Reds – The Bleacher Creature

Standing at a powerful 6’1’’ and 206 pounds, Tom Seaver was a devastating sight for any hitter to see. Besides the intimidating mound presence, Seaver’s slider, curveball, dirty rising fastball, and later a changeup proved that he was in control of the at bat. In his 20 year career spanning from 1967 to 1986, Seaver was able to win 311 games, strike out 3,640 batters (sixth most all time), post a 2.86 ERA, and throw an absurd 231 complete games with 61 of them being shutouts. He also threw 4,782.2 innings, good for nineteenth most all time. 23 years after being born in Fresno, California, Seaver received the National League Rookie of the Year with the Mets by winning 16 games, posting a 2.76 ERA, and striking out 170 batters in 251 innings of work.

1969 was a great year for the Mets. They won their first World Series in franchise history and Tom Seaver took home the Cy Young award. For the first of three times, Seaver led the National League in wins to go along with a 2.21 ERA in 273.1 innings. He would the Cy Young award again in 1973 by pitching 290 innings and leading the league in strikeouts with 251, ERA with 2.08, WHIP with 0.98, and tied for the lead with 18 complete games. Two years later, he would win a league leading 22 games and strike out 243 batters, leading him to claim the Cy Young.

Though the Mets pitching staff was centered around him, Seaver was traded midseason to the Cincinnati Reds for a bunch of hopeful stars. Needless to say, the Reds got the better package making this deal one of the most lopsided trades in the history of baseball. Seaver never won the Cy Young again, but he was able to put up five double digit win seasons.

For the last five years, Seaver bounced around with the Mets and White Sox before calling it quits with the Red Sox in 1986. The Fresno native was able to put up record numbers and collect 12 All Star during his Major League tenure. Seaver went into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1992 wearing a Mets cap. The Mets retired Seaver’s jersey number 41 on June 24, 1988. Whether you remember him as a Met or Red, Tom Seaver is among legends with his Hall of Fame statistics.

References

Baseball Reference

ESPN

MLB.com

Mets.com

Scott Rolen was known as a great teammate but also put up great career numbers. From his rookie debut with the Phillies in 1996 to his farewell season with the Reds in 2012, along with stints with the Cardinals and Blue Jays, Rolen was a sought after third basemen. This is proven as from 1997 to 2004 Scott compiled 20 or more home runs each season. During this span, he also collected four straight 100 or more RBIs. By far his best season was in 2004 after putting up career highs in homers with 34, RBIs with 124, and batting average with .314. As for Sabermetrics, Rolen posted an 8.9 wins above replacement, a truly amazing number. As if the offense wasn’t enough, Rolen won his fifth consecutive Gold Glove in ’04. He would finish his career with eight Gold Gloves, one Silver Slugger, and the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1997. He piled up 316 home runs to go long along with 1,287 RBIs and 517 doubles, all of which are decent power numbers. He would also have 2,077 hits, 1,211 runs, and 118 stolen bases. Scott Rolen’s name will appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2017, but it is hard to tell whether or not he will get in as another legendary third baseman, Chipper Jones, is also on the ballot for the first time. But Scott was not only a numbers leader, but a clubhouse leader. Mat Latos requested to leave the Reds after their clubhouse issues. He gave credit to Scott Rolen for keeping everybody together. This is shown in Latos quote from the 2012 trade from the Reds, “You look at it after we lost Scott Rolen. Everything went to s***. When Scott was there, we had guys doing exactly what they were supposed to do. After Scott left, we had guys with two years in the big leagues, in the clubhouse, on their phones, laying down in the video room, just hanging out during games, not in the dugout, not cheering their teammates on. Our dugout looked like a ghost town.” This shows that Scott cared about his teammates and team as a whole. Overall, Scott Rolen, both a decent player and great teammate, lived a career with the right moral.

Stats:

espn.com