We all know the legend of the Big Red Machine and the great 8 and all that. The Reds have a great history: Rose, Bench, Morgan, Perez, and Concepcion (among others) from the Big Red Machine and even before that, Frank Robinson and The Great Ted Klusewski, or Big Klu as Dustin Hoffman would say in Rain Man.
After the Big Red Machine players like Larkin and Davis showed how the Reds were best represented, so there are no shortage of players to pick for the Franchise Four. My picks if you are curious are:
1. Johnny Bench (who was a key component of the machine and possibly the greatest catcher of all time, and George Clooney is a big fan so he's doing something right)
2. Joe Morgan (also a B.R.M. guy and a badass, the elbow twitch he did at the plate made all the ladies ga ga in the stands)
3. Barry Larkin (the last captain for the Reds. He had big shoes to fill after taking over for Davey Concepcion, a fan favorite and boy he did. He helped the Reds win a 'wire to wire' World Series in 1990 and played his entire career in his hometown)
4. Pete Rose (I know he bet on baseball and all that but the dude lived and breathed Reds baseball. He was a hometown kid who had hometown grit and played the game how it was supposed to be played. He played the game with attitude in a blue collar city that appreciated it)
Now to the point you've all been waiting for, the Franchise Fails. As you know, this year's Reds team has a pitcher on it named Kevin Gregg. He was a non roster invite to Spring Training and somehow made the team. On Opening Day, he gave up a game-tying two run homer and hasn't looked back since then. He is the inspiration for this list. He will not make it as he's only been a Red for 2 months. His tenure is already a gigantic fail though. He doesn't even deserve the effort in typing this up.
The Franchise Fails have to be more impactful than a journeyman reliever like Gregg. They have had to have sucked so badly that the franchise actually suffered because of them and that leads me to another pitcher:
Franchise Fail #1: Jimmy Haynes. Haynes won 15 games for the Reds in 2001. That was amazing compared to the awfulness of the pitching staff at that point. That got the Reds to give him a 2.5 million dollar deal to re-sign for one year. Haynes made only 5 appearances in 2002 while compiling a 9.6 ERA (pretty terrible for an ace). Jimmy Haynes stunk so bad, you'd think he was the stinch from a pair of Haynes worn 3 days in a row.
Franchise Fail #2: Eric Milton. Milton had a pretty good reputation before joining the Reds. He even pitched a no-hitter in 1999 for the Twins. After the 2004 season, he signed a three year deal worth $25 million dollars. The dude went on to have an 8-15 record with a 6.47 ERA (one of the worst ERAS for a full time starter in NL history). That's what happens when you put a fly ball pitcher in GABP. He gave up 29 homers in 26 starts the next season, and finally after 4 starts in 2007 had Tommy John surgery. ESPN named him to the all-overpaid team and he deserved that.
Franchise Fail #3: Willy Taveras. Taveras had an okay career before signing a two year deal worth $6.25 million dollars in December 2008. During his 2009 season with the Reds he had the lowest slugging percentage (.285) and worst on base percentage (.275) for all National League players with at least 350 plate appearances. Thankfully they traded him before 2010. Jeeze, he made you miss Corey Patterson (who should be an honorable mention himself) and that's saying a lot.
Franchise Fail #4: Brandon Larson. Larson was one of the most sought after infielders after his solid 1997 season with LSU. He was drafted in the first round (14th overall) by the Reds in the draft. The dude was a monster in the minors, winning Reds minor leaguer of the year in 2003. In 2004, he was brought up to the big leagues with tons of hype. The guy only played in 40 games for the Reds and hit .212. He was never heard from again.I don't even know how they managed to make an action baseball card of him.
Song of the Day: In honor of James Ball, Big Balls, AC/DC
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