Growing up in a Cincinnati Reds family during the 1970s was a lot of fun. Everyone had their personal favorite player. For my mom, it was Johnny Bench, while my dad was a Pete Rose guy. Of course, needing to be different from my parents I had to find my guy. That player was the final piece of the great eight, George Foster, that became my childhood favorite.
After being acquired from the San Francisco Giants in May of 1971, it took a while for Foster to make an impact with the Reds. Outside of scoring the winning run as a pinch-runner, in the fifth and deciding game of the 1972 NLCS, Foster had few highlights before the 1975 season began.