We are going need a history lesson to start off this one.

Will White was a member of the original Cincinnati Reds in the National League and played there for three seasons before Cincinnati was expelled from the NL as their owner refused to stop selling beer.  White would sign with the Detroit Wolverines for a year but returned to Cincinnati when they got a team in the American Association in 1881 (Cincinnati Red Stockings).  That team evolved into the Reds and the original Reds are not part of the canon that is recognized by Major League Baseball, therefore his accomplishments as a Red does not count but as a Red Stocking does. 

In 1939 and 1940, Lonny Frey would have his best seasons and not coincidentally the Reds would make the World Series in both of those years.  One of the best infielders in Reds history, Frey was named an All-Star three times and for five years in a row (1939-43) he finished in the top five in Defensive bWAR, including a first-place finish in 1940. 

Frank Dwyer played professional baseball for five teams in five years before he joined the Reds but it was in Cincinnati where he ceased to be a nomadic player and would hurl for the Reds for seven and a half seasons.

Arguably one of the greatest hitting Pitchers of his or possibly any era, Red Lucas was a solid presence on the mound winning 109 Games for Cincinnati.  His best season was in 1929 where he would lead the NL in WHIP, H/9 and finished 6th overall in MVP voting.  As for his hitting, he was a career .300 hitter with 293 Hits for the Reds. 

The Reds chose Lucas for their Hall of Fame in 1965.

In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer accomplished a feat that may never be duplicated.  He threw two consecutive no-hitters.  Imagine that happening today?  Neither can we.

Eric Davis was poised to be one of the great power hitters of his time, but injuries took their toll on the Outfielder.  Davis would have a significant run in the late 1980s where he would become one of the game's premier power hitters putting together four straight 25 Home Run seasons with a pair of Silver Sluggers. 

A star in Cincinnati during the late 1880s and early 1890s, Tony Mullane is one of the pitchers with the most Wins who is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In the late 1930s and early ’40s, Frank McCormick would emerge as one of the most productive players in MLB.  An All-Star every season from 1938 to 1944, McCormick would help propel the Reds to a World Series win in 1940, a season in which he led the National League in Hits for the third year in a row and would win the coveted MVP Award. 

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, 101 years after he last played, Bid McPhee is a lot more than the answer to a trivia question of “Who is the last Second Baseman to play without a glove”.

The ace of the staff for the Reds throughout the 1960’s, Jim Maloney does not get the love that he should as his accomplishments occurred the decade before the Big Red Machine came into fruition.

Aside from his colorful nickname, Henry “Heinie” Groh was known for his use of a “bottle” bat, where he shaved the handle down as much as he could.  Offensively, he was usually used as the leadoff hitter and was a very skilled bunter.  He would have four seasons where he batted over .300 and would lead the National League in On Base Percentage twice.  He would also win the OPS Title in 1919, the same year he helped the Reds defeat the White Sox in that infamous World Series.  Defensively speaking, the short statured Groh was considered one of the most tenacious players on the diamond and excelled at turning double plays from the hot corner.  He would win a second World Series in 1923 after he was traded back to the New York Giants.

With Cincinnati, Groh had 1,323 Hits with a Batting Average of .298, and was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1963.

Sometimes it can be forgotten just how good a hitter Edd Roush was.  After he was traded from the New York Giants halfway through the 1916 season, Edd Roush never batted below .320 in ten full seasons he played for Cincinnati.  With a batting average of .331 as a Red you would naturally assume that the Outfielder would win a batting title or two, which he did in 1917 and 1919, the latter of which saw him help Cincinnati win the World Series, albeit in the year of the “Black Sox Scandal”. 

Playing his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds, Mario Soto brought a sweet fastball complimented with a devastating change up that helped him rack up a lot of wins in the 80’s.  Soto would probably have accumulated more wins had he had more offensive support but the three time All Star was still named the National League Cy Young runner up in 1983.

While Jose Rijo finished under 100 Wins for his Cincinnati Reds career his role with the Reds cannot be measure solely by that statistic. 

Rijo surprisingly was only named an All-Star once, but the Dominican hurler would finish in the top five in ERA four times, was a one time National League Leader in WAR for Pitchers (1993) and would also be a one time leader in WHIP (1991) and in Strikeouts (1993).  Most notably, Rijo was named the World Series MVP when the Reds shocked the baseball world in a sweep over the heavily favored A’s going 2 and 0 in with an ERA of 0.59 in the Fall Classic.

A member of the Big Red Machine that terrorized the National League through the ’70s, Dave Concepcion provided decent hitting with more than above-average defense over his near 2,500 Games as a Cincinnati Red.   Concepcion never played a game in the Majors for anyone other than the Reds where he was named a nine-time All-Star and was a five-time Gold Glove recipient with seven top ten finishes in Defensive bWAR.  He would collect 2,326 Hits with 321 Stolen Bases over his career.

The Reds retired his number 13 in 2007, and the Shortstop entered the Reds Hall of Fame seven years prior.

Ernie Lombardi moved at the speed of a glacier.  While that complete lack of speed should have made him a liability, Lombardi was one of the most skilled contact hitting Catchers ever as he secured ten .300 seasons, seven of which was as a Red, and one of which would win him the National League Batting Title, which occurred in 1938 (he would win another in Boston in ’42).

With an unorthodox sidearm delivery and imposing 6’ 6” frame it is no wonder that many National League batters feared Ewell Blackwell.  The lanky hurler was named to an All-Star every season from 1946 to 1951 and would lead the League in FIP three times.  His best season was in 1947 where he was the runner up for the MVP Award and would lead the NL in Wins, Strikeouts and SO/BB.

Blackwell went 79-77 with 819 Strikeouts as a Red, and was named to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1960.

Known for his physical strength, Ted Kluszweski famously had to cut the sleeves off of his uniform because they constricted his arms when he swung.  In 1953, “Big Klu” would enter a four year stretch where he blasted at least 35 Home Runs and collected 100 Runs Batted In, the best of which was his 1954 season where the slugger would win the Home Run and RBI Titles with 49 and 141 respectively and was the runner up for the National League MVP.  As a Red he would collect 251 Home Runs with a .302 Batting Average.

He would later be a Coach for CIncinnati, and his number 18 was retired by the team in 1998.  Kluszweski was also enshrined into Cincinnati's Hall of Fame in 1962.

Before it was broken by Warren Spahn, the amiable Eppa Rixey held the record for the most wins by a southpaw with 266, 179 of which were won as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

Before the Big Red Machine got going, Tony Perez had already established himself as an All-Star.  As the team became “The Big Red Machine”, Perez would again go on an All-Star tear and was known for his clutch hitting.  He would go over 100 Runs Batted In six times and would also exceed the 25 Home Run mark six times.