Who is the Best Reds Player Ever?

[McC]

(01-24-2018, 12:23 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I never saw Klu or Pinson play, so I will not include or exclude either of them.  I have been a fan since 1973 and I have to go with Johnny Bench mainly because of his combination of offense and defense.  Back in the '70's teams stole a lot more bases than they do now and Johnny Bench absolutely shut down running games.  He won 10 Gold Gloves, but here is a really amazing stat.  Bench caught every inning of every game in four Word series (23 total games) and only allowed ONE stolen base by an opposing team.

Joe Morgan does not get the credit he deserves because of the dead ball era he played in.  In 1976 he only his 27 home runs but that was good for FIFTH in the league and he was first in the league in slugging percentage.  That same year he finished 2nd in the league in stolen bases.  As far as I know Willie Mays is the only other player to rank that high in both categories in the same season.  Also Joe Morgan drew walks before it was cool to draw walks.  He led the league in walks 4 times and finished in the top 5 FIFTEEN TIMES.  PLus 5 gold gloves and 2 MVPs.

And finally, if Eric Davis had remained healthy he might have been the best ever.  The guy had insane raw talent.  In '86 he finished 2nd in stolen bases and 3rd in slugging percentage.  The next year he was 2nd in slugging and 4th in stolen bases.  His 27 HR in '86 are the most ever by a player with 80 stolen bases, and back in 86 twenty-seven HR was good for fifth in the league.

I made a notation on my calendar to mark the occasion because I agree with everything you said.