Shortstop Barry Larkin played his whole career with the Cincinnati Reds. He played in 2,180 games in his 19 years with the Reds and he was 2,340 of 7,937 (.295 avg, .815 OPS) with 1,329 runs scored, 198 homers, 960 RBIs and 379 stolen bases. Barry Larkin was at his best for the Reds in 1995 and 1996 when he won back to back MVP Awards in the N.L. Larkin played in 131 games in 1995 in which he was 158 of 496 (.319 avg, .886 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 51 steals. He was even better in 1996 when he played in 152 games in which he was 154 of 517 (.298 avg, .977 OPS) with 117 runs scored, 33 homers, 89 RBIs and 36 stolen bases. Larkin played in 12 All-Star Games, won 8 Silver Slugger Awards and 3 Gold Gloves for the Reds. He is #3 all-time in Reds’ history in games played (2,180). Larkin is also #3 in runs scored (1,329), #2 in hits (2,340), #2 in doubles (441), #9 in homers (198), #6 in RBIs (960), #3 in walks (939) and he is #3 in stolen bases (379) in the history of the Cincinnati Reds. Whether Larkin gets in Baseball’s Hall of Fame or not he is one of the best players in the history of the Cincinnati Reds.

Switch hitting 2B/3B/OF Pete Rose was a great baseball player and he showed that right away winning the 1963 Rookie of the Year Award in the N.L. Rose played in 157 games in 1963 in which he was 170 of 623 (.273 avg, .705 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 6 homers, 41 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Rose won the N.L. batting title three times with the Reds. He also was a All-Star 13 times in Cincinnati while winning 2 Gold Gloves. Rose was the MVP of the N.L. in 1973 when he played in 160 games and was 230 of 680 (.338 avg, .838 OPS) with 115 runs scored, 5 homers, 64 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Rose only whiffed 42 times in 1973 while walked 65 times as he showed an outstanding eye. Rose played in 2,722 games in his 19 years with the Reds in which he was 3,358 of 10,934 (.307 avg, .804 OPS) with 1,741 runs scored, 152 homers, 1,036 RBIs and 146 stolen bases. Rose is the Reds’ all-time leader in games played (2,722), hits (3,358), doubles (601), runs scored (1,741) and walks (1,210). Rose is also #10 in batting average (.307), #4 in RBIs (1,036) and he’s 4th in triples (115) Reds’ history. Rose also managed the Reds for six years compiling a 412-373 (52.5%) record as he finished 2nd in the division 4 times. Although the gambling he did as a manager has kept him out of the Hall of Fame so far no one can doubt that he never fixed a game as a player as I have never seen anyone play as hard as Charlie Hustle.

Little lefty starting pitcher Fred Norman was lucky enough to pitch for the Reds during the time of the Big Red Machine. He pitched in 231 games (196 starts) in seven years with the Reds and he was 85-64 with 1 save, a 3.43 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. The Reds brought out the best in Norman because he did not pitch too well for anyone else in his major league career. He pitched 9 years for teams other than the Reds working in 172 games (72 starts) in which he was 19-39 with 7 saves, a 4.08 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. Norman was a unsung hero for the great Reds’ teams of the 1970’s.

The Big Red Machine was one of the best collections of players in major league history and starting LF George Foster often gets lost when talking about those teams. That is a shame because he was a dominating player especially in 1977 when he won the MVP of the National League. Foster played in 158 games for the Reds in 1977 and he was 197 for 615 (.320 avg, 1.013 OPS) with 124 runs scored, 52 homers, 149 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. In fact for a three year span (1976-1978) he might have been the best hitter on the Reds. In those three years, Foster played in 460 games in which he was 539 for 1,781 (.303 avg) with 307 runs scored, 121 homers, 390 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. Foster played 11 years for the Reds appearing in 1,253 games in which he was 1,276 for 4,454 (.286 avg, .870 OPS) with 680 runs scored, 244 homers, 861 RBIs and 46 stolen bases. Foster is #6 all-time in OPS for the Reds, #6 in homers and #9 in RBIs. Foster might not be a Hall of Fame player but he was great with the Reds.