These are the best Cincinnati-bred baseball players of all time

Cincinnati Reds beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer had an idea to make an all-Cincinnati big-league team before the season. His research included anyone from Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and our coverage area in Southeast Indiana. With that in mind, we present to you the greatest 40-man roster (starting lineup, bench, starting pitchers and bullpen) in the country, complete with an explainer from Wittenmyer on how he made his choices and the people that assisted in the process. Yes, he even built a front office and coaching staff.

All-Time Cincinnati Starting Lineup

Position; Player; (Birthplace); Bats; High School

1B Pete Rose* (Cincinnati) S Western Hills

Nobody’s banning the "Hit King" from this hall of all-timers on our watch. A founding member of the Big Red Machine, he won a Rookie of the Year, an MVP, two Gold Gloves and made 17 All-Star teams, winning three World Series rings along the way (1975-76 with the Reds, 1980 with the Phillies).

SS Barry Larkin* (Cincinnati) R Moeller

One of three Hall of Fame players on the roster, Larkin might have been the best shortstop in the game in his prime, taking the torch from Ozzie Smith. He was a 12-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, 1990 World Series champ and 1995 MVP.

CF Ken Griffey Jr.* (Donora, Pa.) L Moeller

You couldn’t have a “greatest player in the game” debate for most of the 1990s without including Griffey, who cut his baseball teeth at Riverfront Stadium, along with his little brother, in the shadow of his dad and Big Red Machine teammates. After an MVP, 13 All-Star selections, 10 Gold Gloves and nine seasons with the Reds, he received what was then the highest percentage of votes for Hall of Fame induction (99.3).

LF Jim Wynn (Cincinnati) R Taft

“The Toy Cannon,” who grew up a few blocks from Crosley Field, made three All-Star teams during a 15-year career that included 291 home runs and 1,224 walks in 8,011 plate appearances (15.3 percent). The longtime Astro’s lone playoff appearance came with the Dodgers in 1974, when he homered and drew 13 walks in nine combined NLCS and World Series games.

RF Dave Parker* (Grenada, Miss.) L Courter Tech

One of the most feared hitters of his time, “The Cobra” won three Gold Gloves, two batting titles, an MVP and made seven All-Star teams – including in 1979, when he made one of the most famous throws in All-Star history to nail Brian Downing at the plate from right field in Seattle’s Kingdome. Won World Series with the Pirates in 1979 and A’s in 1989.

3B Buddy Bell* (Pittsburgh) R Moeller

One of the best third basemen of his generation, the father of big-leaguers David and Mike Bell and son of All-Star Red Gus Bell probably deserves a Hall of Fame nod. He made five All-Star teams and won six Gold Gloves but played most of his career for second-division clubs in Cleveland and Texas.

DH Kyle Schwarber (Middletown) L Middletown

One of the worst non-tender decisions in baseball history, Schwarber was released by the Cubs six years after being drafted fourth overall – then immediately made an All-Star team the next season for Washington, went to the playoffs after a deadline trade to Boston and then signed with Philadelphia, where he won a home run title, made another All-Star team and played in the 2022 World Series. The hard-nosed competitor has been in the postseason eight of his nine big-league seasons.

C Jim Leyritz (Lakewood, Ohio) R Turpin 

Leyritz hit 90 home runs in 903 regular-season games, but clobbered eight in 28 career postseason games, including the tying three-run shot in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 1996 World Series for the Yankees — a game New York would win in extra innings to tie a series they would eventually win for their first of four championships in five years. He had a career .926 postseason OPS.

2B Josh Harrison (Cincinnati) R Princeton

Some believe Josh is only the second-best athlete in his own family (his brother Vince, a local prep legend, is the Reds’ Dayton-affiliate manager). But Josh represented two of the three All-Star selections among more than 60 players in Reds camp this spring and boasts three playoff appearances. He is a free agent after not making the Reds' Opening Day roster and exercising an opt-out clause in his contract.

