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Riverfront Stadium: Home of the Big Red Machine (OH) (Images of Baseball)

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"Riverfront Stadium: Home Of The Big Red Machine" is a compact, 128-page paperback by Mike Shannon (first printed in 2003). It breezily takes the reader on a word and picture tour of Riverfront Stadium, which served as the home of the Cincinnati Reds' National League baseball club for 32-and-a-half seasons (1970-2002).

Riverfront is (was) a ballpark I have very fond memories of. It was considered by some critics to be a drab, lifeless "cookie-cutter" stadium design (or, as some people called it, a "concrete doughnut"). But, in my personal view (which is admittedly a view with a built-in "pro-Cincinnati Reds' bias"), Riverfront was a grand place to watch a baseball game. A first-row green-level seat right behind home plate afforded a sensational view of the baseball diamond (and was a good place to possibly snag a foul ball to boot).

I witnessed many games from the brightly-colored blue, green, yellow, and red seats at Riverfront, mostly during the 1970s, which were the days when Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" was winning baseball championships at a dizzying pace -- six N.L. West titles during the decade of the '70s, along with four N.L. Pennants, and two World Series victories (1975 and 1976).

The Reds added one more World Series-winning trophy during the Riverfront era, when they swept past the Oakland A's in four straight games in 1990. So, Riverfront was certainly a place with a rich, winning tradition during its lifespan.

Riverfront Stadium was renamed "Cinergy Field" on September 9th, 1996. But for most long-time Reds' faithful who fondly recall the "Big Red Machine" days of the '70s, the park will forever be remembered as only "Riverfront Stadium".

This volume starts out by giving us a brief glance at the old (but cherished) Cincinnati baseball park that was replaced by Riverfront in June 1970 -- Crosley Field. Crosley was the home of the Cincinnati Reds for 58 years prior to the building of the brand-new, all-Astroturf Riverfront Stadium. Some nice aerial photos of both Crosley and Riverfront are featured throughout the book.

There are many pictures in this book that I have never seen published anywhere else -- including some images of Riverfront Stadium during its construction phase in 1969 and early 1970, plus some "as-it's-happening" type pics of big moments in Reds' (and Riverfront) history that are captured via the pics in this book.

One such photo shows a jubilant home-plate celebration as Reds' slugger Johnny Bench arrives at Riverfront's home plate after having just clubbed the game-winning, walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1973 National League Championship Series vs. the New York Mets.

Another rarely-seen photo in the book, which occupies space on the very same page (#51) as that '73 NLCS photo mentioned above, is a picture of Cincy reserve catcher Hal King, just after he had walloped his memorable 3-run, pinch-hit homer off of Don Sutton on July 1st, 1973, giving the Reds a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Dodgers (who served as the Reds yearly rivals throughout the 1970s). That King blast began an amazing turn-around in the N.L. standings for the Reds' team, a club which had been floundering up to that point in the '73 season. The Reds seemed to be inspired by the Hal King game-winner, as they rallied in the final months of the season to overtake the Dodgers and win their second N.L. West crown in as many years.

I can still hear then-Reds' announcer Al Michaels' excellent radio call of that Hal King four-bagger -- "Back goes Crawford....all the way back....GONE!!". It was a hair-raising moment.

Of course, when speaking of ex-Cincy radio play-by-play man Al Michaels (who broadcast the Reds' games on WLW Radio for three years; 1971-1973), the "call" that always comes to my mind first is Al's breathtaking, voice-cracking call of Johnny Bench's ninth-inning, game-tying home run off of the Pirates' Dave Giusti in the 5th and deciding game of the 1972 N.L. Playoff series at Riverfront -- "Change hit in the air to deep right field! Back goes Clemente!! At the fence!! SHE'S GONE!!!"

That was probably Bench's most-memorable circuit swat, which propelled Sparky Anderson's Reds to an eventual one-run victory over Pittsburgh in that playoff game (to the collective delight of the 41,887 fans who were fortunate enough to be in attendance that Wednesday, October 11th).

If you ever get a hankerin' to listen to a replay of that Al Michaels' spine-tingler from the '72 NLCS, you can visit Johnny Bench's website (johnnybench-dot-com). Every time the home page of that site is refreshed, the Michaels/Bench radio call is played (in crystal-clear clarity too).

This book's text and ample photography proceed in a chronological manner, with several of Cincinnati's standout players during the Riverfront years being singled out for individual attention throughout these 128 pages ..... including mini-profiles on Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tommy Helms, George Foster, Clay Carroll, Tony Perez, Cesar Geronimo, Davey Concepcion, Fred Norman, Ken Griffey Sr., Ken Griffey Jr., Pedro Borbon, Hal McRae, Tom Hume, Danny Driessen, Tom Seaver, Ray Knight, Mario Soto, Dave Parker, Eric Davis, Buddy Bell, Jose Rijo, John Franco, Paul O'Neill, Chris Sabo, Hal Morris, Bret Boone, Reggie Sanders, Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, and Adam Dunn.

