Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Tough to pick three. I went with Geronimo over Davis for my 3rd because I think he was better defensively. However, if I'm picking the overall better player, then Davis would be the one.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Whither Eddie Milner, Gary Redus, Kal Daniels, Paul Householder, and the immortal Rolando Roomes?
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Wow, no love for Jr so far. In his prime who on that list was better? Or are we voting only on what they did as a Red?
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
I went with FRobby, Pinson and Roush. Three HoF caliber careers, there. Pinson often gets overlooked, probably because he played alongside Robinson.
Eric Davis had more talent than any player I ever witnessed, except for John Bench. There was nothing Davis did not do well on the field. It's unfortunate the injuries derailed his career.
Geronimo was an excellent CF, with a rifle arm. He hit just enough, but not enough for me to consider him one of the three best.
Rose- sheesh, what do you do with Rose? I'd rather consider him at 3B for the Reds, but he did win 2 Gold GLoves in the OF for the Reds. I wouldn't rank him above the other three, though. Of interest, for the Reds, Rose played 1299 games in the OF, 629 at 3B, 627 at 2B, and 197 at 1B.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
I went with Robinson, Foster, and Davis.
I'm assuming we are going off of their careers as Reds, not on just "peak years" or "entire careers."
Also, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about the older guys on the list, so that swayed my vote as well.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Razor Shines
Wow, no love for Jr so far. In his prime who on that list was better? Or are we voting only on what they did as a Red?
I thought it was only what they did as a Red. I could be wrong.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
All Time?
Roush/Robby/Vada
Nice fielding combo too.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Razor Shines
Wow, no love for Jr so far. In his prime who on that list was better? Or are we voting only on what they did as a Red?
Only their time as a Red. I'll edit the post to clarify that.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
I voted based on the player's career with the Reds, not their overall career.
Kevin Mitchell should definitely qualify in the "what they did as a Red" category. In his first two abbreviated seasons in Cincinnati, all he did was OPS .986 and 1.110. His '94 season was like a cartoon (310 ABs, 30 HR, .429 OPB, .681 SLG).
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Robinson and Pinson were no brainers for me. I had a hard time picking between Foster and Roush but in the end I picked Foster just simply because I think Foster played during an era when the quality of play was better.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
I voted for Robinson, Rose and Roush, the 3 R's.
Frank Robinson is the easy pick. He spent ten years with the Reds and arguably had the most productive decade of any player ever to wear a Reds uniform.
I can't imagine an all time Reds team without Pete Rose in the lineup somewhere (but then 20 years ago I couldn't imagine a Hall of Fame not eventually including Rose, either). Perhaps if we were selecting an all time team, I'd put Rose at third, but his best seasons, and his best position, came as an outfielder. Other Reds outfielders may have had individual seasons that were greater than any one season had by Rose, but no one was so good for so long as a Red.
Robby and Pete will man the corners; which one is in left and which one is in right can be decided later. That means I need a centerfielder.
I was tempted to pick George Foster, whose 52 HR season in 1977 was one of the greatest years any Red has ever had. Foster was great for about seven seasons in all, although not always at the level he reached in 1977. Unfortunately, one thing Foster never was was a great fielder. If I took him, then I had to play Robinson or Rose in center, and that wouldn't work.
I considered Eric Davis, who for a few months in 1987 looked like the second coming of Willie Mays, but Eric couldn't sustain that production, nor could he stay healthy.
If Ken Griffey Jr. had had his peak seasons in the 1990s with the Reds, he would be an easy pick, but he was a Mariner then. He had good seasons with the Reds in 2000 and 2005, but that isn't enough to make this team.
I almost picked Vada Pinson, a true centerfielder and quality all around talent. However, I finally went with Roush, whose batting numbers looked to me to be significantly better than those of Pinson's.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Only three is pretty tough.
Using very simple logic.
1. All-Time Hit Leader with Top 5 listings on a ton of all time Record Books.
2. Hall of Fame RF who had most (not all) of his best years with the Reds and has over 500 Career HR.
3. Old-Time Red who was regarded as the greatest red of all prior to the 70's who had the lions share if his HOF career in a Reds uniform.
Others are tempting but just don't have the credentials as a Red that those three guys do.
Vada Pinson would be my 4th choice followed by George Foster.
Eric Davis had too short a career as a top player. Dave Parker didn't play enough years with the Reds. Ken Griffey Jr hasn't been anything resembling an all-time player during his Cincinnati stint.
An interesting one is Ival Goodman. He was a 5 tool player before anyone had heard of such a thing. Unfortunately just as his power game was emerging, an injury derailed his career. In 1938 he was leading the league in HR at the All Star break. During the All Star game he collided with the bricks in Wrigley Field, permanently injuring his shoulder and hampering his power stroke. He was mostly a singles hitter after that and faded too quickly. One has to wonder what current medicine might have been able to do for him.
Adam Dunn has a chance to put a lot of numbers on the board before he's done. If he keeps going even at 2006 levels, it would be hard to keep his eventual HR, Run and RBI numbers off the team no matter how many times he K's or what his defense may be.
The rest don't measure up.
Its Rose LF, Roush CF, Robinson RF.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Logic be damned - I'd want to see Roush, Davis and Robby play together.
Re: Reds All-Time Outfield
Robinson and Rose are no brainers. There careers were long and productive, with their best years with the Reds.
The third pick is harder.
Roush is probably easily deserving, but I never saw him play, so it's easier for me to ignore him. Not logical, I would admit.
So for me, it came down to Foster, Davis and Pinson.
Foster had the best peak years, but his career was relativly short. The same can be said for Davis. Both were wondweful ballpalyers.
I went with Pinson, because he was a great player, over many years, but was easily overlooked. He needed my vote more. He also brought us Granger and Tolan in a trade so he was productive even after he left.