big league career with 1,118 hits, 506 RBI, and a .299 batting average.

Harry Rice's playing days did not end in Cincinnati. For example, in 1938 he acted as player-manager for the Evergreen Greenies of the Class D Alabama-Florida League. Rice died on January 1, 1971.

In his first professional season, he won 8 and lost 7 with a 3.57 ERA, though his incipient career was put on hold after he broke a leg sliding into third. The Terre Haute Tots, managed by Bob Coleman, finished third in the league with a 70-65 record. The next season Root returned in dramatic fashion by hurling a no-hitter. In 249 innings of work, he finished 16-14 with an impressive 2.28 ERA. That year, Coleman's Tots captured the league pennant with an 85-51 record, comfortably ahead of second-place Decatur (78-58). Though Root enjoyed a solid year, the long-forgotten Adolph Holtzhauser of the Decatur Commodores led the Class B circuit in wins (24) and ERA (2.18).

Root left Terre Haute for St. Louis, and in 1923 he appeared in 27 games (2 as a starter) for the Browns. After one season in the American League, Root spent 1924 and 1925 with Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League. In two seasons with the Angels he won 46 games, leading the league in strikeouts (211) the second year. By 1926 he was back in the big leagues, this time with the Chicago Cubs. From 1926 through 1933, Root won 140 games, an average of 17.5 per year. He ended his career with 201 wins (all with the Chicago), 160 loses, and an ERA of 3.59. He remains the only Cubs pitcher with more than 200 wins. He also holds the club record for games (605) and innings pitched (3137.3), and he is second in strikeouts (1432). Root also won 4 decisions (3 complete) during the Cubs fabled 21-game winning streak of September 1935. 

Somewhat unfairly, Root is best remembered for his career 0-3 mark in four World Series (1929, 1932, 1935, and 1936). In 4 starts and 2 relief appearances totaling 22.7 innings, Root surrendered 26 hits, 7 home runs, and 17 earned runs. On October 1, 1932, Root was on the mound during Babe Ruth's purported "called shot" home run. The righthander long challenged the veracity of this exercise in Bambino mythmaking. He said Ruth was signaling "there's one more strike." If the Yankee slugger had called a home run, Root always insisted that he would have knocked him down with the next pitch. "I'd have loosened him up," he once boasted. 

When the Cubs released the 42-year old Root near the end of the 1941 season he was the oldest player in the Major Leagues. Unwilling to call it quits, Root returned to the Pacific Coast League where he won 11 and lost 15 for the 1942 Hollywood Stars. The following two seasons he acted as the club's player-manager. His managerial career also included stops in the American Association (Columbus) and several low minor leagues. Near the end of his baseball career, he coached for Hollywood (1949), the Cubs (1951-1952), and the Milwaukee Brewers (1956-1957). In 1970, Root died on his Diamond R Ranch near Hollister, California.