Calling All Reds Fans Under Age 25

[redsfan30]

I've been thinking along these lines for quite some time, but finally have gotten around to sharing it with others.

I'd like to take a few minutes to encourage my fellow young Reds fans. I don't think it takes a genious to deduce that the last 10 years (give or take) have been very rough in term of relation to the rest of club history. Since we're looking at us fans under the age of 25 however, lets take a look at things from 1981 up until today:

13 losing seasons, including two 90 loss campaigns and one 100 loss season.

14 of the last 25 seasons have ended with the Reds trailing the division leader by 10+ games, seven times they've finished 20+ games back and once they've finished 30 games back.

Most, if not all of the positive situations of the last 25 years in Reds history happened before many of us were old enough to understand what was going on. Most of us probably don't remember anything at all about the 1990 World Championship simply because we were too young. Some might remember the 1995 playoff appearance, but most probably not.

Let's face it, many of our Reds memories are formed over the past 10 years of action and that time period has been one of the worst in franchise history. In that time span, we have witnessed exactly two winning seasons (not counting the 144 game 1995 schedule). Many of these losing seasons have been so much more than just losing seasons. Most of them were flat out painful to watch. I believe (and there are pleanty of threads around here covering this) that this recent run of futile Reds pitching is the worst in franchise history. Think about that folks....in all of franchise history. That's bad.

Now we have had a few memorable occasions over the past 10 years or so. We've been witness to the birth of potentially one of the greatest power hitters this team has ever known. We were all taken on that magic carpet ride that was the 1999 season. Even though things haven't worked out as we probably would have liked, February 10, 2000 was a day most of us as Reds fans will remember for the rest of our lives. That day eventually led to another one of our positive memories when Ken Griffey, Jr. joined one of the most elite groups ever in this great game of baseball when he hit his 500th career homerun. I'm sure others will have positive memories of thier own, these are just the ones that jumped into my mind.

I, myself, just turned 21 years old. I can speak from personal experience that many people our age just root for winners. I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.

Don't ever be ashamed to be a fan of the Cincinnati Reds. I'm sure many of you at some point or another have been made fun of or ridiculed for being a fan of such a percieved awful team. I am no different in the slightest. It was almost a daily occurance in high school for someone (teacher or student) to say something along the lines of how bad the Reds were. But every single time someone would say something to me about it, I'd just smile and say "someday..." I hope you all do/did the same. It's much like having a disabled family member. People are going to stare and possibly even snicker, but you love that family member more than anything else in the world and are proud to say you are related to him/her. If the Reds hold as big a place in your hearts as they do mine, don't ever be ashamed to be proud to be a Reds fan...thick or thin.

All this ramble leads me to the point of this thread. Our best years as young Reds fans are undoubtedly in front of us. Us under 25 years old have a ton of baseball left to watch in our lives. It's been rough for us over most of our lives of being Reds fans.

Take heart in the fact that eventually things will get better for this franchise and we'll be right there to cheer it on.

Stay true to your team. Stay true to your love of the game of baseball. We will all be better baseball fans for having gone through this rough stretch and it will make the glory of victory that much better. To get to the good, many times you have to go through the bad but the bad makes the good feel so much better.

Losing doesn't feel good. I'm not telling people to accept losing and not be mad about it. Just trying to convey the opinion that you should never give up on something that means so much to you just because it might be the fashionable thing to do.

In closing (and I know I could have just said this at the very beginnging and been done with it), our best years are ahead of us!!!

[oneupper]

I guess I should feel lucky for being old? :D

[Joseph]

I'm in the in between group here apparently, 32....too young to remember the BRM, too old to count with the people who have no good memories at all. :)

Your hearts certainly in the right place though RF30

[dabvu2498]

I guess I should feel lucky for being old? :D
I was going to say... I'm doubly lucky because I actually remember the 1990 World Series.

I can't say the same about 75 or 76, but I was born right in the middle of the 1975 NLCS. Dad still tells me he named me for two members of the BRM and not the two guys from the Bible.

Take heart young discontented Reds fans... most of us are not JUST Reds fans, but BASEBALL fans. And yes, there is a difference, and that is a good difference.

