SB Nation - John Franco

The Greatest Reds: #85 - #81

riverfront76 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:00:32 -0000

85. Hughie Critz

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1924-1930	2B	87	91	72
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1928	Never
58%	42%	0%	1928	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	N/A		-8th in career sacrifice hits -8th in single season singles (1928) -10th in career AB/K ratio -15th in career triples -40th in career hits

In 1926, Critz finished 2nd in the NL MVP voting. Two years later, he finished 4th. His OPS+ marks in each season were 86 and 90, respectively, perhaps giving indication to how well regarded Critz’s glove was. Indeed, the numbers seem to indicate a rangy second baseman with sure hands. Critz’s 1928 season saw him finish 7th in hits, 5th in steals, and 9th in triples.

84. Billy Werber

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1939-1941	3B	101	34	79
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1940	Never
70%	30%	0%	1940	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Runs Scored – 1939		-23rd in career on-base percentage -28th in single season walks (1939) -31st in single season runs scored (1939) -38th in career AB/K ratio

Perhaps the greatest discrepancy between peak and career value on the list, Werber played two full seasons (1939-40) as the full-time lead-off hitter/third baseman for pennant-winning clubs. Coincidentally, he put up identical OPS marks of 777 in each season (OPS+ of 108 and 113, respectively) to pair with above average defense, and stolen base totals that ranked in the NL top 5. En route to World Series victory in 1940, Werber hit 370/452/519 against the Tigers, a performance that bumped Werber roughly 10 spots up this list. Two quirky notes: 1) Werber was the first player to ever bat on television; and 2) At the time of Werber’s death in 2009, he was recognized as the oldest living MLB ballplayer.

83. Tom Browning

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1984-1994	SP	63	120	96
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1985	Never
0%	0%	100%	1985	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
All Star – 1991	Games Started – 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990		-4th in career games started -9th in career strikeouts -12th in career wins -18th in career K/BB ratio -25th in career W-L percentage

A long-time workhorse who routinely posted top-10 finishes in innings pitched (and home runs allowed), Browning was 35 games over .500 in an 11-year stint with the Reds. He had seven consecutive seasons with double-digit wins, including a 20-win season in his rookie campaign of 1985 (also posting career highs in IP: 261.1, K: 155, and ERA+: 107). Of particular note during his career was a perfect game in 1988 against the Dodgers, and a pivotal win in Game 2 of the 1990 NLCS to allow the Reds to even the series against the Pirates.

82. John Franco

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1984-1989	RP	83	99	71
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1988	Never
0%	0%	100%	1988	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
Rolaids Relief – 1988 All Star – 1986, 1987, 1989	Games Finished – 1987, 1988 Saves – 1988		-1st in career ERA+ -2nd in career saves -9th in career games pitched -11th in career hits per inning -12th in career strikeouts per inning

Six full seasons with the Reds, averaging 66 appearances, 88 innings, 25 saves, 61 strikeouts, and a 2.49 ERA (153 ERA+). As a Brooklyn native and St. John’s alum, he was perhaps destined to end up with the Mets (traded there after 1989 for Randy Myers), but he also was seemingly destined to be on not-quite-good-enough teams, arriving in New York too late for their team successes, and leaving Cincy too early for theirs—playing instead on 4 straight 2nd place Reds teams. His career 424 saves remain the most ever for a left-handed pitcher.

The top 15 Relief Pitchers in Reds history:

1 John Franco

2 Clay Carroll

3 Danny Graves

4 Pedro Borbon

5 Tom Hume

6 Rob Dibble

7 Ted Power

8 Joe Beggs

9 Jeff Shaw

10 Scott Williamson

11 Norm Charlton

12 Scott Sullivan

13 Jeff Brantley

14 Harry Gumbert

15 Rawley Eastwick

81. Bobby Adams

Played as Red	Primary Position	Career Rank	Peak Rank	Prime Rank
1946-1955	3B, 2B	56	135	93
Percent Breakdown of Value			Best Season	Best player on Reds
Hit	Field	Pitch	1952	Never
68%	32%	0%	1952	Never
Awards/Honors as a Red	Leading the League		On the Reds Leaderboard
N/A	Singles – 1952 At Bats – 1952		-27th in career walks -31st in career runs scored -31st in career doubles -32nd in career hits -39th in career triples

The post-WWII version of Ron Oester, albeit with a lesser glove. Here are the career stat comparisons between the two: Adams: 4019 AB, 188 2B, 49 3B, 37 HR, 90 OPS+; Oester: 4214 AB, 190 2B, 33 3B, 42 HR, 87 OPS+. Adams’s best season came in 1952, primarily as a result of getting to play every day, one of only two seasons when he topped 500 plate appearances.

