What I miss about baseball

[RedlegJake]

Now that a new season is here and the games have begun I was just thinking about some things I really miss about the game in general and the Reds in particular:

1. "This is the old left hander rounding third and heading for home" Gotta go at the top of my list with Joe gone. I am lucky enough to have heard many many Nuxhall games and the old stories of another legend, Waite Hoyt, as a kid. Joe was the Reds to me. Just the mention of his name evoked so many memories about the Reds.

2. Barry Larkin. Man, Allen is gone, its time to mend the fences and get Barry back in the fold. I think of Reds and I see a few players in my mind - Pinson, Rose, Bench, Soto, Davis ... and Barry every time.

3. A shortstop the rest of baseball envies. I cut my baseball teeth on images of Roy McMillan flashing gold glove leather at short, then Chico Cardenas, then Concepcion, then Larkin. The line is broken.

4. A pack of baseball cards with a hard stick of gum, that powder on your fingers, the sugary cardboard smell of that gum. Man I even miss it's nasty flavor. One taste and I know I'd relive my childhood for a few moments.

5. Street ball in the neighborhood with kids yelling and playing in the street or an empty lot. About the only games you see anymore are the organized leagues at the city parks.

What are the memories or things you loved about baseball that are bygone now?

[macro]

$8.00 Blue Seats behind the dugout or home plate

The Reds and Dodgers battling it out in the NL West

The sights, sounds, and smells of Riverfront Stadium. The longer it's gone, the more I realize that it really wasn't a good baseball park...at all. But it was a special place for a lot of us for a lot of years.

Pete Rose in a Reds uniform

Johnny Bench

All Star games that meant something because the players wanted really badly to win it

http://bp1.blogger.com/_bF3L2zxwRBU/RvKBdnsbFoI/AAAAAAAAAME/JCMLzEQEDX4/s320/peterose.jpg

Players that played their entire careers with one or two teams

Being able to follow the sport with no knowledge of or concern for any player's salary

The Zamboni machines. Astroturf was awful and a mistake, but it saved many rain outs at Riverfront. After you'd stood around watching it rain for two hours, those "Big Red Machines" buzzing around on the field were a welcome sight!

http://www.fentonrigging.com/big%20red%20machine11.jpg

Baseball cards of the team photo

http://i7.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/e5/3a/0656_1.JPG

[cumberlandreds]

I miss listening to west coast games late into night the without a care in the world. Also miss listening to Reds games on WSGS from Hazard Kentucky. Listening to games on small town stations just seem unique.
I miss the smell of opening a fresh pack of baseball cards. That bubble gum smell on the cards would always tell they were knew and had never been touched before.
I miss the NBC version of The Game of the Week. Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek were like old friends who would come by once a week and visit. It was always exciting to see if the Reds were going to be on the next week and feeling all giddy when their game would pop up for the next week. You would then plan your whole next Saturday around that game.
I miss going across the road to my Granny's house to look at the box scores in her Louisville Courier Journal newspaper. Her or my aunt, who lived with her, would always save the sports page for me. During the baseball season I would delve right into the box scores and read every players name and see how they fared.
I miss the old rivalries the Reds had with the Dodgers and Pirates. Do the Reds have any rivals now?