And Cincinnati Reds general manager Bob Howsam rolled the dice when on May 29, 1971, he traded two players, Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert, to the San Francisco Giants for Foster.
Foster had shown nothing for the Giants, mostly because they hadn’t given him a chance to show what he could do.
As it turned out, Howsam’s dice roll came up seven, a trade just as big as the one he made six months later to acquire Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Jack Billingham and Ed Armbrister.
Duffy and Geishert did nothing for the Giants while Foster became the most underrated member of the Big Red Machine’s Great Eight.
Foster was reserved and quiet and occupied a dressing stall in a corner near the tunnel that led from the clubhouse to the Riverfront Stadium home dugout.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
There was The Big Four of The Great Eight — Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez. Foster and Ken Griffey were the silent assassins and were inseparable friends.
Foster owned a quiet, dry wit.
He was the first player in MLB to use a black bat when every player used the off-white Louisville Sluggers and Adirondacks. Asked why his bat was black, he said, “I’m integrating the bat rack.”
His post-game interviews were short and succinct. When a writer asked him what he hit for a home run, expecting Foster to say fastball or curveball or slider, Foster would say, “A Rawlings.”
But quietly and without much fanfare or attention, he was an integral part of The Big Red Machine’s World Series wins in 1975 and 1976.
In 1975, he batted .309 with 23 homers and 78 RBI. It got better in 1976 with a .306 average, 29 homers and a league-leading 121 RBI.
The Reds didn’t win the World Series in 1977 and didn’t win the pennant, but Foster put together a massive season, one that won him the National League MVP trophy.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
He hit 52 home runs and drove in 149 runs, both the best in MLB that year along with hitting .320 and putting together the league’s best OPS at 1.013.
His 52 home runs were the most for a season from 1977 until 1998 when Mark McGuire hit a steroids-aided 70.
Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver said of Foster, “When he dove into the Loch Ness, the Monster evacuated.”
His home runs were seldom cheapies. Many reached the upper deck red seats in Riverfront Stadium, where few baseballs ever landed.
Joe Morgan recognized who Foster was and what he was all about.
“He does his own thing in a quiet way,” said Morgan during the 1976 season. “The rest of us are more flamboyant — Pete, Johnny and I are more outgoing. Even Tony (Perez) exudes some effervescence. But George is just George.
“But don’t get me wrong,” Morgan added. “That’s all right. It doesn’t really go against him in any way. Statistics don’t lie.”
Coincidentally, Foster finished second to Morgan in the 1976 National League MVP voting.
Even Foster’s heroics in the 1975 World Series took a back seat in the bleachers, about four seats behind Carlton Fisk’s legendary 12th inning home run in Game 6, Tony Perez’s dramatic home run against Bill Lee’s blooper pitch, Bernie Carbo’s three-run game-tying home run in Game 6 and Joe Morgan’s game-winning hit in Game 7.
Foster was a major character in the Game 6 plot.
First, he hit a two-run double that broke a tie and gave the Reds a 5-3 lead.
But the Red Sox rallied behind Carbo’s home run and tied it, 6-6. And they loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Fred Lynn lofted a fly ball down the left field line. There was no room between the foul line and a high wall in foul territory.
Foster went against the wall and caught the ball. Third base coach Don Zimmer yelled at Denny Doyle, the runner on third, “No, no, no.”
Doyle thought he said, “Go, go, go.” So Foster, with his right throwing arm against the wall and fans leaning over, uncorked an on-the-fly laser to Johnny Bench to double up Doyle and the Red Sox didn’t score, an amazing clutch under pressure game-saving throw.
That sent the game into extra innings, the game Fisk hit the walk-off home run against the left field foul pole. Foster’s game-saving throw became an afterthought.
That pretty much describes his career with the Reds — outstanding numbers and production, but he always was left standing in the shade when it came to recognition.
When the Reds acquired Foster, manager Sparky Anderson didn’t quite know what to do with him. At first, he platooned in right field with Ken Griffey and Merv Rettenmund.
Anderson eventually moved him to center field where he platooned with Cesar Geronimo.
As Foster’s power and hitting ability rose to the surface, Anderson knew he had to get Foster’s bat into the lineup regularly. And the Reds were off to a shaky start in 1975.
So on May 3, he called left fielder Pete Rose into his office and asked, “Would you be willing to play third base so I can get George Foster into the lineup?”
Credit: FROM THE ARCHIVES
Credit: FROM THE ARCHIVES
Even though Rose had never played third base and later said, “I hated playing there,” he did it for the betterment of the team and Foster was inserted into the lineup... and the rest is history.
Foster became a master at launching game-tying or game-winning home runs, prompting Sparky Anderson to say, “The game is not over until George Foster says it’s over.”
Foster never lost his sense of humor. When the Reds trained in Tampa, times were much looser. I used to sit on a bench down the left field line with the relief pitchers.
Between innings, they let me play catch with Foster to warm him up. One day, I autographed a baseball and didn’t think he saw me do it.
I tossed him the baseball, he looked at the signature, then turned and threw the ball over the left field wall.
GREAT EIGHT AT 50
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
50 years ago, the Reds greatest lineup began making history
Remembering Pete Rose the legendary Hit King
Once an afterthought draft pick, Griffey, Sr. was integral part of Big Red Machine
Hall of Famer ‘Little Joe’ Morgan was a human dynamo
‘The Little General’ Johnny Bench was one of MLB’s all-time greats
‘Big Dog’ Tony Perez was a clutch hitter, crucial leader for the Big Red Machine
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