Feel good thread! Who was your first baseball hero?

[OC_Red]

In the midst of yet another tragic series with the ratbirds from St. Lou, a memory creeped in to my cramped brain.

It reminded me of what's good about baseball. That first time I saw and believed that this guy, this guy was IT. He was the be all and end all of the great game of baseball.

For me, amazingly, it wasn't Peter Edward Rose. Nor was it Mario Soto. It wasn't even one of my beloved Reds.

It was Nolan Ryan. I still have my 1971 Topps black border (favorite set) of him in his Mets uniform about to unleash a blurred fastball by a hopelessly overmatched hitter. (Hopefully not a Red). In fact, it was because of baseball cards that Nolan Ryan was my first favorite player. I love all the campy cartoon drawings on the backs of those cards and the fun stats they would highlight.

Anyhow, my first hero of this great game was the Ryan Express. My first Reds hero would have to be Hal Morris. (I hear those chuckles!)

What about you all?

[westofyou]

Mr. Tiger

[RichRed]

George Arthur Foster swinging that sweet black bat. The numbers .320, 52, and 149 will be forever tattooed on my brain.

[Always Red]

George Arthur Foster swinging that sweet black bat. The numbers .320, 52, and 149 will be forever tattooed on my brain.

great numbers!

Today, Redszone would say: .320/.382/.631/1.013 which are still great numbers!

[redssince75]

Mr. Tiger

Boy, in that picture, he looks like Kevin Costner playing him in a baseball movie.

[redssince75]

Reds -- Rose. My all-time favorite player, in any event. Good old Charlie Hustle.

Non-Reds -- George Brett. I'm a lefty, used to try to swing just like him. But, who could? My favorite guy ever just to sit and watch hit.

[RedsBaron]

Like several others here, my first baseball hero wore number 14.......but he was not Pete Rose or even a Red. I first became interested in Major League Baseball in 1964 and became a Cardinals fan, with my hero being Ken Boyer.
After Cardinals GM Bob Howsam traded away Boyer to the Mets following the 1965 season I switched my allegiance to the Reds, and Rose did become my favorite player, but I still followed Boyer. I think Boyer deserves induction in the HOF, though that is unlikely to ever happen, and with Boyer dead 30+ years he will never enjoy such an honor.

[HokieRed]

Like several others here, my first baseball hero wore number 14.......but he was not Pete Rose or even a Red. I first became interested in Major League Baseball in 1964 and became a Cardinals fan, with my hero being Ken Boyer.
After Cardinals GM Bob Howsam traded away Boyer to the Mets following the 1965 season I switched my allegiance to the Reds, and Rose did become my favorite player, but I still followed Boyer. I think Boyer deserves induction in the HOF, though that is unlikely to ever happen, and with Boyer dead 30+ years he will never enjoy such an honor.

I've always been a Reds fan but I liked Boyer very much. I agree with you about the Hall, but, as you say, he'll never get in. I always thought he was hurt by being so comparable to Ron Santo, just as Concepcion and Trammell may hurt one another. (Voters can't bring themselves to voting for both but recognize they're so close it's hardly fair to vote one in without the other.) Boyer had one stretch of 7 or 8 years that was really good and he was exceptional in the field (on that score, IIRC, better than Santo, who also was good).

[klw]

Boy, in that picture, he looks like Kevin Costner playing him in a baseball movie.

[klw]

Fred Norman - my brother had a tshirt with him on it.

[Redsfan08]

ken griffey jr is seattle

[Always Red]

You don't really want to know.

I don't want this thread to get off track.

My favorite non-Red, as a kid, was Willie Mays. I obviously missed his great years (I first became baseball-aware in about 1968), but my dad was a huge fan of his and always pointed Mays out to me. One of my first memories of Crosley Field was a game against the Giants, and my dad telling me that Mays was the best player in the game (this coming from a guy who personally saw Aaron's #714- I guess dad was just a Willie guy). Dad also loved Frank Robinson. Which is funny for a guy of his time, my dad, who I remember as being kind of racist. Maybe he wasn't?

Sadly, the thing I remember most about Mays playing was the 1973 World Series, when he was just a husk of the old Mays.



By the way, in the background there, is the cripple, Ray Fosse, who had his career ended by he-who-must-not-be-named in the 1970 All Star game.

[redsmetz]

You don't really want to know.

I don't want this thread to get off track.

My favorite non-Red, as a kid, was Willie Mays. I obviously missed his great years (I first became baseball-aware in about 1968), but my dad was a huge fan of his and always pointed Mays out to me. One of my first memories of Crosley Field was a game against the Giants, and my dad telling me that Mays was the best player in the game (this coming from a guy who personally saw Aaron's #714- I guess dad was just a Willie guy). Dad also loved Frank Robinson. Which is funny for a guy of his time, my dad, who I remember as being kind of racist. Maybe he wasn't?

Sadly, the thing I remember most about Mays playing was the 1973 World Series, when he was just a husk of the old Mays.



By the way, in the background there, is the cripple, Ray Fosse, who had his career ended by he-who-must-not-be-named in the 1970 All Star game.

Well keep in mind that Aaron's #714 was off in the future at that point. Aaron hit #577 in the first series at Riverfront on June 30, 1970. As for your wondering about your Dad, MLK Jr. once told Don Newcombe, "You'll never know how easy you and Jackie and Doby and Campy made it for me to do my job by what you did on the baseball field." Step by step, as they say.

And even if Aaron had been on the same field, your Dad's statement would have been true. Mays was extraordinarily good and that's no slight to Hank Aaron.

[Norm Chortleton]

[Always Red]

My first Reds hero would have to be Hal Morris. (I hear those chuckles!)

Yes, that was me laughing, Hal loved headbanger music and I loved how he took a running start with every swing.