Cincinnati Reds' All African-American Team

This is the second installment of my series "All African-American Team" for each franchise.

I will be alternating American League teams with National League teams. I began with the New York Yankees, and today I proudly bring you the Cincinnati Reds.

Please note that whatever a player did on another team is not relevant to this series. I am only considering what was done while a member of the Reds.

As with other squads, some positions are paper-thin when it comes to black players; thus what you see is what we had.

Catcher - Jesse Gonder

Jesse Gonder played with the Reds in 1962 and 1963, mostly in backup roles.

The numbers he compiled while in the Queen City are:

AVG .278 / 3 HR / 5 RBI

First Base - Lee May

Lee May played with the Reds from 1965-1971. He was on the All-Star team in 1969 and 1971.

His best season with the Reds was 1969, when he batted .278 with 38 HR and 110 RBI.

His career numbers as a Red are:

AVG .274 / 147 HR / 449 RBI

Second Base - Joe Morgan

Hall of Fame member Joe Morgan, one of the most beloved of all Reds, played here from 1972-1979.

He was voted to the All-Star team in each of those seasons while winning two NL MVP Awards, as well as winning five consecutive Gold Glove Awards.

Arguably his best season was 1976, when he batted .320 with an OBP of .444 while hitting 27 HR and driving in 111.

While with the Reds his totals are:

AVG .288 / 152 HR / 612 RBI

Third Base - Willie Greene

Willie Greene played in Cincinnati as a rookie in 1992 until being traded to the Orioles in 1998.

His only full season was 1997. He batted .253 with 26 HR and 91 RBI.

His numbers in Cincinnati are:

AVG .250 / 63 HR / 224 RBI

Shortstop - Barry Larkin

Barry Larkin was a hometown product, and he played his entire 19-year career with the Reds.

He was on 13 All-Star teams and won one MVP Award, three Gold Glove Awards, and nine Silver Slugger Awards.

He batted over .300 nine times, and his best all-round year was probably 1996, when he batted .298 with a .410 OBP, hit 33 HR with 89 RBI, and scored a career-best 117 runs.

His career numbers are:

AVG .295 / 198 HR / 960 RBI

Outfield - Frank Robinson

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson is arguably the best player to put on a Reds jersey.

He won the Rookie of the Year award in 1956 with the Reds and played there until being traded to the Orioles in 1965 for Milt Pappas (I still have nightmares about it).

He was the NL MVP in 1961, was on the All-Star six times, and won one Gold Glove Award. He was also a .300 hitter in five of his 10 seasons here.

His best season in Cincinnati was in 1962, when he batted .342 and led the league in OBP with .421 and slugging with .624. He hit 39 HR, 136 RBI, 208 H, and led the league in runs with 134 and in doubles with 51.

His career numbers as a Red are:

AVG .303 / 324 HR / 1,009 RBI

Outfield - Vada Pinson

Vada Pinson is my guy as the "best player not in the Hall of Fame." He was a truly great player.

He played with the Reds as a rookie in 1958 and stayed there until he was traded to the Cardinals in 1969.

He was a two-time All-Star, finished third in the 1961 MVP voting, and won one Gold Glove Award.

He batted over .300 four times as a Red, had over 200 hits four times, twice leading the league, and once led the league in runs scored.

His best season was 1963, when he batted .313 with 22 HR, 106 RBI, 204 H, and 96 runs scored.

His career numbers in Cincinnati are:

AVG .297 / 186 HR / 814 RBI

Outfield - George Foster

Foster played with the Reds from 1971 until 1981.

He was on five All-Star teams, won one MVP Award, was runner-up in MVP voting once, and finished third once. He also won a Silver Slugger Award.

He led the league in HR twice, in RBI three times, and once in runs scored.

His career numbers with the Reds are:

AVG .286 / 244 HR / 861 RBI

DH - Ken Griffey, Jr.

The Kid came from Seattle in 2000 and stayed until being traded to the White Sox in the 2008 campaign.

He was a three-time All-Star and was plagued with injuries while here.

His best year was his first, when he batted .271 with 40 HR, 118 RBI, and 100 runs scored.

His career numbers with the Reds are:

AVG .270 / 210 HR / 602 RBI

Pitcher - Don Newcombe

This was a tough position to find a good African-American player. Newk came to the Reds from the Dodgers in 1958 and was traded to the Indians in 1960.

His career was basically behind him when he got here, but he still pitched admirably.

He has the distinction of being the only pitcher in MLB history to have won a Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player Award in his career.

In 1959 he was 13-8 with a 3.16 ERA.

His career record as a Red is:

W-L 24-21 / ERA 3.64 / 189 K