Ex-Red Woodie Fryman dead at 70

[Mainspark]

Had a decent major league career, but his brief stay with the Reds was an unhappy one. Came over in the hugely unpopular Tony Perez trade, and then abruptly left the team in mid-summer, agreeing to return to MLB only if the Reds traded him, which they did, to the Cubs, soon after that '77 season ended.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...ap-obit-fryman

[Bob Borkowski]

A little longer obituary:

http://www.thedeadballera.com/passings.html

Woodie Fryman's attitude with the Reds disappointed me. He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder concerning the Big Red Machine. I remember how in pregame interviews Joe Nuxhall would try to get him to agree to questions like 'Boy, you must be happy to be part of a great team like the BRM, right, Woodie?" But Fryman never bit...he would always wiggle around the question somehow. In fact, at some point, I remember him being quoted as saying that he never liked the Reds, he considered them 'arrogant'.

[corkedbat]

Sorry to hear of Woody's passing, but I thought he was almost 70 when he pitched for the Reds.

[vic715]

Woodie came home one night after a game and caught his wife nude in a swimming pool with another man.I have a friend who was and still is a friend of Dave Tomlins and he told my friend this story some years ago.The story does make sense and my friend wouldn't just make this up either.

[vic715]

Thats when he was with the Reds and thats why he quit when he did.

[George Anderson]

Woodie came home one night after a game and caught his wife nude in a swimming pool with another man..

You know there is a very obvious joke in this story.

[cumberlandreds]

You know there is a very obvious joke in this story.

I thought the same but didn't want to get banned from Redszone.

Here's another obit. It states in this one that he was signed out of a try out camp when he was 25. That's really old to be signed in that manner. His parting with the Reds was really odd to say the least. He just up and quit after Sparky had used him in relief, IIRC. I though that may have been the reason. His wife is quoted in this obit with no mention of the swimming pool incident, of course. In this obit it mentions his love for farming. He may never really liked playing baseball that much and just used it as another job to earn money. Things were a lot different back then before free agency had fully taken root.

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/02/07/1...ming.html#more

[RedsBaron]

A little longer obituary:

http://www.thedeadballera.com/passings.html

Woodie Fryman's attitude with the Reds disappointed me. He seemed to have a chip on his shoulder concerning the Big Red Machine. I remember how in pregame interviews Joe Nuxhall would try to get him to agree to questions like 'Boy, you must be happy to be part of a great team like the BRM, right, Woodie?" But Fryman never bit...he would always wiggle around the question somehow. In fact, at some point, I remember him being quoted as saying that he never liked the Reds, he considered them 'arrogant'.

R.I.P.
It wasn't Fryman's fault he was acquired by the Reds in an absurdly stupid trade, with the Reds trading their team leader for a 37 year old pitcher who wasn't all that great when he was in his prime. It was Fryman's fault that he quit on the Reds.

[westofyou]

Woodie was a great pickup for the 72 Tigers, also wasn't discovered until he was pitching in a factory league in his early 20's

[Spitball]

I never did blame Fryman for the Perez trade being such a bad move. I have always blamed Dan Driessen...for a lot. I blame him for the Reds losing the 1973 NL playoffs to the Mets. I blame him for pretending to be a viable first base replacement for Perez. I blame him for the fall of the Big Red Machine (okay, maybe a bit unfair). Geesh, he was probably the guy in the pool with...nah, he was one ugly guy.

[westofyou]

Dan Driessen is ninth in team history in games played, he played more games as a Red than Edd Roush!!

[George Anderson]

I blame him for the Reds losing the 1973 NL playoffs to the Mets. .

Perez and Morgan performed worse than Driessen did so how was this his fault?

[George Anderson]

I blame him for pretending to be a viable first base replacement for Perez. .

If you want to blame anyone blame Bob Howsam. What was Driessen supposed to do walk in Howsams office and tell him not to trade Tony because I'm not good enough to replace him?

[RedsBaron]

Perez and Morgan performed worse than Driessen did so how was this his fault?

I recalled that Driessen made a big error in game five of the 1973 NLCS but, after checking online I found that his one error in that game did not lead to any runs being scored by the Mets. I do still recall Driessen looking like a lost soul as he tried to play third base in the NLCS and the Reds soon thereafter gave up on the idea that Driessen could be a third baseman.
You are right--Perez and Morgan didn't hit a lick in the 1973 NLCS. About the only Reds hitter who performed well was Pete Rose, who hit .381 with two big home runs and played as if he had bet a bundle on the Reds.

[Spitball]

I recalled that Driessen made a big error in game five of the 1973 NLCS but, after checking online I found that his one error in that game did not lead to any runs being scored by the Mets. I do still recall Driessen looking like a lost soul as he tried to play third base in the NLCS and the Reds soon thereafter gave up on the idea that Driessen could be a third baseman.
You are right--Perez and Morgan didn't hit a lick in the 1973 NLCS. About the only Reds hitter who performed well was Pete Rose, who hit .381 with two big home runs and played as if he had bet a bundle on the Reds.

I don't remember all the particulars, but with a Met runner coming into third base, Driessen took a throw and simply stepped on the bag as though it was a force...which it wasn't. At the time, it seemed like the momentum swing for the series.

Note: He may not have actually cost the Reds the series nor have cost the Reds Tony Perez, but this is my grudge and I keeping it.