On those great Dodger teams in the ‘70s, the best hitter was Reggie Smith. On the Yankees it was Reggie Jackson and Willie Randolph. On the Padres it was Dave Winfield. On the Reds it was George Foster and Joe Morgan. One of the Phillies’ best was Gary Maddox (just don’t ask him about the ‘78 playoffs), the Red Sox had Jim Rice and Dwight Evans, the Astros had Bob Watson, the A’s had Rickey Henderson, the Brewers had Cecil Cooper and the Twins had Rod Carew.
These are just the superstars. no shortage of not-quite-superstars who were still notable like Dusty Baker, George Scott, Mickey Rivers, Manny Mota, Paul Blair.
These guys played some of the best baseball ever. I miss that era, and players like them. And outside of a few showboats like Willie Montanez and Reggie Jackson, not a whole lot of attitude problems.
Dewey was black? Um, and on the '70s Reds? Like him or not, 4,256 speaks for itself, Pete Rose.