All-Time Cincinnati Bench Players

Pos Player (Birthplace) Bats High School

3B/2B David Bell (Cincinnati) R Moeller

Hard-nosed play and versatility were the hallmarks of a 12-year, 1,403-game career that included consecutive playoff appearances in 2000, ’01 and ‘02 – including a 116-win season in Seattle and a World Series appearance with the Giants – and that eventually led to the manager’s seat for his hometown Reds.

OF Andrew Benintendi (Cincinnati) L Madeira

The seventh overall pick of the 2015 draft by the Red Sox, Benintendi is buying when the all-Cincinnati team gets together for the next reunion. The 2017 Rookie of the Year runner-up, 2018 World Series winner, 2021 Gold Glove winner and 2022 All-Star became the highest paid player in White Sox history in 2023 (5 years, $75 million).

SS Eddie Brinkman (Cincinnati) R Western Hills

The best fielding infielder who didn’t crack our starting lineup, Pete Rose’s former prep teammate – who was considered the better prospect at the time – earned a Gold Glove with the 1972 Tigers and All-Star selection the following year, after 10 seasons with the expansion Washington Senators. At the plate, well, he’s on this club for late-inning defense. Brinkman, whose brother Chuck caught for six big-league seasons, holds the distinction of owning the lowest batting average (.224) for any player with at least 5,000 at-bats.

C Red Dooin* (Cincinnati) R Unknown

The 1890s Xavier star makes this team on the strength of 133 big-league stolen bases and the fact he caught 1,195 games with basically a sponge and a washboard for equipment. Some claim Toledo’s Roger Bresnahan stole the idea for shin guards from Red.

2B Bill Doran* (Cincinnati) S Mount Healthy

Considered the Astros’ best second baseman until Hall of Famer Craig Biggio came along, Doran played nine seasons in Houston before nixing an August 1990 trade to the Mets, leading to a trade to his hometown Reds the next day. He missed the World Series because of a back injury. Doran ranks second on the all-Cincinnati bench with 32.8 career WAR (per baseball-reference.com) and third on the bench in hits (1,366).

IF Leon Durham (Cincinnati) L Woodward

The 15th overall pick in the 1976 draft out of high school earned back-to-back All-Star selections in 1982-83 and helped lead the Cubs to their first playoff appearance since 1945 the next year. They appeared headed to the World Series until a grounder went through his legs late in the decisive Game 5 of the NLCS for one of the most infamous errors in postseason history. #BillyGoatAteHisGlove

OF Lance Johnson (Cincinnati) L Princeton 

Johnson is the only player to lead both the AL and NL in hits for a season, doing it in back-to-back seasons, in 1995 with the White Sox and 1996 with the Mets (MLB-leading 227). He hit a career-high .331 for the Mets that year in his lone All-Star season, won a ring with the Yankees in 2000 and ranks seventh on our all-Cincinnati team in career hits (1,565).

OF David Justice (Cincinnati) L Covington Latin

The two-time World Series champ, three-time All-Star and paparazzi target during his relationship in the 1990s with former wife Halle Berry is the best all-around player to get squeezed to this team’s bench. The 1990 NL Rookie of the Year and all-Cincy bench’s WAR (40.6) and hits (1,571) leader received MVP votes five times, finishing in the top five twice, and played in a whopping 112 postseason games for four teams, making every postseason but one after his first two years of a 14-year big-league career.

C Luke Maile* (Edgewood, Ky.) R Covington Catholic

Although he’s Leyritz’ backup, the Reds’ current backup catcher should get plenty of playing time as Howie Camnitz’ personal catcher in this team’s all-Covington battery.

3B/2B/SS Tim Naehring (Cincinnati) R La Salle

One of the most underrated players with the Red Sox in the 1990s, Naehring played in the style of his idol growing up, Pete Rose, a trait that made him a fan favorite. A good player off the bench, Naehring earned the starting 3B job in 1995 and hit .295 with an .838 OPS the rest of a career that was cut short by an elbow injury in 1997. One of Brian Cashman’s top execs with the Yankees currently, Naehring does double duty as the all-Cincinnati team’s special assistant to the GM.

