George Foster (baseball player)

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George Foster (1970s)

George Arthur Foster (born December 1, 1948, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) 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.

A 5-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). The next batters to hit 50 HRs in the National League were Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. He also batted in a NL leading 149 runs. In recognition of his accomplishment, Foster received the NL's MVP award by a unanimous vote.

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 his career he hit for a .274 batting average, with 348 HRs, 1239 RBI, 1925 hits and 986 runs scored in 1977 games played.

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.

Acquired by the Mets February 1982 from Cincinnati, Foster was given a five-year, $10 million deal but never delivered big numbers for the Mets. (He hit only 13 home runs during his first season in New York.) Mediocre with the glove and devoid of much personality, he was a huge disappointment during his 4½-year tenure. Foster steadily became a reclusive clubhouse pariah who received his outright release in August 1986 after he accused the Mets of racism for benching him (the Mets' greatest players of the time, it should be noted -- Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry -- were both African American athletes). See http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/john_rolfe/08/29/meltdown.team/1.html. His replacement on the team was Kevin Mitchell also of African decent.

[edit] See also

[edit] Trivia

Foster is a born-again Christian and spends time instructing youth in baseball techniques.
Foster was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003.
Foster played baseball, football and ran track at El Camino College before being drafted.
Foster is a motivational speaker in the United States.
Foster's nickname in Cincinnati was "The Destroyer".
Against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth and deciding game of the 1972 National League Championship Series, Foster scored the winning run on Bob Moose's wild pitch, which put the Reds into the World Series for the second time in three years.
Foster was interviewed for the Wooster Middle School newspaper in 1989 by then seventh grader David Mortensen. The one question interview and 3 word answer lead to the firing of young David from the newspaper staff.

[edit] External links

Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
Baseball Library

Preceded by Mike Schmidt	National League Player of the Month May 1976	Succeeded by Al Oliver
Preceded by Al Oliver	National League Player of the Month July 1976	Succeeded by Joe Morgan
Preceded by Jon Matlack & Bill Madlock	Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1976	Succeeded by Don Sutton
Preceded by Greg Luzinski	National League RBI Champion 1976-1978	Succeeded by Dave Winfield
Preceded by Ken Reitz	National League Player of the Month June 1977	Succeeded by Greg Luzinski
Preceded by Greg Luzinski	National League Player of the Month August 1977	Succeeded by César Cedeño
Preceded by Joe Morgan	National League Most Valuable Player 1977	Succeeded by Dave Parker
Preceded by Mike Schmidt	National League Home Run Champion 1977–1978	Succeeded by Dave Kingman
Preceded by Dave Parker	National League Player of the Month April 1979	Succeeded by Lou Brock
Preceded by Lou Brock	National League Player of the Month June 1979	Succeeded by Mike Schmidt