During the 2009 season the candidates for the 2010 class of the Reds Hall of Fame will be announced. I'm not sure exactly how they arrive at the names to be included on the ballot other than what I found on the Reds.com site "Fan balloting for the Reds Hall of Fame Class of 2010 will be conducted during the 2009 season." 

The qualifications are pretty simple to meet:

Players must have played for the Reds for a minimum of three seasons and have been retired for three seasons. The fan ballot is open to players who retired after 1985. Players who retired before 1985 will be evaluated and selected by the Veterans Committee.

With all that being said I want to try to make the case for one David Gene Parker. I am not making an argument for Cooperstown, just Great American Ball Park.  He signed as a free agent with the Reds on December 7, 1983, after spending eleven seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and seeing his promising career quickly heading downhill because of his involvement with drugs. In a much involved case in Pittsburgh Parker was one of several players, including one of our favorite know it all announcers Keith Hernandez, to receive mandatory testing for the rest of the careers. Parker was drafted by the Pirates in the 14th round of the 1970 draft.  Without getting into the whole "what if" draft discussion I will say that while the Pirates were taking Parker in the 14th round from Cincinnati's Courter Tech High School the Reds, in the 13th round, took outfielder Christopher Jones from Asuza Pacific University. Exactly.

The Cobra played with the Reds for four seasons spanning the 1984-1987 seasons and saw his form return. During those years the Reds finished 5th, 2nd, 2nd and 2nd. Parker led the Reds in both Home Runs and RBI for three straight seasons, 1984-1986, becoming only the fifth Red to accomplish that feat. He joined Frank McCormick, Ted Kluszewski, Frank Robinson, and George Foster. Eric Davis and Adam Dunn have since joined the list. His line as a Red was 107 home runs, 432 RBI, 327 runs scored, 694 hits in 631 games. That averages out to 26 HR, 108 RBI, 81 Runs, 173 hits and 157 games per season.

He won the Silver Slugger award in 1985 & 1986 while making the All Star team in both seasons. He finished second in the MVP balloting in 1985 (behind Willie McGee) and fifth in 1986 (behind Mike Schmidt, Glenn Davis, Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez).

Parker re-energized his career while with the Reds and was one of their most consistent players during those four seasons. He hit behing Eric Davis in the line up for most of the 87 season allowing E.D. to post one of his greatest seasons with the Reds.  During his tenure with the Reds he regained the form that had made him one the best hitters in the National League during the 70's and early 80's.  In the National League during the seasons he was a Red  these are Parker's rankings:

Games Played - 2nd

Home Runs - 5th

RBI - 1st

Hits - 6th

Batting Average (Minimum 600 games) - 8th

OBP - 9th

OPS - 7th

OPS+ - 7th

Slg Pct - 4th

Runs Created  - 8th

Pretty impressive numbers for his time in Cincinnati. Enough so that he should be enshrined in the Reds Hall of Fame.

Currently there are four right fielders in the Reds Hall of Fame. They are, with the year inducted, Sam Crawford (68), Ival Goodman (59), Ken Griffey Sr.(04), and Wally Post (65).  All pretty good players, all from different eras.

Sam Crawford

Crawford played four seasons for the Reds (1899 - 1902) and then jumped from the Reds to the Tigers before the 1903 season. He played 15 more seasons with Detroit and ended up in Cooperstown.

Ival Goodman

Goodman played eight seasons for the Reds (1935 - 1942) including two World Series teams. He made the All Star team in 1938 and 1939. His contract was sold to the Cubs in November '42, played two more seasons and then retired.

Wally Post

Post played in parts of 12 seasons for the Reds ( 1949-1957, 1960-63) including the World Series team of 1961. He never made an All Star team but probably should have in 1955 but was left off the team in favor of Mueller, Snider, and Ennis. The backup outfielders on that team were some guys named Mays, Aaron and Thomas.

Ken Griffey Sr.

Sr. played parts of 12 seasons with the Reds, including the Big Red Machine World Champs of 75-76. He was a three time All-Star with the Reds, played 19 seasons in the majors and is the proud father of former Red, and future Hall of Famer, Ken Griffey Jr.