We reach the last place team in the NL West. The Reds were improved from the previous season though. The big news in 1983 was that this was the final season for long time Red and arguably the best catcher of all time, Johnny Bench.
Best Player & Pitcher: Mario Soto, he finished 2nd in Cy Young voting in '83. I think he gets overlooked as the heart of his career fell in between the Big Red Machine and the team that won the World Series in 1990, but from 1980-1984, Mario Soto was one of the best in the game. He led the league in complete games in 1983, so this may have something to do with why he fell off after '84.
All-Stars: Johnny Bench, Mario Soto
Hall-of-Famers: Johnny Bench
Rookie Card of the Year: Gary Redus...had the longest career of all the players with a rookie card on this team. He was largely a platoon outfielder through 1994 with the Reds, Phillies, White Sox, Pirates, and Rangers.
Other rookies: Dann Bilardello, Ben Hayes, Tom Lawless, Brad Lesley, Dave Van Gorder, Duane Walker
First Red card: Rich Gale, Alan Knicely, Russ Nixon, Charlie Puleo
Most interesting non-Topps card: Brad Lesley, not much of a playing career, playing for the Reds and Brewers through 1985...but checking out his wikipedia page, he apparently was a fixture on a Japanese game show and appeared in several sports movies.
Starters
| __ | TT | 11 | C | Dann Bilardello | CIN |
| __ | TO | 165 | 1B | Dan Driessen | CIN |
| __ | TO | 269 | 2B | Ron Oester | CIN |
| __ | TO | 720 | SS | Dave Concepcion | CIN |
| __ | 3B | Nick Esasky | |||
| __ | TT | 94 | LF | Gary Redus | CIN |
| __ | TO | 449 | CF | Eddie Milner | CIN |
| __ | TO | 475 | RF | Cesar Cedeno | CIN |
| __ | TO | 34 | OF | Paul Householder | CIN |
| __ | TO | 60 | CI | Johnny Bench | CIN |
| __ | TO | 243 | OF | Duane Walker | CIN |
Starting Pitchers
| __ | TO | 215 | SP | Mario Soto | CIN |
| __ | TO | 139 | SP | Bruce Berenyi | CIN |
| __ | TO | 658 | SP | Frank Pastore | CIN |
| __ | TO | 191 | SP | Joe Price | CIN |
| __ | TT | 88 | SP | Charlie Puleo | CIN |
Relief Pitchers
| __ | CL | Bill Scherrer | |||
| __ | SP | Jeff Russell | |||
| __ | RP | Ted Power | |||
| __ | TO | 86 | RP | Tom Hume | CIN |
| __ | TT | 35 | RP | Rich Gale | CIN |
| __ | FL | 591 | RP | Ben Hayes | CIN |
Other Players
| __ | TO | 632 | C | Alex Trevino | CIN |
| __ | IF | Kelly Paris | |||
| __ | TT | 57 | C | Alan Knicely | CIN |
| __ | SS | Tom Foley | |||
| __ | 3B | Wayne Krenchicki | |||
| __ | UT | Jeff Jones | |||
| __ | CI | Skeeter Barnes | |||
| __ | OF | Dallas Williams | |||
| __ | C | Steve Christmas | |||
| __ | TO | 684 | UT | Rafael Landestoy | CIN |
| __ | DO | 547 | RP | Brad Lesley | CIN |
| __ | RP | Keefe Cato | |||
| __ | TO | 296 | RP | Greg Harris | CIN |
Minor Leagues
| __ | TO | 423 | MN | Tom Lawless | CIN |
| __ | TO | 607 | MN | Charlie Liebrandt | CIN |
| __ | TO | 322 | MN | Dave Van Gorder | CIN |
Manager
| __ | TO | 756 | MG | Russ Nixon | CIN |
Soto really was a great pitcher in the early 80's, I think he is also kind of remembered as being a guy that, when he was starting, Pete Rose wouldn't bet on the Reds to win.
ReplyDeleteBench has a "Highlight" card (with Perry and Yaz) in the next year's ('84) set, but not a regular card.
Interesting stuff on Soto and his connection to Rose's gambling...looking into it, if Rose really did ride him too hard to win bets, then I think Rose really does have no business in the Hall. He ruined a potential Hall-of-Fame career.
ReplyDeleteHere is an interesting article, although an opinion piece that gives some insight into Rose ruining Soto's career...http://bleacherreport.com/articles/242626-pete-rose-killed-mario-soto
I just commented on that article - I don't think it's fair to link the gambling to him overworking Soto. He put everyone on 3 days rest that year. 10 years earlier, most teams used 4-man rotations.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he should be in the hall - I mostly can't stand the guy. He was one of my favorites growing up, and I believed his lies for 15 years. Once he admitted, I'm not going to be as forgiving and put him on that pedestal like the rest of Cincinnati.
Also, I think the other (and to me more relevant) part about the Soto-Rose thing is that Rose would bet on games, but in 86 and 87, when Soto was a dud - Rose supposedly never bet on the games Soto started. That's a big counter to the "I never bet them to lose" - because betting on Browning's day then not betting on Soto's day is essentially the same signal to the gambling.