Post averaged 31 home runs and 98 runs batted in per year over his first eight seasons with the Reds where together with Frank Robinson, he formed a power-hitting tandem for the Reds teams of the 1950s and early 1960s.[1][2][3] Post was also notable for his long distance home runs.[1]
Post is a native of Wendelin, Ohio,[5] and played baseball for St. Henry High School.[6] He spent most of his career with Cincinnati teams.[2] A powerful slugger in the mid-1950s,[7] he also was respected for his strong and accurate throwing arm.[7]
Post broke into professional baseball as a minor leaguepitcher in 1946[7] and was converted to an outfielder in 1949, the year of his majors debut.[8] Post spent time in both the minor and major leagues for the next two years before finally being permanently called up to Cincinnati in 1954.[8] His most productive season came in 1955, when he hit .309 with 40 home runs with 109 RBI, all career highs.[2]
On April 14, 1961, Post hit one of the longest recorded home runs in baseball history at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The mammoth blast was estimated at 569 ft. [11] Post is also noted as the man who ended Aaron's record-setting stint on the 1950s Home Run Derby show.
Post also hit the first home run at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 10, 1962.[12]
After playing for the Phillies, Twins, Indians, and in a second stint with the Reds, Post retired in 1963.[2] He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1965.[1] In a 15-season career, Post was a .266 hitter with 210 home runs and 699 RBI in 1,204 games.[2]
Following his baseball career, Post worked in management at his father-in-law's business, the Minster Canning Company of Minster, Ohio. Post died in St. Henry, Ohio in 1982. He had been undergoing treatments for cancer.[8] He was married to Patricia (Beckman) and they had four children together: Sue, John, Mary, and Cynthia. Post has 13 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.[8] One of his grandchildren is former Ohio State and NFL quarterback Bobby Hoying.[13]