[Gunner44]

Ill second that one redsfan

[BuckWoody]

Just when I had accepted the fact that I am a codger because I can remember the '75 and '76 Series now I have to accept that I'm a codger because I rememeber the '90 series too. :(


I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.

Excellent post redsfan30! :clap:

[cumberlandreds]

I guess I'm really old. I go back to 1971. I can remember most of the BRM days and the 1990 championship team. Hand me my cane now.;) I should add that I feel fortunate to have those memories of truly great Reds teams. I feel bad for the younger fans but also admire them for sticking by the Reds during these down years.

[redsfaninbsg]

19 years old here, I know of three Reds fans on my entire campus and Cincinnati is the closest MLB city to our school. With that being said at my high school I was the only Reds fans and my high school is 30 miles from my college. I was three when the Reds won the world series and eight when the 95 playoff run occurred. I'm to the point were I expect the Reds to lose and was to the same point with my Redskins until last season. I love the game of baseball more than any other sport but deep down inside it's hard for me to imagine the Reds winning the World Series. The odds are so heavily stacked against them that it's hard to get real excited if you sit and think logically at Major League Baseball. However, every April I'm as ready as anyone to watch the Reds and with this hot start like any other diehard fan I believe that the Reds can make the playoffs. Sadly, I do believe the Reds will fall this month but inside I want to believe that they can win knowing in the grand schemes of thing the odds aren't in their favor.

[billy117]

I'm 24 and I remember the 1990 World Series very well, my birthday is in October and I got an Eric Davis jersey that year. And I still have my wire to wire shirt. And I watched every game wearing it. I was at one of Johnny Bench's last games, I am told, I don't really remember that, although whether you believe me or not I do remember some parts of it.

As far as the lately I have no problem telling people I'm a Reds fan, I think if you worry about people making fun of you because of your sports team you've got other issues that might be a touch more serious. So I wouldn't compare it to having a disabled family member, because I do and there's really nothing similar between the two. No I'm not offended be you saying that I'm just saying they're not the same.

[Johnny Vander m]

I can remember the 1919 World Series. My Dad took me to it in fact.

[cincyinco]

I'm just turned 26 on the 18th of May this year, so I just fall out of your 25 and under guidline, but your post echoes my feelings exactly.

I've lived in Denver, CO all my life. Born and raised here. My father is from a small town outside Dayton called Piqua(I'm sure some of you know it). He moved out here back in I dont even know when... but some of my first memories are watching Reds games on the tube with him. I will always love the Reds, becuase for me it signifies a special bond between father and son.

That said, its tough sometimes being a Reds fan here in Colorado. Most folks ask me "why the heck are you a Reds fan?" And I have to remind them that MLB didn't exist in these parts until 1993 - i was 13 by then - and I had already long ago pledged my loyalty to the Reds.

I remember 90, the sweep. Eric Davis making a diving catch and not getting up... i think larkin went out to get the ball... Eric the Red.. What a ball player. Watching the WS games during dinner - probably the only time in my life that my father let me watch TV during meal time(of course, he too was wrapped up around the tube then). I remember 95, I was CERTAIN we were going to go all the way under Davey. I took a lot of heat in highschool being 15 - becuase the rockies made it that year too, so everyone around here was on the rocky bandwagon. I saw the braves beat the rockies - even got a ball from John Smoltz that year - only to be dissapointed that we lost a real tough series to the Braves. I remember the Schott debacle... ugh.

I remember the strike and falling out of favor with MLB. I remember "the chase" sort of grabbing my attention my first year in college. And I remember 99 getting me right back into the game I loved because the improbable reds were doing just that, the improbable. I remember the day Griffey came to the Reds, and I rejoiced - I figured 2000 was for sure the year.

Its only been heartache ever since. But I still count myself fortunate to have seen the better parts of this franchise over the last 25/26 years. I wasn't born when the BRM was around. But I relived stories told to me by my father. When I was a youngster, my two favorite teams were the Reds and Yankees, due to their legendary statuses in baseball history. I have since grown to hate the new era of yankees and stienbrenner, but I still love the legends of Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, and Mantle(who doesn't DREAM of owning a mantle rookie card when they're kids?!?)... I'm happy to have focused my efforts on the Reds(thanks georgie), dispite their struggles. I've been happy to stick through the crap knowing that one day we might see october again.