Indians Reject Buchholz for Martinez Trade

Matt Buggenhagen — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:30:05 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

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According to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, the Cleveland Indians rejected a trade that would have sent right-hander Clay Buchholz to the Indians in exchange for Victor Martinez. Furthermore, the Red Sox countered with a deal that consisted of Justin Masterson and Michael Bowden for Martinez, but the Indians turned that offer down as well.

Cafardo touched on a lot of other things as well in his latest piece for The Globe. Lets have a look. Here's some random information.

Brian Cashman believes the Yankees have enough to win it all, and he doesn't want to part with his young prospects. However, many Red Sox fans are still worried the Yankees will jump in at the last minute on Roy Halladay much like they did with Mark Teixeira and Johnny Damon. Another quick note here not from Cafardo, but from J ohn Heyman of SI.com, who reports (via twitter) that the Yankees might be willing to give up Joba Chamberlin, but they wont do a deal that includes both Hughes and Chamberlain (this for Roy Halladay of course).
Cafardo spoke with Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon who said this current Yankee team reminds him a lot of the 2004 Red Sox.
Cafardo wonders what is going on in the Mets organization. He says their needs to be someone with a high baseball IQ overseeing Omar Minaya and Tony Bernazard.
A former Met player (probably John Franco) said, "That clubhouse has always been fragmented. It starts with the people in charge."

Now lets look at some of the trade rumors.

In addition to the Red Sox, the Indians are fielding offers from both the Giants and the Rays for Victor Martinez, but the Indians aren't likely to deal Martinez unless the team's best prospect is involved. Not really sure about this one, is Clay Buchholz not the Red Sox best prospect?
Some other pitchers on the market besides Halladay are Scott Kazmir, Cliff Lee, Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, and George Sherrill. Nothing too surprising there.
Also the Orioles and Blue Jays might start fielding offers for Aubrey Huff and Kevin Millar.
The Red Sox will dip back into the Roy Halladay sweepstakes if the price comes down in the end.
The White Sox could be a team to pull of something big. Maybe even Roy Halladay.
Cafardo wonders if the Giants plans have been put on hold with the sudden death of owner Sue Burns.
Cafardo proposes a swap of "underachieving" Scott Boras clients, saying the Red Sox and Tigers should swap Magglio Ordonez for J.D. Drew.
Twins GM Bill Smith is looking is looking to add another reliever and a middle infielder before the deadline. Some names rumored are Freddy Sanchez, Orlando Cabrera and Christian Guzman. Cafardo says, with Target Field opening next year the Twins might be able to stretch their payroll a bit.
Cafardo wonders if Brad Lidge doesn't straighten out, if the Phillies would consider using Pedro Martinez as the closer.

Swept Applesauce - Met All-Star selections, electrical outlets, Perez returning, Cuban defection

Joe Budd — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:22:58 -0000

Meet the Mets

For what it's worth, 4 Mets were selected to play in next week's All-Star Game: David Wright, Johan Santana, Francisco Rodriguez, and Carlos Beltran. Full rosters here.

Some words of wisdom from Charles Schulz.

Jonathan Niese's latest outing was a complete game shutout. Time to bring him back up?

NY Sports Dog argues that Beltran is the team's MVP.

The Mets lost to this guy yesterday.

John Franco has apologized to David Wright for saying he lacked leadership.

Tim Redding out. Oliver Perez in.

Fernando Martinez is aching.

Yahoo Sports' Gordon Edes doesn't see a lot of trade bait in the Met organization.

Bill Price lists some of the biggest Met free agent busts.

FanGraphs praises Jenrry Mejia as a bargain.

Mets Geek takes a look at Jeurys Familia.

Around the NL East

Are the Phillies good? Or are the Mets just really bad?

Ricky Nolasco has a 1.54 ERA since his stint in the minors.

I think Hanley Ramirez actually writes his own blog.

The Marlins have signed Luis Ayala.

