Greatest Hype Greatest Letdown All Time Reds Team

[klw]

Originally Posted by M2

IIRC, Dawkins was being floated as the potential principal in the trade, not the "in addition" guy, which was Perez's role.

Wasn't it Pokie who was the untouchable for this?

[M2]

Originally Posted by klw

Wasn't it Pokie who was the untouchable for this?

Both Pokey and Gookie were listed as untouchables. If only the Reds had traded both.

[klw]

Originally Posted by M2

Both Pokey and Gookie were listed as untouchables. If only the Reds had traded both.

Man Pokey has only 5 letters in it yet I was way off in the spelling. I was looking at it thinking "this is not right". Mr. Reese I apologize.

[*BaseClogger*]

It's really too bad Pokey and Gookie didn't work out. Awesome names for a double-play tandem...

[macro]

The 1982 team was full of candidates for this list. Householder, Milner, and Cedeno have been mentioned, but what about Clint Hurdle, Alex Trevino, and Householder's twin, Duane Walker. It seemed that the two were always mentioned in the same breath. While we're add it, let's go ahead and add the team's third baseman that year, Johnny Bench.

1983 brought us Redus and Nick Esasky.

Speaking of those years, the team leader in HR each year had only 17 (Driessen in '82 and Redus in '83). Johnny Bench was second on the '82 team with 12 and no other player had more than 9. The team hit 82 for the season.

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

It's really too bad Pokey and Gookie didn't work out. Awesome names for a double-play tandem...

And if they did develop, maybe Aaron Boone would have really considered changing his name to "Pukie" Boone.

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by Austin Kearns

And if they did develop, maybe Aaron Boone would have really considered changing his name to "Pukie" Boone.

Boone, Dawkins, and Reese sounds like fake names of a platoon from a WWII video game...

[RedlegJake]

Ah, Clint Hurdle. Although he didn't come through the Reds system he did play for us - he was a cover on SI I believe and as ballyhooed as any player I've ever heard of before he signed. His reality was a far cry from the greatness predicted for him. When you saw him actually play in the majors you wondered what could scouts have seen when he was a teeneager?

[Johnny Footstool]

Originally Posted by M2

Both Pokey and Gookie were listed as untouchables. If only the Reds had traded both.

That tells you all you need to know about "untouchable" prospects.

[puca]

Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool

That tells you all you need to know about "untouchable" prospects.

No, it tells me all I need to know about Jim Bowden's GM skills.

Neither player earned the hype or the label afforded them by JimBo.

[George Anderson]

Originally Posted by macro

The 1982 team was full of candidates for this list. Householder, Milner, and Cedeno have been mentioned, but what about Clint Hurdle, Alex Trevino, and Householder's twin, Duane Walker. It seemed that the two were always mentioned in the same breath. While we're add it, let's go ahead and add the team's third baseman that year, Johnny Bench.

1983 brought us Redus and Nick Esasky.

Lets not forget about Dave Van Gorder and Tom lawless from that era.

I have a old program from around 82' that showed the new generation of Reds stars. It had Dave Van Gorder, Tom Lawless, Eddie Milner, Paul Householder, and Duane Walker on it.

I keep it around for laughs.

[camisadelgolf]

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:

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.

[savafan]

How about former #1 overall pick in the country Tracy Jones?

[wheels]

Chris Stynes and Jon Nunnally.

They tore it up the previous September, but ultimately both of them failed miserably.

[Caseyfan21]

Originally Posted by savafan

How about former #1 overall pick in the country Tracy Jones?

He played the game...