Simply put, I can't imagine myself being a truer fan of any other team in baseball. And when I get down, I just take solace that I'm not a Royals fan.

Great post rf30.

[kbrake]

I'm 20 and have always taken plenty of crap for being a Reds fan, but most of that is my fault because every year I tell people this will be the year. Then when we get off to a hot start I talk as much smack as possible. Then when we collapse I say we are getting close wait until next year.

[RedsManRick]

I just recently turned 24 and my Cincinnati Reds fandom has been a core part of my identity growing up. Born in Columbus, I lived in Dublin and Dayton before moving to State College, PA in July of 1990. Now that was a rough summer.

You learn to love your team when as an 8 year old starting 3rd grade in the core of Pirates country, you wear a Reds t-shirt to your new school everyday for a month. Everybody around me was talking Killer B's (Bonds, Bonilla, Bream), Andy Van Slyke, and Doug Drabek. Meanwhile, I was telling them that Barry Larkin was the best shortstop ever and that Chris Sabo could kick Van Slyke's butt.

I ended up moving from PA to MN for high school and got to witness a truly bad team in the mid-late 90's twins. I learned to read at 4 years old pouring over Reds box scores. I still had Barry Larkin and Eric Davis posters on my bedroom walls in high school and I have Larkin and Kearns bobbleheads & a Paul O'Neil autographed pennant (3 hours in line at the Dayton mall) decorating my cube.

Now I live in Chicago and have to put up with insuffrable Cubs fans who taunt me continuously as I try to avoid getting run over by the overflowing White Sox bandwagon. But I'll go to my grave with a red cap bearing a wishbone C.

[redsmetz]

Dad still tells me he named me for two members of the BRM and not the two guys from the Bible.

Your name is Pedro Morgan? :laugh:

[vaticanplum]

I, myself, just turned 21 years old. I can speak from personal experience that many people our age just root for winners. I know more Yankees and Patriots "fans" than I'd care to know. It's easy to root for a winning team, but it takes character to root for struggling teams.

I love your post, but of course I can't just let this one slide. There are plenty of reasons to hate the Yankees and their fans, but a lot of the ones pulled out by people often are kind of fallacious. I can't speak for Patriots fandom, but how many fair-weather Yankee fans do any of you really know? Let me tell you something. It is incredibly difficult to be a Yankees fan anywhere outside of New York. The assumptions made about Yankees fans and the amount of things held against them before they're even given a chance to speak are staggering. It it not, in my experience, a team for whom people root casually, simply because there's too much grief involved to do so.

This is not to say that there isn't something wonderful to be said for people who follow a losing team. That takes a lot of faith and heart and often a dang good sense of humor. And I absolutely agree with you that a Reds victory will be that much sweeter to you given all the crap you've had to go through to get there. But why are you a Reds fan? Family, geography, team members that you love? You did not choose to follow them because they were a losing team, did you? I doubt it, and anyone who chooses a team for such a reason (paging certain Cubs fans) is no different in my mind than someone who "chooses" to follow a winning team, ie. a win/lose record should never be a reason to follow a team either way, because a record will inevitably change. Were there fair-weather Yankee fans in the heydey of recent years? sure, just as I guarantee you there will be when the Reds start to win. If those fans stick around, it's great that a winning team brought them around. That's the nature of sports and of people. If they don't stick around, they won't bother you and the tickets they buy will help our team for a little while. It's all ok.

The fact that you are a Reds fan through this time in their history speaks very highly of your love of them and, in a way, of you yourself. But the converse is not necessarily true; the love that people may have for a largely winning team is not any less. Every loss hurts, and sometimes I really do think that what I am able to enjoy in the way of Yankees' wins is almost negated by the ridicule and hate I have to deal with (seriously). I'm not whining; I love the team and stupid people aren't going to drive me away from it, but it's exhausting, and I guess my point is that if you really know a lot of Yankees "fans" as you call them, that's one thing, but on the other hand no one should discount Yankees fans for rooting for a winning team any more than people should ridicule you for rooting for a losting team.

