The fact that Brandon Phillips is still caravanning despite having signed a big, long-term contract last winter says a lot about him and the place that the fans in Reds country hold for him.
Phillips being on the "Southern Tour" with Marty Brennaman, Chris Welsh and former Reds slugge Lee "TheBig Bopper" May, among others, calls to mind the caravan trip of another gifted Reds second baseman many years ago.
Joe Morgan was newly arrived as a Red in 1972 when he hoped aboard the bus to Charleston, W.Va. Somewhere along the way the Reds party encountered a significant snowstorm. Finally arriving at his destination many harrowing hours later, an incredulous Morgan asked, “You mean to tell me people travel all the way from here to go to Reds games?”
The way I've heard that quote, it had a few expletive deleteds in it, which is probably more accurate given baseball players' fondness for hyphenated profanity and blue language. But I can definitely see (and hear) Morgan saying it. Charleston IS a long way away, but it says something about the "pull" of the Reds that they continue to draw from the Mountaineer State.
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...cincinnati.com