Adam Dunn hit his 300th career home run over the weekend. But the Nationals have no plans to dump talent.

National reliever Joe Beimel wants to go back to the Dodgers.

Around MLB

FanGraphs compiles this year's defensive All-Star team.

One of the world's top left handed pitching prospects, Cuban Aroldis Chapman, has defected.

Minnesota will get outdoor baseball again.

David Eckstein has strained his hamstring.

Steve Serby talks with Derek Jeter. Jeter plugs his crap shoe and doesn't want to even think about playing another position.

David Wright Is A Leader!

James Kannengieser — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

I have not yet begun to fight. I shall return. I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. An army is a team - it lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team.

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Location: Camden Yards, June 16th, Mets vs. Orioles, 6th inning
Situation: David Wright thinking

Pelfrey is pitching pretty well tonight, maybe he can throw a shutout - oh crap home run Markakis. No big deal David, we just need to think of a way to show leadership. I've got it! Let's go out to the mound and say some b.s. to the big guy and pat him on the back.

:::David walks out to mound:::

David: Hey Mike, whassup?!
Mike: Uh nothing, what do you want?
David: Do me a favor Mike. The New York media and idiot fans have been making a big deal out about my supposed lack of leadership, so could you humor the cameras a bit and act like I'm saying some meaningful leaderish things to you?
Mike: Sure David, whatever you say. As long as we're still on for a night out at the Inner Harbor and you're paying. Parnell and Church are in too.
David: Of course. I'm talking through my glove right now because Cora does that and people seem to think that's what gritty veterans do. Expect a dugout "confrontation" after you're taken out of the game where I say pretty much the same thing. Just act like I'm Splinter and you're the Ninja Turtles. I hope you can hear me. If you can't, just commit a balk to signal me and I'll talk louder.
Mike: What?

:::David walks away, finishes the night 2-5 with an RBI and the Mets win 6-4. He is universally praised for his leadership:::

Well that oughta keep the talk radio types off my back for awhile right? A couple serious looking exchanges with 25 year-old Pelf, a few back slaps and a win does the trick everytime. I'm basically Wally Backman, except I'm ridiculously more valuable.

Location: David Wright's Milwaukee hotel suite, July 1st
Situation: David in the bathroom, preparing for an egg-white breakfast cooked by his 5 bikini-clad supermodel girlfriends

I live in the Grission Building on W. 81st Street on the 9th floor. My name is David Wright and I bat 3rd, except when Jerry bats me 5th. I'm 26 years old. I believe in taking care of myself and a balanced diet and a rigorous weight lifting routine. In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while taking batting practice. I can hit 1000 homers now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion-

Supermodel: David, breakfast is ready!
David: OK, coming Svetlana!
Supermodel: My name is Heidi. And some moustached Italian guy who used to play for the Mets is complaining about your leadership.
David: Is it Piazza? No way it's Piazza, they used to complain about his lack of rah-rah leadership, despite leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances.
Supermodel: No, it's Franco.

Unbelievable. I thought my show in Baltimore was enough to keep the fools off my 7 WAR back. Do I really need to go visit the pitcher every game to satiate the masses? Are closed-door meetings the secret to success? Should I bash the water cooler every time I make an out like Paul O'Neill used to do? I'm doing my honest best to show some leadership, especially with Delgado injured, but there's only so much that can be done short of signing General Norman Schwarzkopf. And let's see him play the hot corner! Should my pearls of wisdom be powerful enough to prevent Stokes from giving up grand slams? Did Keith Hernandez and his leadership single-handedly make Dwight Gooden lead the league in strikeouts in from 1984-1985? I really don't think so, but these fans on talk radio and message boards seem to prefer screaming about my leadership rather than the 3 #5 (#6?) pitchers currently in our starting rotation. Switch our 2008 bullpen with the Phillies 2008 bullpen and I'm probably sitting here stroking my World Series ring like Dr. Evil, and no one would even bring up my leadership. Alright, let's come up with a reply to this joker Franco. He's making Gary Carter look intelligent at this point. I've got it, but I'll save it for after the game.

Location: Mets locker room in Milwaukee, July 1st, following Mets 1-0 win over the Brewers
Situation: David Wright speaking with reporters about John Franco's comments

David: [To reporters] With all due respect to Johnny, he doesn't know what's going on in this clubhouse. I don't feel the need to defend myself as a leader if the guys in here respect me and think of me as a leader. I don't worry myself with outside people, saying what they're going to say. It doesn't matter to me.