All photos in the book are in black-and-white (except for the front cover). It would have been nice to have had some color photographs printed here. But even without the benefit of color, many of these pictures are priceless (IMO). And all of the photos in this book exhibit very good quality and crisp detail as well.

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Here are some of the highlights in the 32.5-year history of Riverfront Stadium (many of these memories finding their way onto the pages of this volume).......

>> Just two weeks after opening its gates, Riverfront Stadium played host to the 1970 All-Star Game. And it was a hometown Red, Peter Edward Rose, who barrelled past catcher Ray Fosse to score the winning run for the National League in extra innings.

>> Home-run king Hank Aaron hit the very first homer at Riverfront Stadium, on the Opening Night of the park (June 30, 1970). It was Hank's 577th career long ball. Four years later, Aaron would make even bigger history at Riverfront by smashing lifetime round-tripper #714 on Opening Day 1974 off of Jack Billingham. That big clout tied Henry with the immortal Babe Ruth for first place on the all-time HR list.

>> Chicago Cubs' lefthander Ken Holtzman became the first pitcher to twirl a no-hitter at Riverfront Stadium (June 3rd, 1971), as the Cubbies blanked the Reds, 1-0. And just twenty days later, Rick Wise of the Phillies hurled the second no-no at Cincy's new stadium, when the Reds came up with nothing but blanks against the Philadelphia righthander on June 23, 1971. The Phils won the game by a 4-0 score, with (get this!) the man who authored the no-hit gem (Wise) hitting two home runs as well! It wasn't the Reds' finest Riverfront memory, to be sure. But it was a unique game in the history of the stadium, as Wise became the first-ever big-league hurler to hit two homers while at the same time pitching a no-hitter in the same game. The weak Riverfront crowd of 13,329 saw a true rarity that June night, as Wise's pitching and his bat disposed of the Reds in just 1 hour, 53 minutes. Holtzman, in his no-hit outing just three weeks earlier, also made quick work of his opponents, with that game taking only 1:55 to complete (in front of another meager Cincinnati crowd of only 11,751).

>> Tom Seaver threw the only no-hitter of his great career at Riverfront (June 16th, 1978; 4-0 Reds' win over St. Louis). George Hendrick was Seaver's last out in the 9th inning, on a grounder to first baseman Dan Driessen. A dandy moment for "Tom Terrific", and for the 38,216 in attendance that Friday evening at Cincinnati.

>> Another "no-hit" Riverfront memory (the park's biggest ever) occurred on September 16, 1988, when Reds' southpaw Tom Browning tossed just the 12th perfect game in major-league history -- a 1-0 shutout over the Dodgers. Browning (who had an 18-5 record in '88) needed just 102 pitches to mow down all 27 L.A. batters he faced in the quick time of 1:51. Attendance was 16,591. .... Browning's "perfect-o" was just the fifth perfect game ever thrown in the history of the National League, and only the third one in the N.L. since 1880 (with the others in the "modern" post-1900 era being spun by Jim Bunning in 1964 and Sandy Koufax in 1965).

>> Pete Rose made baseball history several times on the Riverfront playing field. He collected his 3,000th career hit there on May 5, 1978, vs. Montreal. And he became the all-time ML hits king on the same field seven years later, when his single to left field off of San Diego's Eric Show on September 11, 1985, pushed Rose one hit beyond Ty Cobb. It was base hit #4,192 for Pete.

>> "Johnny Bench Night" at Riverfront on September 17th, 1983, was a grand evening for the sellout crowd of 53,790 (a record for a regular-season game at the stadium), who gathered to say farewell to 17-year veteran "J.B.", who retired at the end of that '83 campaign. The Reds lost the game to Houston, but Bench delighted the packed house by swatting a well-timed home run during the game (which turned out to be the last of his 389 career blasts).

>> Unfortunately, the Reds were never able to sew up a World Series-winning season at Riverfront Stadium, with each of the Reds' three Series-clinching wins coming on the road, rather than at Cincy (1975 at Boston; 1976 at New York; and 1990 at Oakland). .... But the Reds did clinch several of their N.L. West crowns and National League pennants while standing on their home Riverfront turf -- including that incredible game in October 1972, when Bench & Company beat the Pirates to take the flag. And, an exciting comeback victory for the pennant-clincher @ Cincy in 1976 vs. the Phillies.

