Marty Brennaman (HOF 2000)

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 0:00 
I'm Mike Koser, and this is lost ballparks.

Marty Brennaman (Broadcast Audio)  0:02 
Good evening, everybody from Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Joe Nuxhall and yours truly Marty Brennaman welcoming you to Reds baseball.

Red Barber (Broadcast Audio) :09
Join us now for another Brooklyn ball game here at Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, USA.

Mell Allen (Broadcast Audio) :13
Greetings baseball fans this Mel Allen greeting you from Yankee Stadium in New York City.

Gene Osbourne (Broadcast Audio) :17
 Hello everyone with Bob Prince and Nellie King this is Gene Osbourne speaking to you from Forbes field in Pittsburgh.

Broadcast Audio :23
Well friends here we are back at the Polo Grounds in New York City.

Ernie Harwell (Broadcast Audio)  0:26  
We're underway in the first of a twi-night double header at Tiger Stadium.

Vin Scully (Broadcast Audio) :30
Just the start of things so pull up a comfortable chair. If you want to take your shoes off. Go ahead, wiggle your toes and we hope you'll have a cool Schaefer or two throughout the evening.

Mike Koser  (Lost Ballparks) 0:38 
Welcome to episode four of the Lost Ballparks podcast. When you think of the Big Red Machine, of course, Johnny Bench Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, George Foster all come to mind. But the voice who narrated their great play from the broadcast booth was Marty Brennaman. Brennaman was the play by play voice of the Cincinnati Reds from 1974 to 2019. He was behind the microphone for some of the most extraordinary moments in the history of our great game. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, Marty Brennaman is our guest today on Lost Ballparks.

Broadcast Audio  1:09
The World Champion Cincinnati Reds are on the air. It's the Reds on radio with Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.

Mike Koser  (Lost Ballparks) 1:20 
Marty Brennaman.

Marty Brennaman 1:21
Hello, Mike - how are you? Doing? Great, Marty.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 1:23 
Doing great, Marty. Thanks so much for joining us on Lost Ballparks today. Let's start with your very first ever major league baseball game. Do you remember when and where that was?

Marty Brennaman  1:31 
Well, the thing I recall, I was born and raised in Virginia. And it was 1953 or 54. And I had just been introduced to baseball within a year. And all through my younger years I didn't get involved. I was an incredible reader of books. And all of a sudden the '54 World Series dawned on me when the Giants swept the heavily favored Cleveland Indians in 4 straight.

Broadcast Audio 1:59
"From Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Gillette presents the fourth game of the World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians."

Marty Brennaman  2:05 
And I fell in love with the game and so my mom and dad planned a trip to Washington DC unbeknownst to my brother and I, in the summer of '55. And dad drove by the ballpark and  said I'll let you guys see what the ballpark looks like. And I said great. And we rode by and I'm thinking golly day, because I knew they were playing the Yankees. And as it happened, they purchased tickets and and they took us to two games one that day one the next day. And I remember walking up the runway, on the first base side.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  2:34  
Washington's Griffith Stadium.

Marty Brennaman  2:36
That's correct. And seeing what I felt was the greenest grass I'd ever seen in my lifetime.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 2:41
Wow.

Marty Brennaman 2:42
And I saw Mantle go 5-5. I saw Yogi Berra hit the only home run in the two days I was there - a home run over the right field fence. And it was a special time for me. We had seats on the first base side and I looked out toward the bleachers in left and was mindful of the fact that Mantle earlier in his career hit a home run completely out of the ballpark over the bleachers in left. And of course, it was considered by many for many years the longest home run that had ever been hit. I think they measured it at 565 feet, I was completely awed. And you know Washington was so bad, they were just a bad team. And the Yankees were so good. And I was never a Yankee fan. But my dad felt if I was going to see a big league baseball game then I needed to see the best team that was in the game at that time. And that happened to be the New York Yankees. The memories I had, in fact, I came across the score sheet for the two games, probably four or five months ago digging into old boxes and not seeing the light of day forever. And my dad kept the score sheets and he printed extremely well. And everything was printed. And so I cherish those because it brings back to mind the first big league baseball games I've ever witnessed.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  3:51 
There's some special connection, it's hard to put into words. I feel the same way about going to games with my dad. And the first game that I went to with my dad was Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. And it's not there, obviously anymore, right? But I still go back to the site. And I recall like as soon as I'm there as soon as I'm walking the streets, you're overcome with emotion, something special.

