In retrospect....

[vaticanplum]

Herm Winningham. Don't ask, because I don't know.

[camisadelgolf]

I always thought Spuds was special, but he didn't really have prolonged success. I thought Willie Greene was going to finally turn a corner and become a superstar. I thought Bip Roberts was the best player I ever saw (and for 1992, I still think he was). I thought Jeff Branson was the best utility player ever. It was always a mystery to me that Duane Henry had only one good year when I could've sworn he was good for a long time. Tim Pugh is idolized in my mind because he was two outs away from a no-hitter, but upon review, he was two good pitches away from being a decent starter. I thought Tim Layana was great because he had a 3.49 ERA over 80 innings as a rookie in 1990, but he did nothing after that. I thought Stan Jefferson was going to be something special. I thought Deion Sanders was a superstar, but at best, he was merely serviceable. Speaking of which, I thought Scott Service and Jerry Spradlin were two great relievers. I also thought Johnny Ruffin had an incredible slider and was a future closer. What's a line break? Sorry.

[sully_for_prez]

Glenn Braggs.....it was the whole breaking the bat on his back swinging thing. I was young, impressionable.....

[CWRed]

Nick Esasky.

And, for some reason, I loved Dan Driessen. Solid ballplayer. Hero to all.

[Blimpie]

I had quite the man crush on both Chris Stynes and Jon Nunnally for a while there in the late 90's.

There. I said it.

[RedsBaron]

No but If you didnt know already he "played the game"

Really? Wow. Tracy really should let people know that. He's too modest.

[mth123]

Pete Rose.

The disappointment came later of course.

[macro]

I thought that Frank Pastore was the next Tom Seaver.

Pastore's motion and delivery were compared to Seaver's. Unfortunately, that's where the comparisons ended.

[ThatPitchIsDunn]

I'm sure Highlifeman will agree with me here; for no real reason we both dug Joey Hamilton to the nth degree. We had some ridiculous nickname for him, although I can't recall it. Highlifeman, help me out here!

[Highlifeman21]

I'm sure Highlifeman will agree with me here; for no real reason we both dug Joey Hamilton to the nth degree. We had some ridiculous nickname for him, although I can't recall it. Highlifeman, help me out here!

Yo, way to bring me out of the closet with Joey "Staff Ace" Hamilton. Remember though, we also rooted for Elmer "South of the Border" Dessens as well. And you rarely let me forget my manlove for Russell Branyan.

But seriously, way to out me on Joey freakin Hamilton. I think I need to go take a shower or something to wash that filth off me.

[ThatPitchIsDunn]

Yo, way to bring me out of the closet with Joey "Staff Ace" Hamilton. Remember though, we also rooted for Elmer "South of the Border" Dessens as well. And you rarely let me forget my manlove for Russell Branyan.

But seriously, way to out me on Joey freakin Hamilton. I think I need to go take a shower or something to wash that filth off me.

Ah the staff ace. How in the world was this guy our opening day starter that year?

And don't worry, I'll take more credit for becoming a fan of him and influencing you. You're on your own on Branyan though.

[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.

[RedsBaron]

I thought that Frank Pastore was the next Tom Seaver.

Pastore looked great down the stretch in 1979 and pitched well in 1980. I had great expectations for him.

[redsfanfalcon]

When I was 10, my dad and I had a discussion and I swore that Kurt Stillwell was going to be WAY better than Barry Larkin...I think my dad was right.