George Foster (baseball)
Drove in 52 runs during the month of August 1977, a National League record that stood for 29 years.
Born 1948 (age 78)·American baseball player and scout·Birthday: December 1·Baby Boomers
Biography
George Foster won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1977 by hitting .320 with 52 home runs and 149 RBIs for the Cincinnati Reds. He joined the Reds via a trade from the San Francisco Giants on May 29, 1971. Manager Sparky Anderson inserted him as the regular left fielder in 1975, completing the 'Big Red Machine' lineup that won consecutive World Series in 1975 and 1976. Foster led the NL in RBIs three times (1976, 1977, 1978) and in home runs twice (1977, 1978). His distinctive batting stance, with the bat held high and parallel to the ground, became a signature. The New York Mets signed him to a five-year, $10 million contract in 1982, then the richest in baseball history. He played his final game for the Chicago White Sox in 1986. The lasting impact is statistical: his 1977 season remains one of 19 instances of a player hitting 50 or more home runs and driving in 140 or more runs, a benchmark for clean-up hitters in the post-1968 expansion era.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
George was born in 1948, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When George Was Born
The biggest hits of 1948
#1 Movie
The Red Shoes
Best Picture
Hamlet
#1 TV Show
Texaco Star Theatre
George's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1948Born
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1953Started school
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1961Became a teenager
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,500Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Tossin' and Turnin'" — Bobby LewisBest Picture: West Side Story
1964Could drive
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1966Could vote
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Turned 21
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1978Turned 30
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1988Turned 40
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 50
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 60
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 70
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 78 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- National League MVP (1977), Silver Slugger Award winner (1981), and five-time All-Star (1976-1979, 1981).
- Won two World Series championships with the Cincinnati Reds (1975, 1976).
- Hit three home runs in a single game on July 14, 1977, against the Atlanta Braves.
Did You Know?
He popularized the use of batter's eye black, wearing it in a distinctive V-shape.
He hit the last home run at San Francisco's Candlestick Park before its renovation in 1982.
After retirement, he worked as a hitting coach for the Cincinnati Reds organization.
“I swung the bat and the ball went out; that's what they paid me for.”