Marty Brennaman  4:11 
It really is. And you know, with great prejudice, I would say that I think those of us who have had such a relationship and a love for the game of baseball probably cherish those and put them on a higher level than if you'd ask somebody you know, what was the first NFL football game you saw? I just think something about the game of baseball with the attendant history and, and everything else that those moments that you have a chance to dip your foot in the water so to speak for the first time is much more special than it would be say when you saw your first professional football game or a basketball game or whatever the case might be.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  4:49 
When you were at Griffith Stadium in 1955 was the giant Natty Boh bottle there in right field? Was it there at that time or no?

Marty Brennaman 4:57
Yes, it was.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 4:58
 At Griffith Stadium in right field, there was a Natty Boh beer bottle that was 50 foot long that jutted out above the right field wall. And for a kid visiting the ballpark for the first time, I imagine that was pretty eye opening too.

Marty Brennaman  5:12 
Unbelievable! Everything about it was special. Everything about the two days was special, you know, I would pay an untold amount of money to relive those two days again, because it meant more to me than it did my brother because I was that much more of a fan. There was three years difference in our ages and, and he enjoyed it because it was an experience that he had never had before. But at the same time, the memories are with me now and will be with me until I take my last breath because of the fact that having been, you know, a broadcaster in the big leagues for over four and a half decades. It meant more to me. It means more to me today that that was when I saw my first big league ball game.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 5:52 
Your first season doing play by play for the Cincinnati Reds is in 1974. Before that first game of the '74 season I'm sure you realize, okay the Reds are opening up at Riverfront against the Atlanta Braves. Hank Aaron coming into the '74 season has 713 home runs he's one shy of Ruth. You're well aware that he could break Ruth's record or at least tie it with you on the call. This is April 4, 1974. It's the first inning of the first game of your hall of fame career on WL W.

Marty Brennaman (Broadcast audio from 4/4/74)  6:17 
"Outfield shaded around toward left for Aaron. Billingham with a pause, the 3-1 pitch, swung on, long shot into deep left field, Rose is back and that ball is gone! A home run! Henry Aaron has just tied Babe Ruth's home run record of 714 with a clout over the 375 marker in left field. The Braves are piling out of the dugout. The crowd is on its feet in mass here at Riverfront Stadium as Hank Aaron has just hammered a 3-1 pitch from Jack Billingham over the left field wall and the Braves are out front 3 nothing."

Marty Brennaman  7:01
Everybody was pointing toward that first game, I think it was April 4 1974. Because Aaron was one home run away from tying Ruth's record. And to be honest about it, Mike, I was in such awe about the job. And about the incredible unlikelihood that I would have ever been so fortunate as to get a job like that. And now on top of that be staring down the barrel of a day in which one of the all time great players was on the verge of tying one of the all time great records. And I didn't give a lot of thought to it. And so I made a pact with myself as I had done when I was doing minor league ball. I never planned anything I was going to say in the ensuing years and I had Pete's record breaking hit and you know, Griffey's 500 and 600 home runs and I think five or six no-hitters, including a perfect game. I never planned on anything. There are guys who think that they're good enough to do that and not have it sound contrived. And I knew darn well, I wasn't good enough to do it and not sound contrived. So I just tried to convey what was happening at the moment, the reaction of the crowd, all the things that go into a big moment like that in baseball or whatever sport it might be. And the funny thing is that when the inning finally ended, my partner that day and would be for 31 years Joe Nuxhall said, "I'll be damned. What do you do for an encore?" I said, "no idea." It was a pretty exciting way to break in. It really was.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 8:32 
Yeah, it sure was. And you mentioned Pete Rose, and of course you're behind the mic that day. Riverfront Stadium another monumental day in baseball history. As Rose passes Ty Cobb on the all time hits List, this is September 11, 1985.

Marty Brennaman (Broadcast Audio 9/11/85)  8:44 
"He levels the bat a couple of times. Show kicks and he fires. Rose swings."

Joe Nuxhall (Broadcast Audio 9/11/85)
"There it is. There it is. Get down. Get down. All right!"

Marty Brennaman (Broadcast Audio 9/11/858)
"Hit number Forty One Ninety Two.  A line drive single into left center field. A clean base hit.  And it is pandemonium here in Riverfront Stadium. The fireworks exploding overhead.  The Cincinnati dugout has emptied.  The applause continues unabated. Rose completely encircled by his teammates at first base, Bobby Brown of the San Diego Padres coming all the way from the third base dugout, to personally congratulate Pete Rose and the kind of outpouring of adulation that I don't think you'll ever see an athlete get any more of.  Little Pete fighting his way through the crowd and being hoisted on the shoulders of a couple of his teammates."

