Growing up, I too, felt that Willie Mays was the greatest player in the game. My favorite pitcher of all time was Sandy Koufax, he of the hated Dodgers. There have always been players from other teams that I loved to watch. As a youngster, I loved to watch Brooks Robinson play third base. Pure magic. Bench will always be the catcher that I measure all others from. Keith Hernandez was a magical first baseman. I loved to watch Clemente in the outfield. From a hitting standpoint, I love to watch the intricacy of players swings. The theory of the day is that you have to keep the front foot totally closed on impact, but Ted Williams hit with a completely open front foot, and many of the great players of the 60's completely rolled over on the front foot. I love the Reds, and they are my team, but the game is so much bigger and if I limited myself to only the Reds, my appreciation of the game would be so much less.