page_title: George Foster (baseball)
section_title: National League MVP
hierarchical_section_title: George Foster (baseball) / Cincinnati Reds / National League MVP
caption_attribution_description: English: Professional baseball player George Foster
context_page_description: George Arthur Foster is an American former professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1969 through 1986, most notably as an integral member of the Cincinnati Reds dynasty that won four National League pennants and two World Series championships between 1970 and 1976. He also played for the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox.
  A five-time All-Star, Foster was one of the most feared right-handed sluggers of his era, leading the National League in home runs in 1977 and 1978, and in RBIs in 1976, 1977, and 1978. He won the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1977 and a Silver Slugger Award in 1981. In 2003, Foster was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
context_section_description: Foster turned in one of the all-time great seasons in 1977 on his way to winning the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. On July 14, Foster clubbed three home runs against the Atlanta Braves. A home run the following day off the Houston Astros' Gene Pentz brought his season mark to 29 heading into the All-Star break. He started his second consecutive All-Star game, and led the NL charge with a first inning double to drive in Dave Parker with the first run of the game. On September 23, in the ninth inning of the Reds' 5–1 victory over the Atlanta Braves, Foster hit his fiftieth home run of the season off Buzz Capra, making him the first player since Willie Mays in 1965 to hit fifty in a season. The 50 home run mark would not be reached again until Cecil Fielder hit 51 home runs in 1990. Foster was just the 10th player in major league history to reach the mark, and the first ever Cincinnati Reds player. His 149 RBIs also led the majors. He finished fourth in the NL in batting, missing the Triple Crown by .018 behind Dave Parker. He also led the NL in slugging percentage (.631), runs scored (124) and total bases (388).
  He took over where he left off in 1978, with 18 home runs and 63 RBIs in the first half of the season to earn his third consecutive All-Star start. For the season, he batted .281 and paced the NL in both home runs and RBIs with 40 and 120, respectively. He was voted onto his fourth consecutive All-Star team in 1979, but needed to be pulled in the second inning after pulling his thigh. The Reds lost Foster for a month, and had been decimated by injuries, but managed to stay in the NL West race during Foster's absence. Shortly after his return, the Reds went on an eight-game winning streak that saw them jump into first place by 1.5 games over the Houston Astros. The Reds held off the Astros to win their first division crown since 1976, but were swept by the Pirates in the 1979 National League Championship Series. Foster's highlight was a game tying home run in game one of the NLCS.
  Following the 1979 season, Joe Morgan headed to the Houston Astros via free agency. With Tony Pérez and Pete Rose already gone, the "Big Red Machine" was beginning to come apart, and the Reds slumped to a third-place finish in 1980. Foster led the club with 25 home runs and 93 RBIs. A rejuvenated Cincinnati Reds team won a major league best 66 games in the strike shortened 1981 season, but managed to miss the playoffs as a result of the split-season format used that season. Foster returned to form, finishing second to Mike Schmidt in the NL's RBI race. At this point in his career, when it looked like he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.
caption: Foster, circa 1977
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