Gloves Red

Gloves Red

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.

 

Playing for the team between 1899 and 1905, Noodles Hahn was one of their first big stars. He led the National League in strikeouts for three straight years, beginning in his rookie year! And he posted four 20 win seasons, a feat rarely matched in this day and age. The organization was also known for its offense in the early days, with Cy Seymour, Hal Chase and Edd Roush all taking home NL batting titles.

 

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.

 

Starting his nine year stay with the team in fine fashion, Frank Robinson won the Rookie of the Year in 1956. He secured the NL Most Valuable Player award in 1961, along with a World Series ring to boot! Known for crowding the plate, Robinson was the league leader in hit by pitchers on more than one occasion.

 

Though Robinson was traded before his zenith, a new star was on the rise in Pete Rose. Matching Robinson in winning the Rookie of the Year in 1963, he too went on to greatness. He walked away with a few battling titles, becoming baseball's all time hit leader, and was named MVP for both the National League and the World Series.

 

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.

 

 

Nothing lasts, and after Anderson and Rose departed, the Machine lost their momentum. In the late Seventies the only high spot was two time home run leader George Foster. It wasn't until players like Chris Sabo (Rookie of the Year 1988), pitcher Jose Rijo, and future Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin came on to the scene that the Reds started their upswing. In 1990, Manager Lou Pinella took them to not only their first Division title in eleven years, but to a World Series victory, upsetting the favored Oakland Athletics.

 

Over the course of Barry Larkin's nineteen year career with the Reds, the shortstop got the MVP award (in 1995), three Gold Gloves, nine Silver Sluggers, and was named to the All Star team twelve times. In 1996, after hitting over thirty home runs and stealing thirty bases, he became a member of the 30-30 club.

 

And with MVP Joey Vatto, the Cincinnati Reds seem on the verge of greatness again. Having grabbed a couple more Golden Gloves as well, their first trip to the playoffs in fifteen years only seems to set the stage for future World Series glories.

 

 

 

About the Author

Bobbie Barton is a fitness trainer She likes SportsFanTreasures.com and recommends you check out their info on <a href="http://www.sportsfantreasures.com/mlb-washington-nationals.htm">Washington Nationals Watch</a> and <a href="http://www.sportsfantreasures.com/mlb--atlanta-braves.htm">Atlanta Braves Bedding</a><p>

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