Originally Posted by
redsmetz
My earliest memories of Reds games are at Crosley Field. I don't remember the date, but a kid down the street, his dad had some extra tickets and took me and a younger brother. I remember the get, always a bit of a trouble maker, was flipping cards down on people below and an usher came up and hollered at us. I also took in games, along with some of my brothers, with a priest who was related to the Joseph Automotive family, so Fr. Hurley would take us sometimes and we'd sit in the box seats at Crosley. My dad worked a lot (having 7, then 8 kids caused that a lot back then), so I don't ever recall going to a game with dad when I was younger.
My most memorable game was the last game at Crosley Field. I remember, I think, that the sky seemed fairly threatening and kept getting blacker and then, finally, I realized the rain clouds had passed and it was night time. I've always had it in my head that Mays hit a home run in that game, but I just checked the box score and only Bench and May hit homers that night.
As for my own playing days, I only played one year of organized ball because I had asthma (this was before inhalers). I played for the VFW team in Deer Park, a newly stocked club after the kids a year older than me moved up to B level ball to the UDF team. The song "Right Field" was written for me. But, I did strike out once, the catcher dropped the ball and I ended up on 1st base. Somehow was made it all the way to third. My younger brother was playing 3rd base for Squeak's Barber Shop. These teams were pretty cool with real uniforms, not T shirts like the Deer Park Pee Wee teams wore (all sponsored by Rutterer's Pharmacy and differentiated by shirt color; the Royals, the Reds, the Golds, the Browns, etc.). I digress, I believe I died on third, so I never scored. But I did get on base!
In my softball playing days, I did almost hit a home run twice but got thrown out at the plate both times. I ended my playing days after an injury, but I knew it was time. I slid into third in one game in the co-ed league and the young women playing third fell on top of me. She was probably just a year or two older than my oldest daughter and I remember thinking, "OK, this is just wrong." I doubled in another game and another younger player said it was pretty good for someone my age, still sliding and all. I knew their shortstop, a women nearer to my age and I told her to tell the kid to shut up.
I really ought to drop about 20 lbs and and find an over 50 league to play in.
Related Reds moment on the softball field. When my kids were real little, we played in a game down at Salway Park on Spring Grove Ave. One of our players noticed that Chico Cardenas was playing second for this team. I hit a ball just over his head for a base hit and when I moved to second when the next player walked, Cardenas told me it was a nice hit. Wow. I told my daughters that Cardenas was Barry Larkin when Larkin was in diapers. Cardenas liked that one, it cracked him up.