If you're someone who grew up in the late-70's/early-80's like me
and followed baseball somewhat seriously, you always came back to George
Fosters 50-homer season of 1977 from time to time since he was the only
guy to achieve such a feat in your lifetime.
52 homers in 1977. It was just awesome, and to many younger fans
out there who may not believe it, it really seemed for a while that no
one would hit 50+ homers again since we had home run leaders
consistently in the high 30's in the early-80's.
When the 1978 set came out my friends and I were shocked when there
wasn't some sort of "highlight" card for Foster's power display.
Well, 26 years later, here's one I designed:
Just imagine it: Foster's 52 home run season was the only 50+ homer
season between Willie May's 52 homers in 1965 and Cecil Fielder's 1990
total of 51.
ONE player in 25 years managed to top 50 homers in the Major Leagues.
What a season Foster had for the Cincinnati Reds that year!
Following M.V.P. years in the decade by teammates Johnny Bench
(70,72), Pete Rose (73) and Joe Morgan (75,76), Foster came up HUGE,
slamming those 52 home runs while also hitting for average at a .320
clip, with 197 hits, a league-leading 124 runs scored
and a whopping 149 runs batted in.
Those numbers made him the sixth Red's M.V.P. In the '70's, and
pushed Foster to the top of the heap after finishing second in voting
the previous year.
For a while there he was an R.B.I. machine, driving in 90+ every year but one between 1976 and 1983.
His 1981 season is often overlooked, as he drove in 90 runs, just
one off the league lead (Mike Schmidt had 91) in only 108 games, along
with 22 homers, good for third in the league.
The following year he signed with the Mets as a free agent, becoming the first $2 million a year player in Big League history.
It wasn't until Kirby Puckett in 1989 that we would see a $3
million dollar a year player (followed about a week later by Rickey
henderson actually).
His four+ years with the Mets were decent, but he never had that
"all-star" year the folks at Shea were hoping for, and he did catch some
grief for it.
Nevertheless he had a decent 18-year career overall, finishing with
just under 2000 hits, 348 homers and 1239 runs batted in with a .274
batting average.
Throw in five all-star selections, an M.V.P., and a solid cog in
the "Big Red Machine" Reds of the mid-70's and he certainly left his
mark on the game for the era.
If you're liking this "highlights" thread on my blog, keep an eye
out for the next one, which shines a light on Willie Mays and Hank
Aaron, who both reached 3000 hits during 1970, leading to a 1971 card I
designed celebrating the two.