2B/SS Ron Oester* (Cincinnati) S Withrow

A top-four Rookie of the Year finish (1980) and 13 years in the big leagues, all with the Reds, might have been enough to make this roster. The clincher: That huge pinch-hit single in the pitcher’s spot in the fourth inning to drive in a run in a World Series Game 2 that the Reds would go on to win in extra innings, on the way to a sweep of the heavily favored A’s in 1990.

OF/1B John Reilly* (Cincinnati) R Unknown

A resolute and stellar batsman for the Cincinnati nine in the 1880s, “Long John” Reilly marked the pace for all of Base Ball by clouting 11 four-baggers in 1884 and 13 in 1888. A crackerjack speed baron, he purloined 82 bases in ’88 and topped the circuit with 26 three-sackers in ’90.

IF/OF Pat Tabler (Hamilton) R McNicholas

The 16th overall pick in the 1976 draft – one spot after Woodward High’s Leon Durham – Tabler was a one-time All-Star who was dubbed with the well-earned nickname “Mr. Clutch” while with Cleveland, for his ridiculous knack for producing with the bases loaded. He holds MLB’s all-time highest average (.489) and on-base percentage (.505) in that situation (minimum 100 plate appearances), going 43-for-88 with 11 walks – including 8-for-9 with a walk in 1988 alone. Tabler, who hit .277 in all other PAs in his career, went on to a successful broadcasting career for two decades in Toronto.

1B/3B Kevin Youkilis (Cincinnati) R Sycamore

Baseball’s “Greek God of Walks” of Moneyball fame has three All-Star selections, a Gold Glove and reached the big leagues just in time to be part of the Red Sox team that broke the “Curse of the Bambino” (though he didn’t play after the first playoff round). The former UC All-American played a bigger role in earning another ring in 2007 and followed that up with a top-3 MVP finish in ’08. He briefly worked after his playing career as a scout and player development consultant for the Cubs under former Boston GM Theo Epstein.

2B Scooter Gennett* (Cincinnati) L Sarasota (Florida)

The 2018 All-Star for Reds almost didn’t make the list because his family moved to Florida when he was 9. But he has claimed a lifelong affinity for his hometown Reds. And he was in a home Reds uniform when he tied a big-league record with four home runs in a game in 2017.

All-Time Cincinnati Pitching Rotation

Throws; Player; (Birthplace); High school

RH Jim Bunning (Southgate, Kentucky) St. Xavier

The Hall of Famer was a nine-time All-Star for the Tigers and Phillies from the mid-50s through the ‘60s, and the first to throw no-hitters in both leagues. He won 20 games in 1957 when pitching wins mattered, 19 games four times, led his league in innings pitched twice and strikeouts three times. His most impressive contributions to the game might have been his continual assaults on baseball’s wrongly upheld antitrust exemption while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later the U.S. Senate..

LH Joe Nuxhall* (Hamilton) Hamilton

The Reds’ current youth movement has nothing on Nuxhall, who became the youngest big-leaguer in history when he made a nervous and rough debut for the Reds almost two months before his 16th birthday in 1944 – only allowed after the Reds were granted an exception to child-labor laws to fill roster needs exacerbated by World War II-related player shortages. He didn’t pitch another game until 1952, when he rejoined the Reds for a long, productive career that included two All-Star selections, before becoming an all-time beloved Reds broadcaster.

RH Richard Dotson (Cincinnati) Anderson

The seventh overall pick in the 1977, Dotson became an All-Star in 1984 during a steady career that included a 22-7 season for a White Sox playoff team in 1983, earning a top-four Cy Young finish, before arm injuries eventually derailed him. His two decades as a minor-league pitching instructor also make him Roger McDowell’s assistant player-coach for the all-Cincinnati staff. Perhaps most interesting is how his very existence began with another big-league player’s baseball road trip to Cincinnati.

