Quote Originally Posted by camisadelgolf View Post
This thread reminds me so much of 1997. First, a lot of us thought Bowden was a genius for acquiring Chris Stynes and Jon Nunnally:
Code:
Pos Player              Ag   G   AB    R    H   2B 3B  HR  RBI  BB  SO   BA    OBP   SLG  SB  CS  GDP HBP  SH  SF IBB
---+-------------------+--+----+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
    Chris Stynes        24   49  198   31   69   7  1   6   28  11   13  .348  .394  .485  11   2   5   4   2   0   1
    Jon Nunnally        25   65  201   38   64  12  3  13   35  26   51  .318  .400  .602   7   3   2   2   1   1   0
---+-------------------+--+----+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+----+-----+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
Stynes & Nunnally 1997      114  399   69  133  19  4  19   63  37   64  .333  .395  .544  18   5   7   6   3   1   1
As others mentioned, it looked like Willie Greene was going to live up to his potential.
Eduardo Perez showed a glimmer of hope.
Curtis Goodwin was thought to be one of the best top-of-the-order speedster prospects in the game.
Mike Kelly did a good job off the bench and had the tools to be considered for one of the starting spots in the crowded outfield.
Eric Owens, Aaron Boone, and Pat Watkins were all coming up and seemed like they might be able to contribute at some point.
Pokey Reese had a rough rookie year, but not long after, he looked like he could become what Brandon Phillips is.
John Smiley was traded for four quality prospects, three of whom were pitchers, in Damian Jackson, Jim Crowell, Scott Winchester, and Danny Graves.
Scott Sullivan, Hector Carrasco, and Gabe White were anchoring a solid bullpen that was continuing to dumpster dive for successful closers.
Paul Bako, Tim Belk, and Chad Mottola were still prospects.
Brett Tomko was considered to be a future top-of-the-rotation starter.
Todd Williams (or as I prefer to call him, the original Todd Coffey) had good velocity on his fastball, which was at the time equated with being a potential future closer.
Steve Gibralter was getting people excited, and Brandon Larson was still a huge shortstop prospect.
Brady Clark was rocketing through the system.
Justin Towle crushed AA as a 23-year-old, and with prospects like Towle, Bako, Gorky Miller, Guillermo Garcia, and Justin LaRue, it looked like the Reds might not need to worry about catching for a very long time.
Buddy Carlyle was dominant as a 19-year-old in A-ball.
Jose Acevedo had nasty stuff.
Dewayne Wise, Mike Frank, and Scott Williamson were new to the organization.
Johnny Oliver was waiting on a cure for night blindness.
This is basically a who's who of my 1990-2000 era Reds memories. How many autographs did I get from these guys as a kid? My baseball would probably sell for more on Ebay now if it was blank then signed by this list of the next great Reds legends.