The goat Red of the 1950’s.

Kluszewski was one of the perennial RBI and power hitters of the National League in the ‘50s, although he was outshadowed by the likes of Duke Snider, Eddie Mathews, the young Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays.

Wow, those were the days, weren’t they?

And that was only the National League…

Anyways, Big Klu had 100 RBI 5 times in the ‘50s. He had 40 homers thrice (plus a not too shabby 35 homers in 1956). He also led the league in homers with 49 and RBI in 1954. Most amazing out of all of that though was that, despite being a great power hitter, he rarely struck out. In fact, from 1950-1959, he never struck out more than he walked. The highest he ever struck out was 40 times. Impressive.

He will always be remembered for people misspelling his name and having those muscle sleeves.

George Foster was arguably the best hitter in the National league in the late ‘70s. After being a platoon player the majority of his career, Pete Rose moved to third base in 1975 so that Foster could be full time left fielder. This turned out to be huge blessing in the making for Sparky Anderson. Foster immediately had a break out year in 1975, hitting .300 and 23 homers. 1976 showed him improve even more, hitting .306, 29 homers, and leading the league in RBI, and finishing 2nd in MVP voting.

MVP

1977 showed a career year, leading the league in RBI again with a whopping 149, hitting .320, and hitting a league leading 52 homers. He also led in slugging percentage and total bases. In 1978, he again led the league in homers and RBI.

Foster went on to have a couple of good more years with the Big Red Machine, but then left to the Mets in free-agency. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the greatest there.

Fun Fact

Foster was the only player to hit 50 homers in the 1970’s.

Foster also popularized the black bats that are so common nowadays.

Greatest Catcher Ever

• Hall of Famer
• Number #5 retired by Reds
• 2x World Series Champion
• 2x NL MVP
• 10x Gold Glove Winner
• 1968 NL Rookie of the Year
• 14x All-Star
• Named to the All-Century Team

Johnny was and will always be special to Cincinnati fans. From the time he was Rookie of the Year and won his first of 10 consecutive Gold Gloves and 14 consecutive All-Star games, he was the perennial Red. By the time the Big Red Machine won their first World Series in 1975, he and his Reds were veterans. He was already established as the best catcher in baseball and was already named with the likes of Yogi Berra, Bill Dickey, and Roy Campanella as GOAT catcher (by the end of his career, he was cemented as the GOAT). By 1975, he had led the league in caught stealing percentage three times, led in home runs twice (and hit 40 twice, very rare to see a catcher with that much power), led in RBI three times, and won MVP twice. In 1972, he hit one of the biggest home runs in Reds history in one of the biggest games in Reds history.

Fun Facts

His 1970 MVP is the youngest anyone has ever won it, at age 22.

Bench popularized the modern catcher’s mitt, which is hinged to allow the catcher to keep his arm safely tucked behind.

He could also hold a lot of baseballs.
He’s also apart of one of the biggest ongoing myths in MLB history: That he caught a fastball barehanded one day.

One of my favorite plays in MLB history also comes from Mr. Bench—although against him. In the 1972 World Series, in the heat of the moment, Rollie Fingers struck him out on what was set up as an intention walk.

With Bench standing in the box expecting a wide pitchout, Fingers broke off a slider for called strike three. “When (manager) Dick Williams came to the mound and told me, ‘We’re going to fake an intentional pass to Bench, but throw a strike. But don’t throw a fastball because he is a fastball hitter,’” Fingers said. “I said, ‘What? What are you talking about? Is this Little League or what?,” Fingers said he told Williams. But being a good corporal, Fingers followed orders. “I threw probably the best slider I’d ever thrown in my life,” he said of the called strike three. “When I see Johnny Bench, I never mention it. But he usually brings it up and says, ‘That was the most embarrassing moment of my life.’

I feel Cesar Geronimo is one of the most underrated center fielders ever (with the likes of Gary Maddox, Amos Otis, Cesar Cedeño). Out of the “Eight Great” Reds, baseball fans always pay their respects to Griffey, Foster, Concepcion, and most especially Perez, Morgan, Rose, and Bench. Geronimo, however, was also a pretty darn good player.

Geronimo had the one tool that people want the most in a centerfielder: DEFENSE. He won four straight Gold Gloves from 1974-1977. 1976 was a great year for him especially. He hit .307 something very impressive for the “worst” hitter on the team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzL34qH7uo&feature=player_detailpage#t=7174
Geronimo was not known for his power. Ironically, he played a role in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series…showing off his power. He hit a homer in the 8th inning to give the Reds a 6-3 lead.

He also caught the final out of the series.

He gets nervous around her and his heart beats faster. A palpitating heart is a common symptom of anxiety or nervousness, commonly found in nervousness of love.

Also, notable to mention that Chiddy has appeared in a song called Heart Skips a Beat.

Pat Darcy had a pretty nice season for the Reds in ‘75 after he went 11-5 and a 3.58 ERA.

Aw, who am I kidding. Darcy is the guy who gave up the game winning home run to Carlton Fisk in one of the greatest games in baseball history. The homer forced a game 7 in the World Series; lucky for the Reds, they still won it all.

Tony Perez is a hall of fame first baseman who spent 16 years with Cincinnati and was one of the most consistent run producers in the game. He was probably the greatest at driving in runs during his career, except for perhaps Carl Yastrzemski and Reggie Jackson. There are some skeptics who think he shouldn’t be a Hall of Famer and I strongly disagree as he was one of the perennial hitters of his era.

Perez was a founding member of the Big Red Machine and had his rookie season in 1964, but had his breakout year in 1967 when he had his first 100 RBI season. His best year came in 1970, when he hit 40 homers, drove in 129 runs, and hit .317. You’re probably thinking: How did he not win MVP? Well, he lost to his teammate Johnny Bench.. From then on, he had one of the greatest careers ever for a Cincinnati Red. From 1967-1976, he never had a season with below 90 RBI. He was a seven time all-star and had MVP votes in 6 different seasons with the Reds.

By the time 1975 came around, he was a 33 year old verteran on a Red’s team that had a reputation of putting together a fantastic team but falling short in the playoffs. He helped turn that around, including with one of the biggest homeruns in Reds history.

After leaving Cincinnati, he had pretty successful but short stints with Montreal and Boston, including a domination 1980 season uncharacteristic of a player who should be declining. He then reunited with some former Reds teammates on his 1983 Phillies squad that won the pennant. After reuniting with his Reds for three season, he retired at age 44. Since then, he was had his number retired and elected to the Hall of Fame.

Fun Fact

Perez NEVER went on the disabled list in his lengthy 23 season career. Very impressive.

Most people will always commemorate Griffey Junior, but daddy had a great career too.

Griffey Senior started and spent the majority of his career with Cincinnati. Griffey had a nice stretch and showed talent as their right fielder with his skills of getting high average, stealing bases, and a great arm. Throughout his first stint with the Reds, he averaged .307 and was a consistent on-base player. Through out his first stint, he was a 3-time all-star, too. His breakout year was in 1975, but his best year was in 1976. He almost won the batting title with a .336 average and even contributed 34 stolen bases.

Despite being successful with the Yankees for five seasons, they unforutantely had zero playoff success unlike the Big Red Machine. He later had two short stints with the Brave and the other with the Reds again, before finishing his career in Seattle so that he could play with his son.

Fun Fact

They were the first father-son combo to play on the same team.
They even hit back-to-back homers one game.

Chiddy mentions his love for haters in numerous songs (Decline, Nothing on We, Mind Your Manners…etc).

He continues his rhymes of acronyms with PDA, also known as a Public Display of Affection. He lets people know he loves his haters (although this might be a different kind of love…)