RH Howie Camnitz (Covington, Kentucky) Unknown 

If they’d had All-Star games in his day, “Rosebud”* Camnitz certainly would have been a perennial candidate for selection during much of his career as a three-time 20-game winner for Honus Wagner’s powerful Pirates teams in the early 1900s – providing four straight 260-inning seasons at one point and proving the clear ace of the Buccos’ 1909 World Series champion. He finished an 11-year career with two seasons in the Federal League. *His red hair was said to be the source of the nickname.

RH Art Mahaffey (Cincinnati) Western Hills

Mahaffey only pitched until his late-20s, but his rise was meteoric when he arrived in the big leagues in 1960 as a top-3 Rookie of the Year candidate and All-Star selection each of the next two seasons for the Phillies. A direct descendent of Daniel Boone, Mahaffey still owns the Phillies’ nine-inning, single-game strikeout record (17 vs. Cubs in 1961). During a career marked by such big highs and similarly big lows, Mahaffey became the first Phillies player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, at 24, in April 1963. Talk about an SI cover jinx: Mahaffey never made another All-Star team and by the end of the following season, the steal of home he gave up was the difference in a 1-0 loss to the Reds – the first of 10 straight losses for the Phils, who went from 6 1/2 games up to missing the playoffs in one of baseball’s most famous collapses.

LH Jesse Tannehill* (Dayton, Kentucky) Dayton (Kentucky)

The workhorse of the all-Cincinnati team, Tannehill pitched more than 300 innings twice and more than 250 three more times, alongside one of baseball’s all-time workhorses in Jack Chesbro for their early 20th-century Pirates teams. Tannehill, whose brother Lee also pitched in the majors, led the NL in ERA (2.18) in 1901. A good hitter, Tannehill in 1902 gave up fewer home runs (zero) than he hit (one). That ’02 homer came against Reds ace Noodles Hahn in Cincinnati – where Tannehill played both his first and final seasons.

RH Aaron Cook (Fort Campbell, Kentucky) Hamilton

In addition to the Sisyphean mental challenge of pitching nearly his entire career with the Rockies, Cook might be the toughest guy physically on the all-Cincinnati staff. A terrifying health scare during a game in 2004 led to a diagnosis of pulmonary embolisms (arterial blockages) in both lungs. The consensus medical opinion at the time was it should have killed him. Instead, he had surgery to remove a rib that was causing the problem, and after a nearly yearlong rehab he returned to the mound. Three years after the incident, he was pitching in a World Series, followed by an All-Star selection during a 16-9 2008 season in which he made 32 starts with a 3.96 ERA across 211 1/3 innings.

All-Time Cincinnati Bullpen

Throws; Player; (Birthplace); High school

Closer Kent Tekulve* (Cincinnati) Hamilton Catholic

The submarining right-hander earned rightful fame as the workhorse closer for the 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates, making a league-high 94 appearances with a league-high 67 games finished and 31 saves. After helping beat the Reds that year in the NLCS, he earned three saves, making five appearances, in an epic, seven-game World Series title against Baltimore – getting Pat Kelly to fly to center on the final pitch of the Series. He earned his lone All-Star selection the next year and finished with 184 career saves.

RH Jeff Russell* (Cincinnati) Wyoming

Russell is the only member of our pitching staff to make the All-Star team as a starter (1988, 24 starts, career-high 188 2/3 innings) and a closer (1989, AL-leading 38 saves with 1.98 ERA). He threw a five-hit CG in his big-league debut, for the Reds in 1983. Two years later he was the player to be named later in the trade that would send another All-Cincinnati player, Buddy Bell, from Texas to the Reds. Son James also pitched in the majors.

RH Jim Brosnan* (Cincinnati) Elder

This is the Nick Martinez of the all-Cincinnati club, a swingman with enough quality stuff to make 47 career starts as needed, along with 338 relief appearances that included work as an early-60s “closer,” producing a career 3.54 ERA and 68 saves. He might be best known for his inside-the-clubhouse memoir “The Long Season” – considered the seminal, perhaps highest-quality of the genre, published in 1960, 10 years before Jim Bouton’s more famous, more controversial “Ball Four.”