>> Tony Perez belts a game-deciding HR to dead-center field to cap a 5-run bottom of the 9th frame, lifting the Reds to an amazing come-from-behind 14-13 win over San Francisco on July 25, 1974. Reds' announcer Marty Brennaman's exciting radio call of that Perez game-winner will forever stick in my memory -- "Fly ball!! Center field!! It's all over!! It's all over!! The Reds win it!! The Reds win it!! The Reds win it!! Fourteen to thirteen!! Tony Perez with a home run to center field!! Ohhh, my golly!!!"

>> Thanks to the artificial playing surface (and those "Zamboni" water-sucking trucks), the first-ever rained-out game at Riverfront didn't occur until more than eight years after the park opened (August 30th, 1978, vs. Pittsburgh). And it took 3.5 hours of persistent precipitation to cancel even that game, which was called off in the middle of the fourth inning.

>> Riverfront/Cinergy hosted its last N.L. baseball game on September 22, 2002 (a Reds' 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies). In 2003, a brand-new (and admittedly gorgeous) "retro"-style park became the new home of the Cincinnati Reds -- dubbed "Great American Ball Park". Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field was demolished (via implosion) on December 29, 2002.

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In random fashion, here are some of this writer's personal memories of Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium (which this book helps to rekindle whenever I glance at these photo-filled pages).......

>> Very first Riverfront memory -- A 1971 game between the Reds and San Francisco Giants. Giants' pitcher Gaylord Perry was searched for various "illegal substances" during the game by the umpires. Perry, of course, was probably the best-known "spitball" hurler in the game, and was frequently under the microscope of opposing managers and the umpires. I cannot recall if Perry got the ol' heave-ho from the men in blue during that 1971 game or not. But he might very well have experienced an early shower that night at Cincy.

>> Seated up in the "nosebleed" section of the red-level seats in left-center field, I was one of 55,667 people who watched the Reds lose Game 4 of the 1975 World Series to the Boston Red Sox (5-4 final). My souvenir '75 WS ticket stub tells me that I was sitting in "Section 339; Row 10; Seat 102" that night. The cost of the ticket: $10.00.

>> A green "Plaza Level" seat accommodated my frame for a Tom Seaver milestone at Riverfront on April 18, 1981 -- Tom's 3,000th career strikeout. He fanned St. Louis first baseman Keith Hernandez for the big 'K'. .... I also recall being at the stadium for another hurler's 3,000th punch-out the year prior to that, when Houston's Nolan Ryan struck out Reds' centerfielder Cesar Geronimo on July 4, 1980, earning "The Express" a spot in the exclusive "3,000-Strikeout" club.

>> August 14, 1981 -- George Foster smacks a prodigious home run to left field against the Giants. The blast reaches the upper-deck "Red" seats at Riverfront, one of relatively-few balls ever to reach that high-level plateau at the stadium. Foster, though, hit numerous balls into the "Red" during his stay with the Reds (1971-1981), with this August '81 shot representing his 8th such mammoth upper-deck clout.

>> Tuesday, July 4, 1972 -- Reds beat St. Louis, 6-1. .... Following this Reds' triumph, this writer (age 10) collects thirteen Reds' (in-person) autographs in the parking garage underneath Riverfront Stadium, including the sought-after signature of '72 N.L. MVP Johnny Bench, plus Tony Perez, Cesar Geronimo, Clay Carroll, Ross Grimsley, Bobby Tolan, Denis Menke, Jack Billingham, Ed Sprague, Julian Javier, Jim McGlothlin, Joe Hague, and Wayne Simpson. .... A red-letter day for Reds' autographs to be sure.

>> Opening Day 1977 vs. San Diego -- Four inches of snow covered the Riverfront field just hours before game time. But the snow was cleared away and the game was played, with the Reds topping the Padres, 5-3. New Reds' lefthander Woodie Fryman made his Cincinnati debut and bested another lefty, Randy Jones. .... The '77 Opener was the first of three straight Opening-Day games I was able to attend at Riverfront Stadium. .... In 1978's first game, the Reds beat the Astros in a slugfest, 11-9, despite Houston's defense turning an unorthodox triple play in the 7th inning. According to data I have gathered, that was the first triple play ever started by a strikeout (Dan Driessen fanned, and then two Reds' runners were caught stealing on the same play to complete the oddball triple-killing). .... In the 1979 Opener that I attended, the Reds were on the losing end of an 11-5 score vs. San Francisco. Five Reds' errors didn't help matters much that day, making John McNamara's debut as Cincinnati manager a somewhat-forgettable afternoon.

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Two excellent "companion" Reds' books that I'd recommend to sit alongside this 5-Star Mike Shannon effort would be "The Relentless Reds" and "The Royal Reds" (all about the World-Championship seasons of 1975 and 1976), which both feature a larger-picture format for many of the images contained therein; and also sport several full-color photos as well.

But, if you want to know all about "Riverfront Stadium" itself, and the many Cincinnati Reds' greats who performed there through the years, then this fine-quality book (all by itself) should do the trick nicely.