Monday, November 17, 2014

Top Ten Week - Day 2

This entire week will be devoted to various Top Ten lists culled from the ol' card stacks. Because why not. These are mostly based on favoritism as opposed to 'best'. My favorites are based on my own eclectic, fanciful whims. Yeah that's right. I have whims. And they're fanciful. Wanna fight about it?
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Link to Day 1
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Today, my top ten Reds.

10. Ernie Lombardi (1932-1941)

Gotta throw a pre-WWII guy in here. And who better than a Hall of Fame catcher know not only for great hitting (league leader in average in 1938) but exceptional catching. Oh and an NL MVP to boot. Also called "the slowest man to ever play major league baseball well." by Bill James. That's all I really needed to hear about him.

9. Aroldis Chapman (2010-present)

105.1 miles per hour. I'll stop there.

8. Jumbo Diaz


This magnificent bastard does not have a single regular-issue card. His only card period is a AAA Louisville Bats team issue, which I don't have. So I made a custom card. I spent a lot of time on it.

7. Rob Dibble (1988-1993)

The nastiest of the Nasty Boys, and by all accounts a huge prick during his playing days. But daggone it the man could bring the sauce on the mound. Plus, he got into a brawl in the locker room with his coach, Lou Piniella, which is just too good of a story.

6. Ted Kluszewski (1947-1957)

THE GUN SHOW

5. Joe Oliver (1989-1994, 1996-1997)

My catcher love is showing. He caught the 1990 World Series, so I love him.

4. Johnny Bench (1967-1983)
Do I need to say anything here? No.

3. Chris Sabo (1988-1993, 1996)

Spuds was my favorite player as a kid, for no other reason than the RecSpecs. It's a stupid reason to have pledged loyalty to someone, but here we are. Rookie of the Year, 3x All Star, World Series ring. Also played my adulthood softball position, third base. I think he may be better at it.

2. Adam Dunn (2001-2008)

Swing hard. Swing often. Dunn is my boy.

1. Corky Miller (2001-2004, 2009-2010, 2013)
Corky Abraham Phillip Miller never played more than 39 games in a season over his 11 year career. He is a lifetime .193 hitter. He has hit 11 career home runs. But dammit, the kid's got moxie. Corky is loved in the Reds organization. He has likely played his last professional games after his 523rd appearance for the Reds AAA Louisville team, and by most accounts, he will get a coaching job of some sort. Oh, and he's a knuckleballer, with 7.2 innings of minor league pitching experience (two strikeouts!). He's one of the smartest catchers around, which will of course make him the greatest manager of all time. Just you wait.

Go Reds.

3 comments:

  1. My favorite thing about Corky Miller is the fact that his name actually IS Corky.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I simply love that Ernie Lombardi card!

    ReplyDelete