RH Roger McDowell (Cincinnati) Colerain

A job-share closer (with Jesse Orosco) the second half of the bad-boy Mets’ 1986 championship season – and Game 7 winning pitcher – McDowell earned far greater fame as the “second spitter” revealed by teammate Keith Hernandez in a 1992 episode of Seinfeld about a “magic loogie” conspiracy Kramer and Newman had pinned on Hernandez. A devout clubhouse prankster with a hotfoot fetish, McDowell was serious on the mound as a 3.30 career ERA and 159 saves. McDowell, who spent more than a decade as a big-league pitching coach, is our player-coach for the pitchers on this team.

LH Brent Suter* (Chicago) Moeller

An environmental activist in his off-the-field life, the Harvard grad is the published author of a children’s book with an activist bent, inspired by his son and the family dog, called “The Binky Bandit.” A master of impersonations with a running gait that inspired minor-league teammate Tim Dillard to dub him “The Raptor,” Suter joins the Reds in 2024 after a 2023 season with Rockies in which he allowed no home runs at Coors Field – a soft-contact trait especially appealing at bandbox Great American Ball Park.

LH Billy McCool* (Batesville, Indiana) Lawrenceburg (Indiana)

Before a back issues ended his career in his mid-20s, McCool was a hard-throwing rising star among relievers in the game, earning a 1966 All-Star nod during an 18-save, 2.48-ERA season for the Reds. Three years before the draft began, he chose the Reds over 13 other teams recruiting him – not because they were his hometown team, he would later say, but because they only had two, older lefties on the roster, which made him think he could reach the majors faster. He made it in his second pro season, at 19. He saved a career-high 21 games the next year.

RH Joe Smith (Cincinnati) Amelia (Batavia)

The side-arming Smith was one of the steadiest, most reliable relievers for his teams during a 15-year career (through 2022), producing a 3.14 ERA in 866 appearances. He was in the playoffs five times with four teams, including the World Series with the Astros in 2019. He pitched for the 2016 champion Cubs after a deadline trade from the Angels but was not on the Cubs postseason roster.

RH Tom Hume* (Cincinnati) Northeast (St. Petersburg, Florida)

A first-round draft pick of the Reds in 1972, Hume established his value as a late-inning reliever after two big-league seasons as a starter, pitching in all three of the Reds’ 1979 playoff games against the Pirates, earning a career-high 25 saves in 1980 and earning his lone All-Star selection in 1982. He later served as the Reds’ bullpen coach for 12 years through 2007, filling in as the pitching coach in 2006 after Vern Ruhle’s cancer diagnosis.

LH Dave Tomlin* (Maysville, Ky.) West Union

Probably better known in the game for his impact over two decades as a minor-league coach and coordinator, Tomlin nonetheless had enough production as a big-league lefty reliever to pitch in 13 big-league seasons for four different teams – including a pair of Reds playoff clubs in 1972 and ’79. He finished with a 3.82 ERA and 12 saves in 4.09 career appearances.

60-Day IL

RH Sam Leever (Goshen) Goshen High

“The Goshen Schoolmaster” was a workhorse for the early 1900s Pirates even by the standards of the workhorse era in which he pitched, leading the NL in games (51) and innings (379) as a rookie in 1899 and pitching 284 innings with a league-leading 2.06 ERA during the Pirates’ 1903 pennant-winning season. He made two starts during the inaugural World Series that October, although a late-season trapshooting shoulder injury caused him to depart after one inning in Game 2 and limited his effectiveness in a Game 6 loss. He’s on the 60-day IL in part because of the trapshooting mishap but mostly on account of becoming deceased in 1953.

All-Time Cincinnati Front Office

Branch Rickey (Portsmouth) General manager

We couldn’t resist reaching just a bit outside our coverage area to steal the greatest executive in the game to run this team.

Mike Hill (Cincinnati) Assistant GM

The Cincinnati Country Day and Harvard University grad played briefly in the Texas Rangers farm system before embarking on a front office career that included a decade as the general manager and later the team president of the Miami Marlins. He's now a high-ranking executive in the commissioner's office.