[acredsfan]

I'm 20 so of course i have few memories of winning baseball, but i will say this, I have always been a Reds fan and a baseball fan. I will say that the main reason I started paying attention to the Reds because thats what everybody I knew did. I grew up an hour away from Cincinnati, and now I live, work, and go to college in this city. My love of the reds is much more than appreciation of the team. It has become a pride thing. I have pride in this city, I want to see the Reds do well to bring more attention to this town. I embrace the storybook history of baseball's oldest franchise, and I love to hear the people who lived through the glory years tell their storys. I love hearing the history of the game, and I take pride in things like Reds opening day and the celebration that comes along with that. There are 30 teams in MLB, and it is in fewer cities, so as a baseball fan, i feel very fortunate to have a team in this great midwestern city. Baseball is entrenched in every community around here and the legends who played the game in this city still live on in many ways throught the area. Stories of the BRM have been passed down through 2 and in some cases 3 generations of Reds fans. To me, rooting for the Reds isn't just rooting for the team. Its also rooting for the city and cheering on the tradition and history of the greatest franchise in the history of baseball.

[Edskin]

Basically, to sum up this thread....

either you're so old that you've forgotten the days when the Reds were good

OR

you are too young and have no good memories to forget

That means that basically NO ONE here has good Reds memories


:)

Good post RF30

[KronoRed]

I'm 25, guess I'm out :(

[Heath]

I'm 25, guess I'm out :(

I was going to yell at you for posting here - but I'm 32 and I'm not allowed.

:D

[dabvu2498]

Your name is Pedro Morgan? :laugh:

Geronimo Concepcion

But I need to leave this thread. I'm 30.

[Kradokk]

I am 26 myself, and was at the 1990 World Series, game 3. Im lucky to have those memories, as being a fan has been awfully rough.

Whenever I say I am a Reds fan, people always say "oh yeah? you really like Griffey that much?"

[gitrdunn44]

I'm in 7th grade and almost everyone roots for the Sox and Yankees and say "Reds suck" or something along the lines of that. I tell them I stick to the Reds if they're doing good or bad, I just don't like a team because they are doing great or are the most stacked team.

[westofyou]

Never be ashamed of the team that you love, being a true fan for a long time can make you really smile when the cork finally pops, it's really something that can't be explained.

I've been a Reds fan on the west coast for 24 years, there are more fans of other teams on the coast, it's acceptable and rarely questioned.

That might be different if the Reds had better than a .498 winning percentage since I turned 26.

[cincyinco]

Never be ashamed of the team that you love, being a true fan for a long time can make you really smile when the cork finally pops, it's really something that can't be explained.

I've been a Reds fan on the west coast for 24 years, there are more fans of other teams on the coast, it's acceptable and rarely questioned.

That might be different if the Reds had better than a .498 winning percentage since I turned 26.

So true...

On another note, since the Reds have been so bad the last decade or so - I've found that I've become more a fan of the game as a whole than just the Reds. I've gotten into the draft, the minor leagues all the way down to rookie ball, etc. Got to keep me happy with baseball somehow someway with the ML club stinkin up the joint. But my point is, I think, if the reds were consistently good I think me being a fan would focus soley on them and not the other things I now enjoy.

[reds44]

16 year old Reds fan here, and don't worry I'm not going anywhere. This is my 7th year as a Reds fan, and that number will grow until I am 6 feet under.

My city's team won it all last year, and I didn't jump on the bandwagon. I am here for the long haul, and you we WILL turn it around sometime (hopefully soon).

[Larkin411]

I just turned 26(gee, there are so many of us) but I didn't really pay much attention to baseball or the Reds until one fateful summer in 1993 when nothing was on TV. My happy memories are mainly of Barry Larkin which is fitting since he's what made me not change the channel during that afore-mentioned summer evening("Hey he's number 11, that's my favorite number...wonder if he's any good. Guess I'll watch a little." Hence a life-long obsession is born). So I think when he retired I was left a bit adrift. We don't win, our ownership/management aren't competent, and Barry doesn't play anymore, why do I suffer this again? But I can't help myself, I'm hooked and at least things might be looking up on the ownership side.

