Needless to say, when the Reds already have a guy named Johnny Bench behind the plate, you’re going to relegated to back-up duties, and that’s exactly what Plummer was from the time he came up in 1968 for a cup-of-coffee and 1977 before he signed with the Seattle Mariners for his last season of 1978.
Plummer appeared in 10 games for the Reds during the 1971 season, going 0-for-19 at the plate while playing four games at catcher with another two at third base.
Between 1972 and 1977 he’d average about 50 games a year along with 150 plate appearances, hitting the “Mendoza Line” while backing up the future Hall-of-Fame Bench.
Nevertheless, the man got to be a part of the “Big Red Machine” teams and even walking away with two championship rings in 1975 and 1976.
After that last season in the Big Leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Plummer finished with a .188 batting average, collecting 168 hits in 892 at-bats over 367 games before moving into coaching, then one season as a Major League manager, with the Seattle Mariners in 1992, where they went 64 and 98, finishing last in the American League West.
