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.