Anyway, as a fan of the Yankees also(not as much as the Reds obviously) I must say that I keep my Yankees fandom in the closet a lot more than my Reds fandom. Especially since I used to hate the Yankees and know just what people think.

Oh and one more thing, I live in Columbus and there has definitely been a swing towards the Indians in my lifetime. When I was young more people in Columbus liked the Reds, even after the glory years of the Indians(I specifically remember a Dispatch poll about this). Now I really don't think that is true. I meet Indians fans constantly and I hate them all, jk. The younger Columbus generation is definitely skewed towards the Indians. I must see that racist caricature "cheif wahoo" staring out at me at least 10 times a day. All the same it makes me feel a much closer kinship to the Reds fans I do find. The few, the proud, the ones who's breath catches everytime Griffey goes for the ball :).

[jesusfan]

I am 21 and I have always been a Red's fan... I always get so excited and overly optimistic every year, especially before June.. This year, once again I am optimistic it will be different, but this year is different... In my opinion our pitchers are much better than in previous years, we just need to hit like we're capable of doing...

[Caseyfan21]

Oh and one more thing, I live in Columbus and there has definitely been a swing towards the Indians in my lifetime. When I was young more people in Columbus liked the Reds, even after the glory years of the Indians(I specifically remember a Dispatch poll about this). Now I really don't think that is true. I meet Indians fans constantly and I hate them all, jk. The younger Columbus generation is definitely skewed towards the Indians. I must see that racist caricature "cheif wahoo" staring out at me at least 10 times a day. All the same it makes me feel a much closer kinship to the Reds fans I do find. The few, the proud, the ones who's breath catches everytime Griffey goes for the ball :).

Great post Lark and also great post by the thread starter. I'm 20 and a life long fan since I went to my first Reds game on my 7th birthday (and even before). Going to OSU and being in C-bus it sickens me the biased coverage that the Dispatch gives the Indians. It also ticks me off the amount of band wagon fans. I have close friends that will only go to Reds games if they are winning. That just blows my mind that people can pick and choose who they want to root for and be front runners like that. I have no problem defending my Reds even if I take crap from my Cubs friends after series like the past one. The funny thing is a lot of the arguments I use to win conversations with other friends (especially Indians fan) all have to do with wins from before I was born. Remember...the power of tradition!

I'm just afraid this will be the summer the Reds stick close and are in it come Labor Day. I will be out in Phoenix this summer on an internship rooting the Reds no matter how much I have to take in the process.

[Reds Freak]

Being 20 years old and in college makes you think and makes you question a lot of things in your life. I've been a Reds and Bengals fan all my life mainly because my dad brainwashed me, taking me to games when I could barely walk and watching old tapes of the glory days of the BRM. But now that I am older I am able to question. Why on earth am I still a fan of these teams (I believe we had a thread about this a while ago)? Out of 40 seasons of both Reds baseball and Bengals football, I have witnessed 2 playoff seasons for the Reds (vaguely remember 90) and 3 playoff seasons for the Bengals (Don't remember 88 or 90).

What is it about baseball, particularly Reds baseball, that puts me on this roller coaster ride of emotions during the summers? Why do I care so much? Why do I read this doggone board every day? Why do I feel better the day after a Reds win even when they are 20 games out of first place in September? It shouldn't be like this I don't think. It's just a game after all, I should be focused on more important things in my life it seems like. I should be worrying about other stuff. But I can't help it. I don't understand it and probably never will but I can't wait for the next moment and the special memory that I will have of Reds baseball. I don't know if I would know what to do with myself watching the Reds in October just like I didn't know what to do watching the Bengals in January.

[remdog]

OK. I'm old. So old that I remember watching guys like Smoky Burgess, Bill Henry, Eddie Kasko, etc.

My comment is this: thank you and welcome to the next Reds Generation. You are the life stream of the next generation of Reds fans.

