George Foster (baseball)

George Foster
Left fielder
Born: December 1, 1948 (1948-12-01) Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1969 for the San Francisco Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 6, 1986 for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics
Batting average	.274
Home runs	348
Runs batted in	1,239
Teams
San Francisco Giants (1969–1971) Cincinnati Reds (1971–1981) New York Mets (1982–1986) Chicago White Sox (1986)
Career highlights and awards
2× World Series champion (1975, 1976) 5× All-Star (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981) 1976 MLB All-Star Game MVP 1977 NL MVP Silver Slugger Award winner (1981)

George Arthur Foster (born December 1, 1948) is a former left fielder and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played for the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox from 1969-1986.

In his career he hit for a .274 batting average, with 348 Home run, 1,239 Runs batted in, 1,925 hits and 986 runs scored in 1,977 games played.

Professional career

Foster began his career in the San Francisco Giants organization, but the Giants already had promising young outfielder Bobby Bonds. As they believed Foster was expendable, the Giants dealt him early in the 1971 season to the Reds for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert. Foster made the Reds lineup as the starting center fielder (replacing an injured Bobby Tolan) almost immediately and showed flashes of his power by hitting 10 home runs and driving in 50 runs in his first season as a Red.

For the 1972 season, however, Tolan was healthy and won the Comeback Player of the Year award playing center and Foster was platooned in right field with Cesar Geronimo, another young Reds outfielder, for the next two seasons. He scored the pennant winning run from third base in Game 5 of the 1972 NLCS against Pittsburgh on a wild pitch.

In 1974, the Reds dealt Tolan, moved Geronimo to center, and placed a young Ken Griffey Sr. in right. Foster was still a backup, as the Reds had Pete Rose in left.

Finally, early in the 1975 season, Reds manager Sparky Anderson moved Rose to third base to fill a void at a position that was a revolving door since Tony Perez was moved to first base in 1972. The move allowed Foster to play every day. He responded by hitting 23 homers that year and helped propel the Reds to the best record in baseball and a World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox. Foster threw Denny Doyle out at home from left field foul line in the classic Game 6 of the 1975 World series at Fenway Park.

A five-time All-Star (1976–79, 1981), Foster was a member of the 1970s Big Red Machine, leading the league in home runs in 1977-78, runs batted in from 1976–78, and OPS in 1977.

In 1977, Foster hit 52 home runs, making him the only major league player to belt 50 or more homers in a single season during a 25-year period (between Willie Mays with 52 in 1965 and Cecil Fielder with 51 in 1990). He also batted in an NL leading 149 runs. In recognition of his accomplishment, Foster received the NL's MVP award.

Although he was not able to hit 50 or more homers again in 1978, he paced the NL with 40 and in RBIs with 120.

In 1981, at a point in his career when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

After being traded to the New York Mets on February 10, 1982 for Greg Harris, Jim Kern and Alex Trevino, Foster was given a five-year, $10 million contract ($24,082,759 today). All of Foster's power numbers declined—his Mets' high in homers was 28 in 1983, and his batting average as a Met was never higher than the .269 he achieved in 1984. He was released by the Mets in August 1986.

Foster was then claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox, and saw action in 15 games for them, his last being on September 6, 1986 before being released the following day.

Foster was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003.

Personal life

Foster attended Leuzinger High School, Lawndale, California and El Camino College, where he played baseball, football and ran track before being drafted.

Foster spends time instructing youth in baseball techniques, and also works as a motivational speaker.

Foster was a celebrity participant in the 2010 Cincinnati Reds/Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. Despite his well-publicized issues with New York Mets' ownership, he was offered, and accepted, an invitation to be present at the final game and closing of Shea Stadium in 2008.

Actively attends trade shows and signs autographs with the proceeds going towards his charity that benefits inner city youth programs.

See also

• 50 home run club
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBIs
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball home run champions
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• Chicago White Sox all-time roster

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Library