03-22-2022, 02:49 PM
(03-21-2022, 05:43 PM)Science Friction Wrote: I don't think I've ever gone into a baseball season with less optimism for my team and into a football season with more optimism for my team. I've always felt Cincy was a baseball town but with the way the Bengals and Reds are trending that may change before long.
Anyone else a huge Reds' fan as well?
Been a Reds fan since 1961 when they played the Yankees in the WS and lost 4 games to 1. That was the year Mantle and Maris were battling to surpass Babe Ruth's HR record of 60. Maris finally hit his 61st on the last day of the regular season. Mickey Mantle (is there a better baseball name than that? Maybe Johnny Bench, who's my favorite Red of all time) was injured during the World Series and played very little. I saw someone else mention the 1964 pennant race in the National League. This was before playoffs and the team with the best record in the NL played the team with the best record in the AL in the WS. On the last day of the season in 64 there were four teams in the running for the NL title. The Reds, Cardinals, Giants, and Phillies. The Reds were playing the Phillies that day and my mom and dad and I went. Jim Bunning was pitching for the Phils and they won 10-0. We left in the 6th inning. The damned Cardinals went on to win the pennant and then beat the damned Yankees 4 games to 3 in the WS.
In 1975 the Reds held a public tryout at Riverfront. I knew I didn't have a shot. I was 24 and overweight but as a kid it was my dream to be a ML player so I knew the closest I would get would be to play in the stadium that day so I went. There were 235 people trying out that day and I heard they signed one person to a minor league contract and it wasn't me. But it was great playing in the stadium.
I'll always be fan of the Reds. I love to go to GABP although I live 90 miles away in Lexington. I grew up in N. Kentucky so naturally I've been a fan of both teams. The Bengals since day 1. BTW the area around both stadiums, the Banks, is just great. My wife and I went to Seattle last year and I went to a Mariners game. I was shocked that there was very little outside the two stadiums there. And T-Mobil Park is nowhere near as nice as GABP.
Sorry this is so long. Sometimes I start rambling about my teams and can't stop.