Rock on! :)

Rem

[tripleaaaron]

As a 24 year old lifetime fan, I can agree with your post in its entirety, except the fact that I do in fact have many many great memories as a Reds fan. I do remember the 90 series, I've watched well over half of the reds games played in the last 15 years and although I've seen more losing games than winners, I have always taken great pride in the team. As a huge baseball fan in general I have witnessed many great players, Barry Larkin, Jose Rijo, Tom Browning, Ken Griffey Jr., Eric Davis, etc. a few walk-off Homers, drunk fans run across, the field, run the bases day after a few too many, some great defensive plays, many games w/ my future wife who's life goal is getting on the big screen, etc, etc. So to sum up I do have great memories, just going to the park makes me get excited even amidst a losing season, but yes the future looks much brighter than the past, and My love for the reds is yet the same, but my excitement spills beyond that of the past, but I cannot say I feel your pain, because although I have been disapointed w/ FO/management, I have loved the Reds since as far as I can remember, and that will never change. Guess thats just my love of the game, and my constant passion for my hometown team or local roots.
Good post though

[vic715]

Saw my first game at Crosley in 1959 at age 7 but didn't become a fan until the 61 NL champs.A lot of new fans were born that year because they were picked to finish in the bottom of the NL.I'm older but I have been blessed to see some great Reds teams.We may never again see the Likes of the BRM but I know we're going to see some good winning teams in the real near future.I have faith in this new ownership and they are going to get it rolling.

[GOREDSGO32]

I'm 22 ... I think I was in 7th grade the last time the Reds made the playoffs.

[redsrule2500]

Yeah I'm 18 and I can't really remember the Reds being good besides the 1999 season. It sucks when your favorite team can't get into the playoffs during your (memory serving) lifetime. Everyone who can remember the 1970's or even just 1990 ...i envy you !

[Blimpie]

Never be ashamed of the team that you love, being a true fan for a long time can make you really smile when the cork finally pops, it's really something that can't be explained.

I've been a Reds fan on the west coast for 24 years, there are more fans of other teams on the coast, it's acceptable and rarely questioned.

That might be different if the Reds had better than a .498 winning percentage since I turned 26.Couldn't agree more. There are always the requisite periods of blahs, but it is always nice when the team you have rooted for so long finally puts all of the pieces together for a nice run at a title.

Personally, I have been living somewhat of a charmed year with both my favorite NHL (Oilers) and NBA (Heat) teams having incredible playoff runs this year. While I can smile when I watch either of those teams play, it just isn't the same unless I can include the team from my favorite sport of all:

Baseball....

At a point when my desire began to wane, the 1990 Reds team renewed my faith forever more. I grew up watching and idolizing the BRM championship teams of the 1970's--only to endure the lackluster Reds teams that made up a large part of the 1980's. It was completely disheartening to think that I may never again get that excited about my team. When the 1990 Reds team went on their incredible run, it reinforced to me why I had loved the team for so long.

I imagine that many of the young Reds fans here now feel a lot like I did 20 years ago...like they are completely wasting large portions of their ever-fleeting lives. Believe me, young fans--the end justifies the means and the wait WILL be worth it.

[bounty37h]

I'm in the in between group here apparently, 32....too young to remember the BRM, too old to count with the people who have no good memories at all. :)

Your hearts certainly in the right place though RF30

Im with ya there Joseph, I turn 32 this August, and didnt get to "expereince" the BRM, jsut heard stories of them and grew to learn baseball off of them. At elast we gotthe 90 memory though :)

[DropDocK]

Take heart young discontented Reds fans... most of us are not JUST Reds fans, but BASEBALL fans. And yes, there is a difference, and that is a good difference.

Yep, tis true.
Maybe I've been in my own naive little bubble for too long, but I never thought of being a Reds fan as a disgrace. I'll watch any game that comes across the tv, yes even the Yanks on occasion, so even if the Reds are floundering there is still plenty of baseball to enjoy.