That should hold everyone off for awhile. Since that's settled, all I need to do is get these stat guys off my back for my BABIP and strikeouts.

David: Svetlana, fetch my abacus!

Reconnaissance: Q&A with Mets blog Amazin Avenue

WholeCamels — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:50:12 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

Posted because it's the best type of photograph in all of sports - the ball-in-the-stands gimp face gallery! (No, not the David Wright hiney shot, you silly geese!) (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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You know the drill: We swap questions with a rival team's blog, and we post the results. This weekend: Eric Simon from SB Nation's New York Mets blog, Amazin Avenue.

1. Who's worse right now: Mets or Phillies? Please consider this an open-ended question in which you can gripe about the Mutts, and laff at the Sillies.

The standings will tell you the Mutts are about a game worse than the Sillies. Given their current rosters the Mets should probably be quite a bit worse. Injuries aren't the only reason for the Mets' poor first half, but they're certainly a big reason. Take away three of the top four hitters and two of the top four starters from any team and they'd be in pretty bad shape. The Phillies have had their injury problems, too, but even with Lidge, Myers and Ibanez out they're still a Moyer, Howard and Werth away from matching the Mets malady-for-malady.

Given that, and the high expectations that come with winning the World Series, I would consider the Phillies a bigger disappointment than the Mets to this point in the season, though really we're just debating the relative merits of poop and turd here. (editor's note: I claim "turd" for the Phillies).

2. Assuming Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes return this year, which appears very likely, is it reasonable to assume they'll be close to full strength?

I actually think Carlos Delgado's injury has been the Mets' toughest obstacle to overcome. Beltran has only missed a couple of weeks so far, and in time his absence could be far, far worse, but the non-Delgados who have played first base for the Mets this season have a lower combined OPS than Albert Pujols's slugging percentage. Think about that one for a second.

The Mets are supposed to get Oliver Perez back next week (for better or worse), so if they can get Reyes and Beltran back after the All-Star break they'll certainly be in much better shape. They'd still be missing Delgado, John Maine and J.J. Putz, so it's not like they'd really have the team out there they were hoping to have, but every little bit helps.

3. Any idea what's wrong with Johan Santana? He's been less than his normally awesome self for the past few starts.

I don't know whether he is hurt, tired, both, or something else entirely, but his fastball velocity is down and his normally fine-tuned command has been off. The Mets have played godawful defense behind him, which certainly isn't helping things, but there's no question that Santana isn't at his physical best right now. He has had blister problems this season, which pitching coach Dan Warthen believes might have led Santana to change the grip on his fastball. We've seen blisters destroy whole seasons for guys like Josh Beckett, and I hope Santana's 2009 doesn't go that route.

4. With regard to John Franco's recent comments about the Mets' clubhouse and impugning David Wright's "leadership" (whatever the hell that means), do you sense that Franco is on to something, that there are clubhouse problems in Queens? Or is Franco off his rocker and should he shut his damn fool mouth?

I think David Wright probably is a good "leader" (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090616&content_id=5358216&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym), not that it really matters. This team has enough veterans on it that they don't necessarily need someone rah-rah-ing it out there, but from what I can tell Wright has definitely gone out of his way to encourage the Mets' young players. My sense is that Franco, a novice baseball commentator, is simply trying to make a name for himself by calling out one of the superstars of the game for something that is hardly news (rumblings of Wrights non-leadership have come up in the past).

As a young star of this team I don't necessarily think it's Wright's job to be a vocal leader; some guys have the personality for it, others not so much. People assume that because you're the face of the franchise that you necessarily have to be "that guy", and I certainly question that rationale. The best part about this whole thing is that it's such a non-story. Who cares whether Wright is a team leader? If the Mets were in first place, healthy, and playing winning baseball nobody would give enough of a shit about leadership to bring it up. The Mets are hurt and struggling to boot, so media types want to blame that on things like leadership, grission, edge, etc. because they've exhausted the usual ways in which to say "the Mets have been shitty this year".

