George Foster Baseball Clinic

During the late 1970’s, George Foster was one of the most powerful sluggers of the game. In 1976 he hit 29 homers for the Big Red Machine and batted .429 in the 1976 World Series. The 1977 season was his career best. He hit 52 home runs, the most by any player in a season in the 1970’s and was named the NL MVP.

Since his baseball retirement in 1986, George instructs at baseball camps and clinics for boys and girls from age 7 to the Minor League baseball level. He was the roving Minor League hitting instructor for the Cincinnati Reds from 1997-1998. Currently, George attends corporate functions, adult fantasy baseball camps, and golf tournaments. He also hosts youth baseball clinics in Ohio, Florida and California.

George and his family reside in Greenwich, CT.

Corporate Speaking  George talks to your group and tailors his speech to meet your topic. He has spoken to many business and parent groups from business to supporting your children in sports. The two most popular topics in business are management and sales. The following speeches include parallels between sports and the business industry.

You May Download George Foster's BIO/PRESS Information

Foster began his career in the San Francisco Giants organization, but the Giants already had a promising young outfielder named Bobby Bonds. Figuring Foster was expendable, the Giants dealt him early in the 1971 season to the Reds for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert. Foster made the Reds lineup as the starting center fielder (replacing an injured and out-for-the-season Bobby Tolan) almost immediately and showed flashes of his power by hitting 10 home runs and driving in 50 runs in his first season as a Red.

But, in the 1972 season, Tolan was healthy and won the Comeback Player of the Year award playing center and Foster was relegated to platooning in right field with Cesar Geronimo, another young Reds outfielder, for the next two seasons.

In 1974, the Reds dealt Tolan, moved Geronimo to center, and placed a young Ken Griffey in right. Foster was still a backup, as the Reds had Pete Rose in left.

Finally, early in the 1975 season, Reds manager Sparky Anderson made the move that would enable Foster to emerge as a star. He moved Rose to third base to save his aging legs and to get Foster's powerful bat in the lineup every day. Foster responded by hitting 23 homers that year and being a vital cog in the "Big Red Machine" for the next six years.

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.

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 an NL leading 149 runs. In recognition of his accomplishment, Foster received the NL's MVP award by a unanimous vote.

He paced in NL with 40 and in RBIs with 120.

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

Coach Foster was acquired by the Mets February 1982 from Cincinnati.