Tim Naehring (Cincinnati) Assistant GM-player

See Naehring’s bio above among bench players.

All-Time Cincinnati Field Staff

Miller Huggins* (Cincinnati) Manager

The Hall of Fame manager who successfully managed the competing egos of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig gets the nod over a surprisingly strong list of Cincinnati-bred managerial candidates. And what better fit for a team with a Big Red Machine presence than the manager of the ’27 Yankees?

Don Zimmer* (Cincinnati) Bench coach

The Western Hills grad was a two-time All-Star in 12 big-league seasons as an infielder and later was an NL Manager of the Year for his work with the “Boys of Zimmer” division-winning Cubs in 1989.

Jim Frey (Cleveland) Third base coach

A lifelong friend and Western Hills teammate of Zimmer, Frey was a .302-hitting, 14-year minor-leaguer who never made it to the big leagues until he coached and managed after his playing days. He managed a World Series team in Kansas City (1980), won a Manager of the Year Award with the Cubs (1984), and after becoming the Cubs’ GM hired Zimmer as his manager.

Roger McDowell (Cincinnati) Pitching coach-player

See McDowell’s bio above among bullpen pitchers

*-Played for Reds during career.

All-Time Cincinnati WAR* Leaders

1. Ken Griffey Jr., Archbishop Moeller 83.8

2. Pete Rose, Western Hills 79.6

3. Barry Larkin, Archbishop Moeller 70.5

4. Buddy Bell, Archbishop Moeller 66.3

5. Jim Bunning, St. Xavier 59.4

6. Jim Wynn, Taft 55.7

7. Jesse Tannehill, Dayton (Ky.) 47.0

8. David Justice, Covington Latin 40.6

9. Dave Parker, Courter Tech 40.1

10. Denny Lyons, (unknown) 35.5

11. Bill Doran, Mount Healthy 32.8

12. Kevin Youkilis, Sycamore 32.4

13. Joe Nuxhall, Hamilton 30.3

14. Lance Johnson, Princeton 30.2

15. Kent Tekulve, Catholic 25.5

*-baseball-reference.com

All-Time Cincinnati HR Leaders

1. Ken Griffey Jr., Archbishop Moeller 630

2. Dave Parker, Courter Tech 339

3. David Justice, Covington Latin 305

4. Jim Wynn, Taft 291

5. Kyle Schwarber, Middletown 246

All-Time Cincinnati Hits Leaders

1. Pete Rose, Western Hills 4,256*

2. Ken Griffey Jr., Archbishop Moeller 2,781

3. Dave Parker, Courter Tech 2,712

4. Buddy Bell, Archbishop Moeller 2,514

5. Barry Larkin, Archbishop Moeller 2,340

*-All-time MLB leader

All-Time Cincinnati Pitching Wins Leaders

1. Jim Bunning, St. Xavier 224

2. Jesse Tannehill, Dayton (Ky.) 197

3. Joe Nuxhall, Hamilton 135

4. Howie Camnitz, (HS unknown) 133

5. Richard Dotson, Anderson 111

All-Time Cincinnati Strikeout Leaders

1. Jim Bunning, St. Xavier 2,855

2. Joe Nuxhall, Hamilton 1,372

3. Richard Dotson, Anderson 973

4. Jesse Tannehill, Dayton (Ky.) 944

5. Howie Camnitz, (HS unknown) 915

All-Time Cincinnati ERA Leaders

(Min. 1,000 IP)

1. Howie Camnitz, (HS Unknown) 2.75

2. Jesse Tannehill, Dayton (Ky.) 2.80

3. Kent Tekulve, Catholic 2.85

4. Jim Bunning, St. Xavier 3.27

5. Roger McDowell, Colerain 3.30

All-Time Cincinnati Saves Leaders

1. Jeff Russell, Wyoming 186

2. Kent Tekulve, Catholic 184

3. Roger McDowell, Colerain 159

4. Tom Hume, Northeast (Fla.)  92

5. Jim Brosnan, Elder 68

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pete Rose, Barry Larkin top list of best MLB players from Cincinnati