Day 12: Reds/Twins

Reds/Twins

Please see I’m Just Sayin…for what is going on with our posts for the next month or so.

Reds

Pete Rose, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan

Pete Rose

The hit king was the perfect fit for the Queen City. He was a homegrown talent who earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle” through his rough and rugged style of play. He spent 19 seasons with the Reds at various positions, including making the switch from outfield to third base in the heart of the 1975 championship team. For his career, the all-time hit leader had 4,256 hits—3,358 of which came in a Cincinnati uniform. He is plastered all over the Reds record book. Rose had 601 doubles (first), 115 triples (fourth), 1,036 RBI (fourth), 1,210 walks (first), .379 OBP (fourth) and a .307 batting average (10th). Rose was the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, 1973 NL MVP, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, a 17-time All-Star and the 1975 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Most importantly, he was a two-time World Series champion.

Frank Robinson

The only player to be named MVP in the NL and AL, many do not even realize that Robinson played his first 10 years in Cincinnati. He was the 1956 NL Rookie of the Year and 1961 NL MVP, amassing 324 home runs and 1,009 RBI while batting .307 as a Redleg. Robinson, a 12-time All-Star, was elected to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1978 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He ranks among baseball's all-time leaders with 586 home runs (sixth), 5,373 total bases (11th), 1,829 runs (13th), 1,812 RBI (17th), and 2,808 games played (19th). Reds owner Bill DeWitt sent Robinson to Baltimore in exchange for pitcher Milt Pappas, pitcher Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson in 1965. The trade is considered one of the most lopsided in baseball history.

Johnny Bench

The career leader in home runs and RBI for the Reds, Bench spent his entire 17-year career in Cincinnati. Bench was the 1968 NL Rookie of the Year and a part of two World Series Championships. He won 10 Gold Gloves and was a 14-time NL All-Star and a two-time NL MVP. In 1999, The Sporting News named him the 16th best player in MLB history. He was the highest ranked catcher. Bench ended his career with 389 HRs, 1,376 RBI, 2,048 hits, and a .267 career batting average. A superstar in every sense of the phrase, he was a national icon.

Joe Morgan

A 10-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove second baseman, Morgan was elected to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1987 and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. A two-time MVP Award winner, Morgan spent eight seasons with the Reds from 1972-'79 during the glory days of the Big Red Machine. He was named the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1975, guiding the Reds to a World Series title over the Boston Red Sox in the process. Morgan batted .327 with 67 stolen bases that season. He did it again in 1976, when he received National League MVP honors as the Reds roared to their second straight World Series Championship. Morgan is the Reds' all-time stolen-base leader (406), and his 266 home runs as a second baseman rank third in baseball history behind Jeff Kent and Ryne Sandberg.

Highly Honorably Mentioned:

Barry Larkin

The captain of the Cincinnati Reds in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Larkin was the face of the franchise and the last Red to wear the “C” on his jersey. He was a huge piece of the "wire-to-wire" World Series in 1990, and he was named NL MVP in 1996. He ended his career a .295 hitter with a .975 fielding percentage at shortstop—slightly better than Big Red Machine great Dave Concepcion.

Honorable Mention:

George Foster, Dave Concepcion, Eric Davis, Ted Kluszewski, Tony Perez

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/364756-the-ultimate-machine-greatest-cincinnati-reds-of-all-time

Twins

The Twins organization includes the Washington Senators. Therefore, for me the greatest Twin/Senator is Walter Johnson. The greatest Minnesota Twin is Kirby Puckett.

Walter Johnson, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew

Walter Johnson

As a right-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals/Senators, Walter Johnson won 417 games, the second most by any pitcher in history (after Cy Young, who won 511). He and Young are the only pitchers to have won 400 games. In a 21-year career, Johnson had twelve 20-win seasons, including ten in a row. Twice, he topped thirty wins (33 in 1912 and 36 in 1913). Johnson's record includes 110 shutouts, the most in baseball history. Johnson had a 38–26 record in games decided by a 1–0 score; both his win total and his losses in these games are major league records. Johnson also lost 65 games because his teams failed to score a run. On September 4, 5 and 7, 1908, he shut out the New York Highlanders in three consecutive games. Three times, Johnson won the Triple Crown for pitchers (1913, 1918 and 1924). Johnson twice won the American League Most Valuable Player Award (1913, 1924), a feat accomplished since by only two other pitchers, Carl Hubbell in 1933 and 1936 and Hal Newhouser in 1944 and 1945.

Career highlights and awards

Pitched a no-hitter (July 1, 1920)

2× AL MVP (1913, 1924)

World Series champion (1924)

11 sub-2.00 ERA seasons

2-30-win seasons

12-20-win seasons

12× American League Strikeout Champion (1910, 1912-1919, 1921, 1923, 1924)

6× American League Wins Champion (1913-1916, 1918, 1924)

5× American League ERA Champion (1912, 1913, 1918, 1919, 1924)

3× Triple Crown (1913, 1918, 1924)

All-time major league leader in shutouts (110)

Second all-time in wins

300 win club

3000 strikeout club

Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Major League Baseball All-Time Team

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Johnson

Kirby Puckett

Career highlights and awards

10× All-Star (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991,1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) 2× World Series champion (1987, 1991) 6× Gold Glove Award (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992) 6× Silver Slugger Award (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994) AL batting title (1989) AL RBI champion (1994) ALCS MVP (1991) MLB All-Star Game MVP (1993) Branch Rickey Award (1993) Roberto Clemente Award (1996) Minnesota Twins #34 retired

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirby_Puckett

Rod Carew

Career highlights and awards

18× All-Star selection (1967, 1968, 1969, 1970,1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978,1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984) 7× AL batting title (1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978) 1977 AL MVP 1967 AL Rookie of the Year 1977 Roberto Clemente Award Minnesota Twins #29 retired Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim #29 retired

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Carew

Harmon Killebrew

Despite rumors that Killebrew was the player depicted in the Major League Baseball logo, according to the creator, Jerry Dior, it was not patterned after Killebrew or any other specific player. (Yea, right!)

Career highlights and awards

13× All-Star (1959, 1959, 1961, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971)

AL MVP (1969)

6× AL home run champion (1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969)

3× AL RBI champion (1962, 1969, 1971)

Lou Gehrig Memorial Award (1971)

Minnesota Twins #3 retired

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmon_Killebrew

Honorable Mention:

Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Jack Morris, Joe Mauer