That doesn't make me any less of a fan. I used to think everybody rooted for them way back when cause all I heard about was the BRM. My grandmother was a huge fan and all she had was a radio, no tv, so we'd listen to Reds games every night. There was no way her granddaughter was going to forsake the Reds when Klu and co. had given her so many memories. It was great when they won and tough when they lost but I always had an inevitable belief that their fortunes would turn. Guess that is why I can stick with them through so many losing seasons.

There was always something to look forward to, like how Barry (my fave) was doing especially in his MVP season, how the trade for Greg Vaugh would bolster the club, and in 95 and 99 I was rolling out of bed each morning mumbling the same question, "did the Reds win?" if by chance it was a west coast game or I had fallen asleep.

Nothing much has changed ;)

[Falls City Beer]

I'm old too. Outside of 99, this bad run for the Reds 1996-2006 has been like swimming through molten glass. I have the privilege of remembering clearly all three of the last world championships, but they feel like an eternity ago.

But I'm drawn to the underdog. Always have been.

[snowstorm]

After reading this thread I must say I feel very fortunate to have watched the 1990 team. I'm 29 now and when the 1990 team won it all, I was in 8th grade, and went to the victory parade downtown. That was a great year by a team that most people didn't expect much from. No big stars or big salaries. Just a team that knew how to play together. Those were good memories.

[Keystone12]

Just turned 22 & graduated from college. My best friends at school were from all over - Yankees, Rockies (!) and White Sox fans. It's been fun debating with them over the last few years - I'd have to eat my words in August at the start of the year but it'd be fun for a bit in April when the season was starting & the Reds were shooting out of the blocks...

That said, almost all my friends from Cincinnati remain true-blue Reds fans. I know I've talked about the Reds so much that if I ever fell away from the game, I'd be rightfully castigated. I hope the rest of my generation of Reds fans retains their faith in the ol' club. You'll always be able to commiserate with me!

[jhiller21]

I'm 23, and my only 1990 Series memory is my dad saving the Cincinnati Enquirer that read: "SWEEP!". It's still sitting in a box, somewhere in my parent's attic.

I was only 9.

[OldRightHander]

Just when I had accepted the fact that I am a codger because I can remember the '75 and '76 Series now I have to accept that I'm a codger because I rememeber the '90 series too. :(


You took the words right out of my mouth.

[Jpup]

I'm 26 and Reds baseball was a huge part of my childhood. I remember 1990 just like it was yesterday. I was 10, and the biggest baseball fan around. I was a baseball fanatic and really, I still am. Eric Davis was my hero when I was a kid, I thought he was going to be the next Willie Mays. We have Bonds, Jr., Arod, Pujols and all the rest, but the best player I ever watched as a child was Eric Davis. I have told all of this on here before, but those were such fond memories watching 44 leap and grab a ball that was heading over the wall. He seemed to rob one every game.

I spent many times jumping up and "robbing" a ball from the fence in my backyard and acting like I was Eric while imitating his swing. When I was a kid, I spent many, many hours playing out baseball game in the backyard by myself. Those are things that I will tell my kid, should I be blessed with them.

People don't really make fun of me for being a Reds fan, but I always get, "baseball is so boring." I am nearly the only person around that is a Reds fan. Every once in a while I'll see someone with a Reds shirt or hat, but not often. This is basketball country around here, but I couldn't care less about it.

I spent last Saturday at my Dad's watching the Reds and talking about the game, it reminded me a lot of my childhood.

It's funny to read all the posts about hating the Yankees, that's the cool thing to do now. I remember when the Yankees were as horrible as the Reds have been recently, but just for not as long(89, 90, 91, 92). I started liking the Yankees in about 93 when I got Primestar and all of their games were on TV, and they were very fun to watch. I still like the Yankees, but the Reds are my team and always will be. I watch almost every Reds game nowadays, when I can, but I just check the scores on the Yanks.

[vaticanplum]

It's funny to read all the posts about hating the Yankees, that's the cool thing to do now. I remember when the Yankees were as horrible as the Reds have been recently, but just for not as long(89, 90, 91, 92).

And much of the 1980s too. The Yanks didn't finish higher than third in the division from 1982-92 except for 85-86 when they were second. The Yankees were a very bad team when I was little.