5. In light of your expecations coming into the season, how would you grade (A through F) the Mets so far?

Well, I *expected* them to be healthier, but I assume you mean performance-wise. Given what they have out there it's probably a C-. If everyone were healthy we'd probably have to find something worse than F to sum up this trainwreck. As it stands, the Mets are a game back with a lot of baseball to play. They could be in first by the end of the weekend, or four games back. They're fortunate that the Phillies and everyone else in the division has struggled as well, and if the Mets can hold things together until some of their guys return they could yet make something out of this season. I'm not particularly sanguine about those prospects, but stranger things have happened.

Winning Streak Applesauce - Mets Sign Urbina, Royals Ban Rany, Joey Chestnut vs. Kobayashi

James Kannengieser — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:20:25 -0000

Down 5-0 against a pretty darn good pitcher in Paul Maholm, the Mets came back to win in extra innings (but not without some Frankie drama mixed in). For the umpteenth time, can everyone stop saying this team lacks leadership/edge/grission? I'm looking at you John Franco.

Meet the Mets

With the Phillies loss to the Braves last night, the Mets are just 1 game out of first place. Pitching matchups for the weekend are set:

Friday, July 3: Livan Hernandez vs. Rodrigo Lopez (making his first start since 2007)

Saturday, July 4: Fernando Nieve vs. Jamie Moyer

Sunday, July 5: Johan Santana vs. Joe Blanton

Check out Mets Geek for a preview. Lopez/Moyer/Blanton + Citizens Bank Park = No excuses not to hit some home runs. Tim McCarver and Kenny Albert will announce tomorrow's game on Fox. Hopefully everyone will be outside and as far away from a television as possible. Listen to Howie on the radio.

The international player signing period has begun and the Mets acted quickly by signing LHP Juan Urbina. Baseball America ranked him as the #8 international prospect. Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman, whom Buster Olney calls the "lefthanded Stephen Strasburg", defected while in the Netherlands.

Gordon Edes at Yahoo! is foolishly bearish on the Mets and their farm system, claiming that they "don’t have much to offer in a deal". Also, Ken Davidoff at Newsday lists the major trade deadline deals over the last few years.

Faith and Fear reminisces about the Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra for Juan Samuel trade from 20 years ago.

The Mets stayed in the same hotel in Pittsburgh that was hosting "Anthrocon 2009", a convention for people who like to dress in animal costumes. Weird. Reminds me of that bizarre scene at the end of "The Shining". That always freaked me out.

Around the NL East

Javier Vazquez had yet another FIP-fest (5.1 IP, 5 K, 0 BB) and the Braves scored 3 times in the 8th to beat the Phillies 5-2.

Fire Jim Bowden is not happy about Elijah Dukes's demotion.

The Marlins signed Minnesota castoff Luis Ayala. Enjoy him Fish fans, just don't let him face Greg Norton.

The Fightins' wonders what's wrong with Ryan Madson. I have a possible answer that isn't mentioned - maybe it's unsustainable for the guy to maintain a ~4 K/BB and 0 HR/FB%, as he had through June 14th?

This is one TV show I will not be watching.

Around MLB

Blogger and Baseball Prospectus co-founder Rany Jazayerli was "banned" by the Royals after publishing some critical words about the organization. The Royals later backed off some of their threats.

Beyond the Boxscore adds some objectivity to the interleague attendance discussion.

Jim Leyritz: douchelord.

R.J. Anderson at DraysBay bids adieu to Winston Abreu.

DodgerSims celebrates Christmas in July, with the return of Manny Ramirez.

Mike Silva continues the "Should Joba be in the bullpen?" discussion for some reason, which is only a discussion for the Beningos and Francescas of the world.

Colin Wyers at THT looks at the reliability of UZR. A couple takeaways:

Defensive metrics are less reliable than offensive metrics.
An infielder's UZR is more reliable than an outfielder's UZR.

Joey Chestnut is a slight favorite over Kobayashi in the July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. Anyone going?

Pelfrey Applesauce - Franco knows leadership, obnoxious Met fans, Indian-born pitchers

Joe Budd — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:47:57 -0000

It's nice when the Mets get great starting pitching. It's just so much more pleasant to watch. And, for those keeping track, that's two in a row that the Mets have won while I'm watching at work. Maybe my luck has changed.

Meet the Mets

Former Met captain John Franco claims that the Mets have no leadership. David Wright and Jerry Manuel disagree.

Wright convinced Manuel to let him in yesterday's lineup.

