George Arthur Foster (born December 1, 1948, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) is a former left fielder and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played for the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox from 1969-1986. Austin Kearns, an outfielder, catches a fly ball. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885-1957) New York Gothams (1883-1885) Ballpark AT&T Park (2000–present) a. ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively. ... Mark McGwire swinging for the fences. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885-1957) New York Gothams (1883-1885) Ballpark AT&T Park (2000–present) a. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20, 24, 42 Name Cincinnati Reds (1958–present) Cincinnati Redlegs (1953-1958) Cincinnati Reds (1882-1953) Cincinnati Red Stockings (1876-1882) Ballpark Great American Ball Park (2003–present) Riverfront... Major league affiliations National League (1962–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 14, 37, 41, 42 Name New York Mets (1962–present) Other nicknames The Amazin Mets, The Amazins, The Metropolitans Ballpark Shea Stadium (1964–present) Polo Grounds (1962–1963) Major league titles World Series titles... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In sports, a Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests. ... The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic, is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the manager (the managers from the previous years... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Tuscaloosa is a city in west central Alabama in the southern United States. ... The position of the left fielder A left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder in the sport of baseball who plays defense in left field. ... Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. ... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885-1957) New York Gothams (1883-1885) Ballpark AT&T Park (2000–present) a. ... Major league affiliations National League (1890–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 5, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20, 24, 42 Name Cincinnati Reds (1958–present) Cincinnati Redlegs (1953-1958) Cincinnati Reds (1882-1953) Cincinnati Red Stockings (1876-1882) Ballpark Great American Ball Park (2003–present) Riverfront... Major league affiliations National League (1962–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 14, 37, 41, 42 Name New York Mets (1962–present) Other nicknames The Amazin Mets, The Amazins, The Metropolitans Ballpark Shea Stadium (1964–present) Polo Grounds (1962–1963) Major league titles World Series titles... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

A 5-time All-Star (1976-79, 1981), Foster was a member of the 1970s Big Red Machine, leading the league in home runs in 1977-78, runs batted in from 1976-78, and OPS in 1977. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic, is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the manager (the managers from the previous years... The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. ... Statistics are very important to baseball, perhaps as much as they are for cricket, and more than almost any other sport. ...

In 1977, Foster hit 52 home runs, making him the only major league player to belt 50 or more homers in a single season during a 25-year period (between Willie Mays with 52 in 1965 and Cecil Fielder with 51 in 1990). The next batters to hit 50 HRs in the National League were Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. He also batted in a NL leading 149 runs. In recognition of his accomplishment, Foster received the NL's MVP award by a unanimous vote. The following are the baseball events of the year 1977 throughout the world. ... Mark McGwire swinging for the fences. ... Willie Howard Mays, Jr. ... The following are the baseball events of the year 1965 throughout the world. ... Cecil Grant Fielder (born September 21, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is a former Major League Baseball player who was a popular slugger with the Toronto Blue Jays (1985-88), Detroit Tigers (1990-96), New York Yankees (1996-97), Anaheim Angels and Cleveland Indians (both in 1998). ... // This year in baseball Events January 9 - Jim Palmer, a three-time American League Cy Young Award winner, and Joe Morgan, a two-time National League MVP, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their first years of eligibility. ... The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League, is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada and the worlds oldest extant professional team sports league. ... Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963 in Pomona, California) is a former professional baseball player who played his major league career with the Oakland Athletics and St. ... Samuel Sammy Peralta Sosa (born November 12, 1968 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a right fielder/designated hitter for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. ... This year in baseball 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 Events January-March January 5 - Don Sutton, a 324-game winner is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his fifth try. ... In the game of baseball, both amateur and professional, it is tradition to annually recognize the one player in the league who has contributed the most to the success of the players team. ...

Although he was not able to hit 50 or more homers again in 1978, he paced the NL with 40 and in RBIs with 120.

In his career he hit for a .274 batting average, with 348 HRs, 1239 RBI, 1925 hits and 986 runs scored in 1977 games played. Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively. ... Mark McGwire swinging for the fences. ... In baseball statistics, a run batted in (RBI) is given to a batter for each run scored as the result of a batters plate appearance. ... In baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H), sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when he safely reaches first base after batting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielders choice. ... In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around all three bases and returns safely to home plate. ...

In 1981, at a 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. Lawrence S. Ritter (1922 - 2004) was a writer whose specialty was baseball. ...

Acquired by the Mets February 1982 from Cincinnati, Foster was given a five-year, $10 million deal but never delivered big numbers for the Mets. (He hit only 13 home runs during his first season in New York.) Foster was a huge disappointment during his 4½-year tenure. He received his outright release in August 1986 after he accused the Mets of racism for benching him See http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/john_rolfe/08/29/meltdown.team/1.html. His replacement on the team was Kevin Mitchell also of African decent. The New York Mets are a Major League Baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City. ... Kevin Darnell Mitchell is an American former Major League Baseball left fielder and third baseman. ...

See also

• 50 home run club
• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball home run champions
• List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions
• Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

In Major League Baseball, the 50 home run club is an informal term applied to the group of players who have hit 50 or more home runs in a single season. ... In the sport of baseball, a home run is the act of hitting the ball in such a manner, whether out of the park or in (see inside the park home run), that allows the batter to safely reach home and score in one play. ... Below is the list of 250 Major League Baseball players who have reached the 1,000 RBI milestone. ... Major League Baseball recognizes runs batted in champions in the American League and National League each season. ... The batting championship is awarded to the Major League Baseball player in each the American League and National League who has the most home runs in a particular season. ... Major League Baseball recognizes runs scored champions in the American League and National League each season. ... Listed below are the occurrences of Major League Baseball players who have hit three home runs in a single game. ...

Trivia

• Foster is a born-again Christian and spends time instructing youth in baseball techniques.
• Foster was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003.
• Foster played baseball, football and ran track at El Camino College before being drafted.
• Foster is a motivational speaker in the United States.
• Foster's nickname in Cincinnati was "The Destroyer".
• Against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth and deciding game of the 1972 National League Championship Series, Foster scored the winning run on Bob Moose's wild pitch, which put the Reds into the World Series for the second time in three years.
• Foster always used black-colored bats when hitting. His nickname for those bats was "Black Beauty." Teammate Ray Knight, while still in the minors, once borrowed one of Foster's bats and used it to hit nine homers in a month.
• Foster was one of the most hated batters by opposing pitchers because he would step out of the batter's box after every single pitch.

Born again is a term used originally and mainly in Christianity, where it is associated with salvation, conversion and spiritual rebirth. ... The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame was instituted in 1958 to recognize the career of former Cincinnati Reds players, managers and front-office executives. ... // [[General Information]] El Camino College is a two-year public community college located in Torrance in Los Angeles County, California. ... // A nickname is a name of a person or thing other than its proper name. ... Major league affiliations National League (1887–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 20, 21, 33, 40, 42 Name Pittsburgh Pirates (1891–present) Pittsburgh Innocents (1890) Pittsburg Alleghenies (1882–1889) (Also referred to as Infants in 1890) Ballpark PNC Park (2001–present) Three Rivers... The 1972 National League Championship Series was played between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates from October 7 to October 11, 1972. ... Bob The Moose Is a popular fictional moose. ... In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged to a pitcher when a pitch is too high, too low, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to field capably, thereby allowing one or more runners to advance or to score. ... For other events named World Series, see World Series (disambiguation). ... Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952 in Albany, Georgia) is a former right-handed Major League Baseball player in the 1970s and 80s. ...

External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics
• Baseball Library