Reds trivia thread

[Hit-n-Run]

I know John.
Eburg said he knew the answer.... sadly there's really only three of us answering questions.

 

[JohnU]

The rest of us are writing 500-word paragraphs with no punctuation or capital letters.

I've attempted to generate more interest in this board with a series of posts. It's not going anywhere.

I will hang in there awhile.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The follow-up stories are more interesting than the question itself. Your knowledge of Hoosier ball players dwarfs mine. The only other two I can think of offhand are Tucker and Scott Rolen.

Eburg mentioned Phil Niekro. Those old knuckle ball pitchers could pitch all day long. They were hard on the catcher for a guy humming it in there at 70 MPH.

 

[JohnU]

Scott Rolen was probably an all-state guy in basketball at Jasper. I know he scored 50 points in a game.
Like all "lists" of great players, there are plenty from every state to pick from.

Best knuckleballer the Reds ever had was Bob Purkey, who was a hoss during his few years with the Reds. Won 23 games one year, still didn't get a Cy Young sniff. Purkey had other pitches but his knuckler was maybe his most effective.

PURKEY'S CAREER

 

[eburg5000]

Ron Reed ,Played 10 years with the Braves, 1 with the Cards, 8 with the Phillies, then 1 with the White Sox. But I remember him most with the Phillies. I also remember he wasn't timid about moving a guy off the plate, If he thought they were to close.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Ron Reed had a nice overall career. If I remember right he was the winning pitcher the game Hank Aaron hit 715.

The memory that comes to mind when remembering him in Philly was allowing a couple HR's in a single series to George Foster out of the bullpen.

There's been some great home run hitters come through Cincinnati, but I've never seen another guy hit the ball as hard and far as George. I forget how many upper red seat HR's he hit at Riverfront, but it was ridiculous. Some of his HR's looked like line drives off the bat and hit the seats without ever arcing.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Speaking of Bob Purkey not winning the Cy.
Seems like every time a Reds pitcher is close to winning it a Dodgers pitchers always snatches it away.

Drysdale got Purkey
Fernando got Seaver
Hershiser got Jackson
Kershaw got Cueto

The Reds are still waiting for it's first franchise Cy Young winner.

 

[JohnU]

I'd say they ought to create a pitching award for a Reds reliever who can go 4 innings without walking somebody.

Seems like a Reds guy has won the Rolaids award. I haven't looked it up.

One of the Nasty Boys, maybe.

I remember a guy named Hersh Freeman in 1956 who was the Reds bullpen specialist. In those days, relievers would usually go 2 or 3 innings, usually if the starter was lifted for a hitter.

Jim Brosnan is the next good Reds reliever, probably until the Clay Carroll days. Wayne Granger was pretty good around that time.

 

[JohnU]

I was just looking at the stats from the 70s BRM years, tried to remember why they fell off so badly after 1976 to 1977 and had forgotten, the missing link was Tony Perez, who had been traded, replaced by ......................

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I think there's been a few relievers win. Jeff Brantley holds the club record for saves and I believe he won.

The Nasty Boys.... they shared the ball.... may have kept them from winning individual awards. Meyers got the bulk of the saves, but I don't remember it being more than maybe 30-31.

Chapman would be the most dominant closer in Reds history, but never had more than mid 30's in saves. Seems like you always have to be in the 40's to win.

John Franco had a pretty good run. He always kept you on the edge of your seat.

Tom Hume had a good year or two. But other than Brantley I'm not sure who won any awards.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Dan Driessen. Howsam always said that trade was his biggest regret.

Looking back now, I think father time had as much to do with it as anything else. Collectively the great eight minus Perez never posted the same offensive numbers after 1976. Foster and a few individual players had good/ great seasons, but not the juggernaut team effort that won back to back WS.

Looking back at the 1960's, Vada Pinson seems to be the most under appreciated great player. Frank gets all the accolades, but Pinson was a pretty damn good player.

Another guy that could really hit was Lee May. That trade hacked a lot of fans off, but it worked out well in the end. Lee May was descent in Houston, but not like his Crosley years.

 

[JohnU]

I recall talking to Reds people at the time who said getting Morgan for May was a big mistake, from a racial harmony standpoint in the clubhouse. What those trades reminded us, and should still remind us, that we tend to think the guys we have are as good as they need to be, and that they will just get better with experience. Sometimes you just need to reboot. Losing Frazier is a classic example. Once Bruce is gone, it will hit again.

I hear ya a little on the father time thing but I am reminded that the 1979 team won the divisional title.

What probably is the biggest downer of the time is having Tom Seaver as the ace of a staff that couldn't get past some really great Dodgers teams.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Lee May trade was very unpopular. The fact that it didn't translate into WS paydirt for a few more seasons didn't help.

The 1979 team was a descent team, but the "We are family" crew swept them right out of the playoffs. I can still hear the crack of Willie Stargells bat hammering that 11th inning 3-run homer off of Tom Hume in game 1.

 

[JohnU]

Imagine being told you had been traded to the Mets -- for Tom Seaver.

Anyway, I pulled out Seaver's first few years ... look at his innings pitched among other stats ... Verducci, my ass.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I've heard Tom Seaver respond to the question of pitch count in a interview. He said he felt comfortable at the 135 range. But he was a firm believer in every pitcher having their own limit.

 

[JohnU]

Your earlier comment about Foster reminded me of the deal when he came over to the Reds from SF. I recall a number of fans saying, 'why are we trading a pitcher and a good infielder for a platoon-level outfielder?'

At the time, I agreed with that assessment. It wasn't like the Reds needed a left fielder. Frank Duffy, at the time, was a highly respected shortstop. Vern Geishert was a so-so lefty, but still ... he was a pitcher.

A lot of other background moves conspired to create that team, many of which we all know.

As an aside, I recall a comment in 1970 about Wayne Simpson from none other than Bob Gibson, who said up-front that Simpson's mechanics were going to fail him. Simpson was running away with the ROY award and hit the wall at the end of July. At best, he was ordinary after that.

 

[JohnU]

Some cool trivia about Nuxhall, who spent his entire career with the Reds, except for 1961 (and part of 62).
The odd part about 1961 was that it was the year the Reds won their only pennant while Nux was an active player. Maybe NOT having Nux was a good idea?

NUX STAX

 

[JohnU]

Reds bonus baby Jay Hook was among the first players drafted by the Mets during their first year.
Horrible team. Almost as bad a year later.
Hook has a unique distinction for the Mets. Clue what it was?

JAY HOOK

 

[Hit-n-Run]

All trades have a family tree until they finally play out. A team trades for one or more guys and subsequently trades those guys, and so on and so on.

George Foster is a descendant of the Frank Robinson trade.

Robinson for Dick Simpson and more.
Dick Simpson for Alex Johnson
Alex Johnson for Vern Geishert
Vern Geishert for George Foster

Just the way Bill DeWitt drew it up on the chalk board.... right??

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Mets didn't win many. Just a guess since he was a SP.

The franchises first win.

As bad as that was.... could be first hit. LOL