Ted Berg argues for Matt Murton. I'm convinced.

Mets Geek takes a look at the Met farm system. Congratulations to Josh Thole, DJ Wabick, and Roy Merritt for making the Eastern League All Star team.

For whatever an online poll from Baltimore is worth, we are the most obnoxious fans in baseball. I'm guessing the Metsblog commenters are mainly responsible for this.

Around the NL East

Nats GM Mike Rizzo made room for Nyjer Morgan by sending Elijah Dukes to triple-A Syracuse.

FanGraphs says that the Nats just acquired a player who is as good as Adam Dunn.

What to do with Nick Johnson?

Marlin starter Josh Johnson lasted only 3 innings, but Florida was still able to beat Washington 5-3. Hanley Ramirez continued his RBI streak and gave credit where it's due.

The Braves rocked Cole Hamels and the Phillies 11-1.

Philadelphia announced that Rodrigo Lopez will start against the Mets on Friday.

Brave starter Tim Hudson threw a 90 pitch bullpen session yesterday and will begin his rehab assignment in Class A on July 19.

Around MLB

Indian reality show winners Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel will make their professional debuts soon in the Pittsburgh system.

Johnny Cueto did his best Mike Pelfrey impersonation as he led the Reds to a 1-0 win over Arizona.

Xavier Nady will undergo Tommy John surgery.

Jerry Manuel doesn't get ejected often enough.

Baseballanalysts.com compiles their all-star team.

Top 25 Non-MVP seasons by Reds players

Slyde — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:45:51 -0000

As we sink into the Winter duldrums, let's take a look at the past. We know the Reds have had some outstanding seasons by players in their history. They had 3 straight MVP awards from 1938-1940. They also took home 6 of the 10 MVP awards during the 1970s. But what about those guys that didn't quite have enough to get them the recognition they deserved? Or maybe the player who deserved it, but came up just short for some reason. Who were those guys?

I used Win Shares above Bench to identify the top 25 seasons by Reds players that did not end up winning an MVP award. WSAB is not the best tool out there, but it's the easiest for me to quickly pull a list like this together. Since the modern MVP award didn't start until 1931, we'll limit our selection to players since that year.

1. Frank Robinson - 1962 - 23 Win Shares Above Bench - 39 HR, 136 RBI - .342/.421/.624, 173 OPS+ - 4th in MVP
Robinson won the MVP in 1961 and then put up an even better season in 1962, but somehow finished 4th in the MVP voting. Maury Wills won the vote mainly because he stole 104 bases, but the award should have gone to either Robinson or Willie Mays, both of whom tied for the MLB lead in Win Shares and WSAB.

2. Joe Morgan - 1973 - 22 WSAB - 26 HR, 82 RBI, 67/15 SB/CS - .290/.406/.493, 154 OPS+ - 4th MVP

3. Joe Morgan - 1972 - 21 WSAB - 16 HR, 73 RBI, 58/17 SB/CS - .292/.417/.435, 149 OPS+ - 4th in MVP

4. Joe Morgan - 1974 - 21 WSAB - 22 HR, 67 RBI, 58/12 SB/CS - .293/.427/.494, 159 OPS+ - 8th in MVP

We all know about Morgan's back-to-back MVP seasons in 1975-1976, but did you realize that he led the NL in WSAB in each season from 1972 to 1976? Morgan lost the MVP to teammates in 1972 (Bench) and 1973 (Rose), and then finished 8th in 1974 despite the Reds winning 98 games (though they did finish 2nd to the Dodgers). I think of all of the players from the Big Red Machine, he's the one that I wish I had gotten to see in person.

5. Pete Rose - 1969 - 18 WSAB - 16 HR, 82 RBI - .348/.428/.512, 158 OPS+ - 4th in MVP
Rose finished in the top 10 in MVP voting in 8 of 11 seasons from 1966-1976. 1969 was the only year in his career where he slugged over .500 for the season and his 11 triples and 16 HR both equaled career highs. Rose finished behind McCovey, Seaver, and Aaron in the MVP voting in 1969. That's quite a crew.

6. Ted Abernathy - 1967 - 18 WSAB - 6-3, 1.27 ERA, 28 Saves, 106.3 IP, 298 ERA+ - 20th in MVP
As you will find, WSAB may overrate relievers a bit. Abernathy's season is impressive, but I'm not so sure I'd put it up there with Morgan and Robby.

