Position in the Spotlight: Cincinnati

It’s my turn to try to catch up on these Spotlight pieces, and I will get to take a look at the Queen City, Cincinnati. Cincy, first and foremost, is a baseball town. The Bengals have been so bad, they have earned the disparaging nickname “the Bungles”, while their basketball experience focuses on the mid major schools Xavier and the Universty of Cincinnati, though the Bearcats have recently moved to the Big East. The Reds, on the other hand, have a great deal of history, almost as long as that of baseball itself. Over the past 40 years or so, the Reds have a more clear cut position that needs to be highlighted.
It all started with the Big Red Machine years of the 70s. The Reds had several positions filled with magnificent players, especially in the infield. Johnny Bench behind the plate, Tony Perez at 1st, Joe Morgan at 2nd, the embattled Pete Rose at 3rd. It was an incredible team. Joe Morgan has lobbied for Dave Concepcion, the shortstop on those teams, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He hasn’t been yet, but I will respond by naming the Reds Shortstop the Position in the Spotlight.
We’ll start with Concepcion, who had the incredible distinction of playing 18 years, all with the Reds. They weren’t bad years, either. He was a fixture on All Star teams from 1973 to 1982, even earning the games MVP award in 1982. He was mostly lauded for his slick glove, winning the Gold Glove annually right up until Ozzie Smith started nabbing them. He was also one of the better hitters at the shortstop position during his 18 years with the Reds. Of course, that’s the most impressive statistic. Eighteen years!
After Concepcion, the Reds didn’t take long to find their next stalwart short stop. Barry Larkin came to the team in 1986 and was a regular in the All-Star game through the 90s. More notably, he was the NL MVP in 1995, and was on the World Series team of 1990. Larkin was a much better hitter than Concepcion, with a .295 career average and a couple years with big homer numbers. Larkin was on the Reds from 1986 to 2004. Thats 18 years as well. The Reds should just retire the number 18. (They did, for Ted Kluszewski)
Well, that’s 36 years of shortstops locked up in those two players. Before them, the Reds had 4 time All Star Leo Cardenas, who Cincinnati traded to the Twins in ’68 after a pedestrian 8 years with the Reds. Before him, Roy McMillan was the fixture at short for 10 years, appearing in two All Star Games himself and winning a pair of Gold Gloves.
Usually at this point, I would note some other guys who have filled the role, but with Larkin and Concepcion gobbling up 36 years at the position recently, there hasn’t been much else to discuss. It’s worth noting, however, that since Larkin has retired and the Reds continued to spiral towards obscurity, the team has featured three different “every day” shortstops in 5 years.

Honorable Mention
Reds Manager: Sparky Anderson and Lou Piniella led the team to the World Series, but big names like Rogers Hornsby, Christy Matthewson and Pete Rose have also had the reins to the Reds.
Bengals Quarterback: Boomer Esiason is probably the most famous player people readily associate with the Bengals, and now Carson Palmer is, when healthy, one of the best quarterbacks in the league.