George Foster

George Foster was one of the most feared sluggers in the National League from the mid-1970s through the early '80s, and was a key cog of the Cinncinnatti Reds team known as "The Big Red Machine" that won consecutive World Series in 1975 and '76. In 1977, he became the first player to hit 50 home-runs in a season in 16 years, since New York Yankees team-mates'Roger Maris' (61) and Mickey Mantle (54) had accomplished the feat in 1961. (In the pre-steroid, pre-human growth hormone halcyon days of baseball, only Cecil Fielder in 1990 would accomplish the feat). Traded to the Reds by the playoff-bound San Francisco Giants in 1971, Foster eventually appeared in four National League Championship Series (1972, '76, '77 and '79) and three World Series with The Big Red Machine. He was named the National League Most Valuable Player in 1977, when in addition to his 52 circuit-clouts, Foster hit for a then-lusty .320, batted in 149 runs and scored 120 runs, all career highs. When he became a free agent after the 1981 strike-split season (the Reds, with the overall record in baseball, were shut out of the playoffs as they failed to win the division in either one of the two halves), Foster signed with the New York Mets, becoming the highest paid player in baseball. Foster's batting prowess held up for a couple of years, albeit not at the level justifying his superstar salary, a development noted by New York's tabloid press. In 1986, Foster's contract mandated a salary of $2.8 million, an incredible amount at the time for a player who had yet to hit 30 home-runs or drive in 100 for his new team. The ownership or the World's Championship-bound Mets dealt him away that year to the Chicago White Sox as the swing that ultimately produced 348 home-runs was gone. It was with the American League ChiSox that Foster, one of the N.L. greats of the preceding generation, would retire. Still, it will be as a Red that George Foster always will be remembered as, as one of the vital parts of the one of baseball history's greatest teams, The Big Red Machine.