7. Johnny Bench - 1974 - 16 WSAB - 33 HR, 129 RBI - .280/.363/.507, 143 OPS+ - 4th in MVP
Steve Garvey won the MVP in 1974 despite the fact that Bench had better numbers across the board except for batting average. The big advantage for Garvey? The Dodgers won 102 games to the Reds 98.

8. Ted Kluszewski - 1954 - 16 WSAB - 49 HR, 141 RBI - .326/.407/.642, 167 OPS+ - 2nd in MVP
Big Klu had an incredible season in 1954, and if it weren't for this 23-year old kid just back from military service, he might have won the MVP that season. Mays didn't match Klu on the counting stats, but his .345/.411/.667, 175 OPS+ was hard to overcome. In terms of WSAB, Klu was actually 4th in the league that season mainly because his defense at 1B left him short of Mays, Duke Snider, and Eddie Matthews.

9. Barry Larkin - 1992 - 16 WSAB - 12 HR, 78 RBI - .304/.377/.454, 132 OPS+ - 12th in MVP
Despite winning the MVP in 1995, it's arguable that 1992 was Larkin's best season. He somehow led the team in RBI that year and perhaps if he had had more support around him, the Reds might have been able to catch the Braves. As for the MVP, nobody was catching Barry Bonds that year.

10. Tony Perez - 1970 - 15 WSAB - 40 HR, 129 RBI - .317/.401/.589, 158 OPS+ - 3rd in MVP
Some may call it fitting, some may call it coincidental, but Perez's best seasons seem to come in years when his teammates were even better. In 1970, Johnny Bench put up one of the best years ever by a catcher and nearly won the MVP award unanimously (Billy Williams got 2 first place votes to prevent that). 1970 would be the closest that Perez would come to winning the award.

11. Frank Robinson - 1964 - 15 WSAB - 29 HR, 96 RBI - .306/.396/.548, 160 OPS+ - 4th in MVP
12. Tony Perez - 1973 - 15 WSAB - 27 HR, 101 RBI - .314/.393/.527, 159 OPS+, 7th in MVP
13. Vada Pinson - 1961 - 15 WSAB - 16 HR, 87 RBI - .343/.379/.504, 130 OPS+, 3rd in MVP
14. Bucky Walters - 1944 - 15 WSAB - 23-8, 2.40 ERA - 285 IP, 146 ERA+ - 5th in MVP
15. Barry Larkin - 1996 - 15 WSAB - 33 HR, 89 RBI, 36/10 SB/CS - .298/.410/.567, 154 OPS+ - 12th in MVP
16. Eric Davis - 1987 - 15 WSAB - 37 HR, 100 RBI, 50/6 SB/CS - .293/.399/.593, 155 OPS+, 9th in MVP
17. Jeff Shaw - 1997 - 15 WSAB - 4-2, 2.38 ERA, 42 Saves - 94.2 IP, 181 ERA+ - 0 MVP votes
18. John Franco - 1988 - 15 WSAB - 4-8, 1.57 ERA, 32 Saves - 80.2 IP, 229 ERA+ - 12th in MVP
19. Bucky Walters - 1940 - 14 WSAB - 22-10, 2.48 ERA - 305 IP, 154 ERA+ - 3rd in MVP
20. Adam Dunn - 2004 - 14 WSAB - 46 HR, 102 RBI - .266/.388/.569, 146 OPS+ - 28th in MVP
21. Pete Rose - 1968 - 14 WSAB - 10 HR, 49 RBI - .335/.391/.470, 152 OPS+ - 2nd in MVP
22. Johnny Bench - 1975 - 14 WSAB - 28 HR, 110 RBI - .283/.359/.519, 140 OPS+ - 4th in MVP
23. Sean Casey - 2004 - 14 WSAB - 24 HR, 99 RBI - .324/.381/.534, 136 OPS+ - 0 MVP votes
24. Pete Rose - 1972 - 13 WSAB - 6 HR, 57 RBI - .307/.382/.417, 134 OPS+ -12th in MVP
25. Bernie Carbo - 1970 - 13 WSAB - 21 HR, 63 RBI - .310/.454/.551, 164 OPS+ - 0 MVP votes, 2nd in Rookie of the Year