In retrospect....

[Ltlabner]

Were there any players that you idolized as a kid only to find out later they kinda stunk? Or, at least, they weren't as good as you made them out to be in your young and cracker jack buzzed mind.

Mine is Cesar Geronimo, mostly because I have a foul ball he hit in 1980. We were in the green section of Riverfront and it plopped down infront of us. While he wasn't a dreadfull player he wasn't exactly the lynchpin of the BRM that I envisioned him to be back then.

[redsupport]

I idolized Dom Zanni only to realize that he was not half as good as Howie Nunn

[Team Clark]

Tracy Jones, Tim Spehr, Lee Mazzilli and Jay Johnstone.

[Spring~Fields]

Johnny Edwards, Deron Johnson, Leo Cardenas.

I don't know if they really stunk, but as a child I thought that they could do no wrong until later when I learned of guys named Johnny Bench, Brooks Robinson and of course many shortstops since.

[Patrick Bateman]

I thought Jacob Brumfield was pretty good back in the day. I have no idea why.

[Slyder]

I thought Jacob Brumfield was pretty good back in the day. I have no idea why.

Todd Benzinger..... Nothing more needs to be said.

[macro]

Growing up in the 70s, I thought the members of the BRM walked on water. I later read stories that proved that they were quite human, and it was disappointing. Same goes for the 1990 Reds. I loved that bunch, but after the Charlie Sheen stories came out, I questioned the fact that I even rooted for them. As Jerry Seinfeld said, we're basically rooting for the uniforms.

[RedsBaron]

Growing up in the 70s, I thought the members of the BRM walked on water. I later read stories that proved that they were quite human, and it was disappointing.

I've read the stories, too, and my head knows about the shortcomings of the players on the BRM, but in my heart they still walk on water. I know it is not logical, but it just "is" for me.
I pretty much overrated all of the Reds when I first became a fan, including "Little" Leo Cardenas, Deron Johnson, Tommy Harper, Gary Nolan, Lee May, Tommy Helms, you name it. I agree with Randy---Tolan and A.J. could play ball, but they left something to be desired as people.
From everything I 've read, the two best "people" to ever put on a Reds uniform may have been Tony Perez and Sparky Anderson.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Bobby Tolan and Alex Johnson. They could play, but not the best personalites.

[RFS62]

Johnny Edwards was my first favorite player. When he stopped hitting, it really hurt.

[RedsBaron]

Johnny Edwards was my first favorite player. When he stopped hitting, it really hurt.

Yeah. Edwards was a three time all star, two time Gold Glove winner, but his hitting suddenly fell off a cliff in 1966. I never heard what happened--did he simply wear out from catching even though he wasn't that old?

[WVRedsFan]

Johnny Edwards was my first favorite player. When he stopped hitting, it really hurt.

I liked Edwards, too. I can remember something in one of those old baseball magazines, written for the 1962 season that said, "Edwards hit .186 in 1961, but had a lot of clutch hits." And under his picture was a caption that read, "In the clutch, hits." So, since I was like 13, I thought he was the best clutch hitter in baseball. He wasn't, of course, but I thought he was.

I also liked my avatar Bob Purkey. After baseball, he went into the insurance business up in Pittsburgh. I ran into a guy who knew (or knows) him personally and he called him a "junkballer." My hero who won 23 games in 1962 a "junkballer." It devastated me some 40 years after he was my hero. I still can remember the great things he did as a Reds pitcher. And that knuckleball kept people off their game for something like 100 wins in his time with the Reds. Not basd for a "junkballer."

[RedsBaron]

I also liked my avatar Bob Purkey. After baseball, he went into the insurance business up in Pittsburgh. I ran into a guy who knew (or knows) him personally and he called him a "junkballer." My hero who won 23 games in 1962 a "junkballer." It devastated me some 40 years after he was my hero. I still can remember the great things he did as a Reds pitcher. And that knuckleball kept people off their game for something like 100 wins in his time with the Reds. Not basd for a "junkballer."

I believe that Bill James has argued that Purkey's great 23 win season in 1962 was just as good as Don Drysdale's Cy Young award winning 25 win year that season. Drysdale won a couple of more games, pitching for a better team with a more favorable pitcher's park, but Purkey was as effective. Drysdale looked like a Cy Young winner and was from LA; Purkey had neither advantage.

[RFS62]

I've heard that he was a heavy drinker, although I never heard that when I was a kid. Don't know if it factored in or not.

[RedsBaron]

I've heard that he was a heavy drinker, although I never heard that when I was a kid. Don't know if it factored in or not.

Now that you mention that, I believe that Jim Bouton in "Ball Four" may have written something about Edwards's drinking too much and "calling some long home runs"-it may have been in the lyrics of "Proud To Be An Astro", the song Bouton wrote that the Houston players sang during the 1969 NL West title chase. Man, I haven't read "Ball Four" in 30 years.