Baseball has been an on-and-off interest through the years. I began collecting cards in 1971, at the age of seven--a few packs in my Easter basket that spring kicked off an obsession that lasted through the 1978 set. Both of my parents were longtime fans of the Cincinnati Reds, and we attended many a game during the Big Red Machine era; I was exceedingly fortunate to grow up during the team's greatest run of success. I never played the game--somehow didn't get into Little League like some of my friends, though I expect my overall lack of coordination and strength would have made me a bench-warmer at best. Over the decades I've dabbled in no-stakes fantasy baseball (in which I usually did fairly well) and more recently low-stakes Strat-o-Matic (where I've been far less successful). I still like reading about the game and could stand to dig into the underpinnings of the more common advanced statistics used to evaluate players these days.
I've already written about several games I've attended, including my first game (a few weeks before Crosley Field closed), the only game in MLB history featuring two triple plays, and Dave Dravecky's temporarily successful attempt to come back from cancer. Since I still have ticket stubs from most of the games I've seen (shocker there, right?), it's occurred to me to investigate at retrosheet.org what I witnessed back in the day. A recent post over at friend Kurt Blumenau's place finally pushed me to begin doing that, and hence a new, occasional series starts today, with an overview of two mid-to-late May tilts involving my beloved Reds.
5/14/77, vs. San Francisco Giants
The Big Red Machine had peaked the previous season with its second consecutive World Series title; while they were still good through 1981, surging competitors, changes in personnel, and Father Time all conspired to keep that bunch from gaining another National League pennant. My favorite Red was corner infielder Tony Pérez. Less than two months after the Reds had swept the Yankees in the '76 Series, the 34-year-old Pérez was traded to the Montreal Expos, along with lefty reliever Will McEnaney. I know they had been looking for ways to get Dan Driessen more playing time, but I was heartbroken nonetheless.
Throughout my junior high and high school years, I earned two or three pairs of tickets to Reds games through their "Straight A" program--we'd order two additional tickets so that all four of us could go. This was one of the games I selected as a seventh-grader. Section 304 was in the upper deck, almost directly behind home plate.
The Los Angeles Dodgers had started the season red-hot; on the day of this Saturday evening tilt, the Reds and Giants were both a few games under .500, more than 10 behind L.A. The starters were Ed Halicki for the Giants and Santo Alcala for the Reds. Single runs from the visitors in the 3rd and 4th innings were matched and then some by the home team, who scored once in each of the 4th, 5th, and 6th. Alcala gave way to veteran Woodie Fryman in the 7th. Fryman, a 36-year-old lefty, had been half of the return in the Pérez swap (they'd also received relief pitcher Dale Murray). Fryman had primarily been a starter throughout his career--he'd even won on Opening Day for the '77 Reds--but after his first seven trips to the bump his ERA stood at 6.31 and he was relegated to the bullpen to straighten things out, as they like to say. This was his first relief appearance of the season.
Fryman set down the Giants in order in the 7th but ran into a bit of trouble in the 8th. A leadoff walk, a sacrifice, and a two-out single by Bill Madlock could have tied the game, but George Foster came up big, throwing a strike to backup catcher Bill Plummer to nail Johnnie LeMaster at the plate (Johnny Bench must have been nursing a minor injury, as this was one of four consecutive starts by Plummer). You might think it would be enough to let Fryman enjoy some mild success, but Sparky Anderson sent him back out for the 9th, still in a one-run game. With one out, he gave up singles to Jack Clark and Willie McCovey, Clark stretching to third and McCovey trailing on the failed attempt to nail Clark. Only then did Anderson pull Fryman, summoning Pedro Borbón to try to put out the fire. An intentional walk, a single from Tim Foli, and a pinch-hit squeeze by second-string catcher Mike Sadek gave the bad guys the lead, one they wouldn't relinquish. Gary Lavelle pitched the final two innings to save his own win.
Side notes:
--It was a good night for light hitters. Foli, acquired from les Expos less than three weeks earlier, had started the scoring with a home run. This was 4% of his career HR output. Plummer also had a multi-knock game, and even stole a base in the fifth (I'm guessing it was on a failed sac attempt by Alcala)--one of only four in his career.
--Fryman had four more relief appearances before returning to the rotation. However, he was so unhappy in the Queen City that he 'retired' before the All-Star Break (he would 'unretire' at the end of the season and get traded to the Cubs in short order). A bust of a trade for the Reds, for certain.
--Coming across the ticket stubs for this game seriously messes with the chronology I'd proposed for the weekend my family visited my future wife's home church. I suppose it must have been a week earlier or later than I imagined?
5/24/85, vs. St. Louis Cardinals
The '82-'84 Reds were terrible; in mid-August of '84, they made a trade with--you guessed it--the Expos, bringing hometown hero Pete Rose to serve as player-manager. This began a resurgence to respectability, as they wound up finishing second four years in a row, beginning in 1985. I was just wrapping up my junior year of college when I joined friends Jim and Kevin for a Friday evening at the ol' ballpark. We didn't know it at the time, but the Cards were World Series-bound (likely losing it because of a horrible umpiring call).
Section 226 was in fair territory, not far from the right field corner. The pitching match-up was a very good one, John Tudor facing Mario Soto. The Cardinal lefty, in the midst of his best season (ten complete game shutouts), was better on this night, giving up only a two-spot in the 4th before being removed with two outs in the seventh, while Soto allowed four across seven innings. The home team scratched out four unearned in the bottom of the 8th, the biggest blow a two-run PH single by backup catcher (another recurring theme) Dave Van Gorder. Ted Power came on to close it out, but this lead wasn't safe, either: with one out, it went single-walk-walk-single-sacrifice fly to knot the game at 6 apiece. Three innings of free baseball ensued, though I certainly can't tell you if we stayed for the whole thing. Van Gorder came through again in the bottom of the 12th, driving in Eric Davis (no doubt the first time I saw him play), who'd singled and stolen second. John Franco had pitched the top of the inning for the win, while Ricky Horton, in his fourth inning of work, suffered the loss.
Side notes:
--This was the 50th anniversary of the first night game in the history of MLB, which had taken place at Crosley. Fans in attendance were given a full-size replica of a Cincy newspaper story from 1935 about that game, also a one-run Reds victory; I strongly suspect I no longer have it.
--Rose was not the only returnee from the Big Red Machine era on this team, as my old pal Tony Pérez had also wandered back in '84 following stints in Montreal, Boston, and Philadelphia (where he, Rose, and Joe Morgan had collaborated on another championship in '83). I'm certain I was thrilled when he hit a solo homer off Tudor--he would enjoy only five more over the remaining season-and-a-half of his career.
--Jack Clark had been traded to St. Louis before the '85 season, making him, Rose, and Dave Concepcion the only three players to appear in both of these games.
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