Award Winning Players Of The Cincinnati Reds
Yes, Joey Votto won the Most Valuable Player award. But The Cincinnati Reds have over an one hundred year history of fielding award-winning players.
Initially known for their offense, Cy Seymour, Edd Roush, Hal Chase all won National League batting titles for the Reds. But one of their first early stars was Noodles Hahn. Playing for the team between 1899 and 1905, he had four twenty win seasons and led the League in strikeouts for three times, starting in his rookie year!
With Bill McKechnie as manager, the Reds posted a string of victories, with resulting trophies to match. In 1940 alone, first baseman Frank McCormick won the MVP, Cincinnati won 100 games and the World Series to boot! Catcher Ernie Lombardi was the star though, being named to the All Star team five times between 1936 and 1940 and getting an MVP nod in 1938. Pitcher Bucky Walters nabbed the MVP between his teammates in 1939, one of the few pitchers to get the award. After these successes Jonny Vander Meer’s three consecutive strikeout crowns almost seem an afterthought. Almost.
Frank Robinson started an illustrious career in 1956 by winning the Rookie of the Year award. An invaluable help in his nine years with the team, Robinson helped bring home a World Series trophy in 1961. Although frequently hit by pitches, this did not stop him from also being named National League Most Valuable Player, also in 1961.
Legendary outfielder Pete Rose took over where Robinson left off. After a Rookie of the Year award in 1963, he acquired copious accolades, such as many batting championships, NL and World Series MVPs and the all time number of hits throughout baseball with 4,256.
The “Big Red Machine” of 1970 to 1975 was surely a high point of award winning in any field. Rose, along with Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and others won voluminous awards including three League batting championships, twenty five Gold Gloves, sixty three All Star appearances and six MVPs! They won their division five times and won back to back World Series, due in no small part to Sparky Anderson’s managerial skills.
After Rose and Anderson left, the team cooled. Although George Foster was able to snag a couple of home run titles in the late Seventies, the Reds remained dormant for the better part of a decade. But with the arrival of such players as Jose Rijo, 1988 Rookie of the Year Chris Sabo and Hall of Famer in the making Barry Larkin, the team’s fortunes began to turn. Manager Lou Pinella delivered them to their first Division title since 1979 and an eventual World Series victory.
Larkin sent nineteen years with the Reds, procuring a spot on the All Star team twelve times, membership in the 30-30 club (1996), an MVP award the year before, three Gold Gloves and nine Silver Sluggers. A fine set of numbers, indeed.
Behind newly minted MVP Joey Vatto, the Cincinnati Reds seem on the cusp of greatness once more. Having been to the playoffs for the first time in fifteen years, the World Series cannot be far behind.
Bobbie Barton is a fitness trainer She likes SportsFanTreasures.com and recommends you check out their info on San Francisco Giants Watch and Minnesota Twins Bedding
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