A three-time All-Star during his time in Cincinnati Bob Purkey was a rarity for a knuckleball pitcher as it was just another weapon in his vast arsenal.  Purkey would enjoy his greatest success in Cincinnati, as he was a 15 Game winner four times, including a 23 and 5 year in 1962.  That was by far the best season of his career, as he would finish atop the National League in bWAR for Pitchers and Win Probability Added and third in ERA.  He would also finish third in Cy Young voting.

With the Reds, Purkey had a 103-76 Record with an ERA of 3.49 and entered the Reds Hall of Fame.

Tom Seaver was justifiably inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.8% of the vote.  He is equally warranted as our selection for the greatest New York Met of all-time.  Still, even though he spent five and a half seasons with Cincinnati after the “Midnight Massacre Trade” that decimated the Mets, do we ever think of “Tom Terrific” as a Red?

Pete Donohue’s 20 Wins in 1926 were enough to win him that title, but he actually had two other seasons where he accumulated 21 Wins (1923 & 1925) as a Starting Pitcher with the Reds.  Donohue was an excellent control pitcher who would seven time finish in the top in BB/9, including a top finish in 1926.  He would also finish third in Earned Run Average twice.  He would also finish in top three in FIP four times.

With Cincinnati, Donohue posted a record of 127-110 with a 3.73 ERA, and was a Reds Hall of Fame selection in 1964.

Far more than a 20 Game winner in 1905, “Long” Bob Ewing was a master of the spitball (legal at the time) and had a three-year stint (1905-07) where he finished in the top five in bWAR for Pitchers.  Impressively, Ewing would also finish in the top ten in SO/BB six times and FIP six times.  As of this writing, Ewing is 27th all-time in FIP, and had a 108-113 Record for Cincinnati.

Ewing entered the Reds Hall of Fame in 2001.