I am on the back porch this evening.
For whatever reason, I am sitting here alone wishing I was back in time listening to the radio as the Cincinnati Reds played baseball. I am very fortunate. My Dad took me to see the Big Red Machine. I actually saw them in person. Pete Rose, Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Dave Concepcion, Ken Griffey, Cesar Geronimo, and George Foster. These guys, and the pitchers that helped the cause…like Don Gullett and Jack Billingham…won back to back World Series in 1975 and 1976. They beat the Red Sox in 7 games in ’75 and swept the Yankees in ’76.
They talk about the great Yankee teams and they talk about The Big Red Machine. They are the last group that is mentioned with a sense of reverence. They will be that last group. If you know anything about sports, you know how important some of these names in the Reds line-up are. My favorite player among them? Probably not the most popular choice. I mean, Pete Rose is and will be the greatest. There will never be a true baseball Hall of Fame until Pete walks through the doors. He is not my favorite. To this day I am glad I was at Johnny Bench Day at Riverfront Stadium in 1983. We celebrated the end of an era. Johnny was gone after that season. He was not my favorite Red. Tony Perez? Who is cooler than Tony Perez? Well, he is not my favorite Red. Joe Morgan? God bless him. What a talent. What a steady talent. When he showed up in Riverfront Stadium in a Houston Astros uniform I thought I was going to cry. That was my first…and maybe last…sense of sports surrealism.
My favorite Cincinnati Red of all time? That would be #15…left fielder…George Foster. He was awesome. Cool as a cucumber. Swinging his black bat. Weighing no more than 180 pounds….and hitting for some serious power. You know when you see a guy hit the ball and you KNOW it is gone? It was never more fun to see that…and feel that sensation when Foster turned one loose. It was a summer night in 1978. I was at Riverfront Stadium with my Dad and some of his high school football players. Talk about a flashback. How cool was it that these guys had a high school football coach that took them to Wilmington College to see the Cincinnati Bengals practice and then that night took them to see the Cincinnati Reds play a Major League Baseball game. That just don’t happen these days folks.
I still remember. George Foster came up to bat and planted a fast ball quick and hard into the RED SEATS of Riverfront Stadium. That was the “UPPER” deck of the four-tiered stadium. The blues seats on the bottom. The green seats were next. The yellow seats, albeit a short section was next. The the “loge” and “reserved” red seats were where home runs became that of legend. There were nineteen “red seat” homers hit by Reds from 1970 to 2000 in Riverfront Stadium. The one we saw from George Foster was July 29, 1978. I am so glad I was there. By the way, Foster hit six of those nineteen. Yes. That is the most of any player.
When I sat here I thought I was going to write about how much I miss listening to Marty Brennaman and the late Joe Nuxhall call Reds games on the radio. I truly miss that. They were the greatest baseball broadcast team ever.
What I would give to hear Joe Nuxhall say “Thank you, Marty” one more time. He said that every time Marty Brennaman introduced him to call the next inning.
What I am fortunate to have is the ability remember. Though I had not thought about the “RED SEAT SHOT” by George Foster in a long time, I can still see it. I can still feel it. I can still see George Foster clapping his hands a couple times as he rounds second base.
I know that I have made many allusions on this site that I am a fortunate guy.
I hope you too know this is oh so true. I have been blessed.
As always, speaking the rights…
Danny Johnson