Year: 2020

Marlon Styles receives a throw as Boise’s Mike Hunter scores on a sacrifice fly, August 28, 1975 Cincinnati native Marlon Styles Sr. was a fifth-round draft pick of the Reds in June 1973 (Aiken HS). […]

Infielder-outfielder Tom Watkins was signed by the Reds in 1974 following a tryout. He hit .331 for the 1975 Eugene Emeralds, with 11 home runs and 61 RBI. Injuries to both knees ended his career […]

Shortstop Bill Bird was a 28th-round draft pick of the Cardinals in June 1972. He bounced around the low minors in the St. Louis organization until early in the 1975 season, when the Reds acquired […]

Outfielder and leadoff hitter George McPherson has been described as the engine that made the 1975 Eugene Emeralds go. He’s one of the all-time most-popular Eugene players, and he still lives and works in his […]

Mark Lucich was a fourth-round draft pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1970, after he graduated from Eureka High School in California. He chose to go to Stanford on an academic scholarship instead, and […]

Outfielder and New Jersey native Mickey Duval was signed in 1974 by the Reds from a tryout camp. He faced a long, hard road to the big leagues. He got as far as AAA with […]

Lynn Jones was a tenth-round draft pick of the Reds in 1974. He was a key member of the 1975 Eugene Emeralds championship team, and he later won World Series rings with Kansas City as […]

Pitcher John Underwood was drafted by the Reds in the 22nd round in June 1973. He was part of the 1975 Eugene Emeralds — the Little Red Wagon — that won the Northwest League championship. […]

In Part 1 (story here) we looked at the playing career of John Harrison, member of the 1975 Northwest League champion Eugene Emeralds — the “Little Red Wagon” to the parent-club “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati […]

Excerpted from my book The Little Red Wagon: The 1975 Eugene Emeralds. John Harrison was a member of the 1975 Eugene Emeralds, a Cincinnati Reds minor-league team that won the Northwest League Championship in dominant […]