Opening Day Countdown: Quintessential Red #37

I think you all know where this is going.

5. Will McEnaney (-0.8 WAR)

McEnaney broke in with the Reds as a 22-year-old in 1974, just in time to help the bullpen of the Big Red Machine teams. '75 was his best year here, putting up a 2.47 ERA in 70 appearances. It's something he never really was able to duplicate, though, and he was traded in the Tony Perez deal and spent 3 more years bouncing around after that.

4. Corky Miller (0.7 WAR)

THERE HE IS. Corky is a fan favorite, and has been part of the Reds organization for over a decade. There's a good chance he'll retire a Red (or more likely, a Bat), and he's exactly the kind of guy I'd love to see the Reds take care of with a coaching gig. Corky is the best, you guys.

3. Ray Starr (7.4 WAR)

Starr pitched for the Reds from 1941 to 1943, and threw a TON of innings for those teams. He was an All-Star in '42, going 15-13 with a 2.67 ERA in 33 starts. He's interesting to me, because he got a couple of years in the big leagues in the early '30s, but was almost a career minor leaguer after that. That is, until WWII happened, and he got thrust back into the spotlight as an aging ballplayer.

2. Norm Charlton (7.1 WAR)

The Sheriff was a great reliever, and made the biggest impact of his career as a Red. He broke into the league in 1988, and along with the rest of the Nasty Boys, was a huge part of the bullpen that won the championship in 1990. Norm would go on to play for a few years in Seattle as well.

1. Bob Purkey (23.9 WAR)

Another war hero, Purkey served for two years before breaking in as a reliever with the Pirates. Pittsburgh traded him to Cincinnati before the 1958 season, where he joined the rotation and made the All-Star team in his first year. He'd go on to make two more before leaving the Reds in 1964. His best year has to have been 1962, where he went 23-5 with a 2.81 ERA. He threw 288 innings that year, and finished tied for 3rd in the Cy Young. Trivia today: who finished ahead of him?