Mike Koser  (Lost Ballparks) 9:47 
And of course, one of the great things about that call for me in addition to you just calling it beautifully is the "old left-hander" not being able to contain his enthusiasm right at the beginning.

Marty Brennaman  9:57 
Yeah, yeah. And you know what Mike? Joe felt terrible about that for years and years and years afterwards,

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 10:02
 Did he really?

Marty Brennaman 10:03
He had to apologize to me half a dozen times. And it didn't bother me one bit. That was the nature and the essence of what Joe was all about. And for him to sit there mute, and not say anything would have been totally uncharacteristic. And I tried to make him understand that that that did not bother me. It doesn't bother me today when I hear it. And it didn't bother me the night that it happened. It was just what Joe was all about. Nobody loved this club and this organization more than he did. And for him to react the way he did was a reaction out of the love that he had for Pete and for the moment and for the organization. So it didn't bother me one bit.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  10:40 
31 years with Joe Nuxhall. I came across this last night.  When he retired, he said- he was talking about the partnership in the booth with you and what he would miss.

Joe Nuxhall Interview Audio  10:49 
"That's something I miss.  I'll be real honest with you is sitting in that booth with him every night. That's gonna be tough. It's been tough."

Marty Brennaman  10:59 
I was blessed to have Joe. And then when God decided to take him from me, he gave me Jeff Brantley. And Brantley and I developed an incredible relationship as a team of broadcasters. But Joe's relationship, the longer it went, the closer we got, the 31 years that we spent together equal the longest that any two other broadcasters ever spent together in a radio booth. And that was Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett. And Joe and me.  Nobody else spent that long, and I'm talking about guys that worked regularly. I'm not talking about somebody that worked 28 years and then took 60. 70, 80 games off a year but was still around. This was continuously 31 years. It was a personal relationship with me. We genuinely loved one another. We were able to make fun of each other. We could make fun of ourselves. And people enjoyed it.

Marty Brennaman (Broadcast Audio)  11:51  
"I want to say the Macho Man" but it's the macho King Randy Savage. Randy, welcome."

Macho Man Randy Savage Audio  11:56 
"Macho King. You're right Marty Brennaman and I'm glad to be here in Riverfront Stadium, yeah, with the Big Red Machine type of thing. Joe Nuxhall how you doin?"

Joe Nuxhall Broadcast Audio 12:07
"All right Macho how you doing buddy?"

Marty Brennaman  12:08 
They could tell that this was a special relationship between two guys. Special beyond any words it could express the way it was.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  12:17 
How blessed by the way did you feel not just the call games with Joe Nuxhall but also to be part of Cincinnati Reds history during a time, I mean, they were honestly you look back at 1975-76, the Big Red Machine that is one of the best teams in baseball history. You're talking Bench, Perez, Morgan, George Foster, Davy Concepcion who I agree with you by the way, why is he not in the Hall of Fame? Ken Griffey Sr., Pete Rose. I mean, that team was loaded. How much fun was that to call games night after night?

Marty Brennaman  12:47 
Well, yeah, the thing about it is Mike, I had no means of comparison. Right?

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 12:51
Oh, sure.

Marty Brennaman 12:53
I'm brand new, I'm thrust into a situation. Certainly having done AAA baseball, the Mets  AAA club, I kept abreast of what was going on in the big leagues. So I knew the Roses and the Benches and the Perez's of the world and knew that it was a good ball club. But never did I dream until years later, I had as Red Barber would say a seat "at the catbird seat" to watch, arguably one of the top two or three teams of all time. And it took me from '76 when they won the World Series when they swept the Yankees until the Reds won the world championship in 1990 to really appreciate as the years went by 1. How tough it is to win a World Series and 2. how great that team was.  Years later, I'll never forget. In 1977, the Reds were playing the Phillies at Veterans Stadium and Byron Saam, who is in the broadcaster's wing of the Hall of Fame, came up to me one day before a game and we were talking and and he said, "Young man, do you realize how fortunate you are?" And rather flippantly. I said, "Well, yeah," I said, "you know, I'm a young guy, I got a big league broadcasting job with a good team." And he said, "That's not what I'm talking about." He said, "You got two world championship rings." I said, "Yes, sir." He said, "I've been doing Philadelphia baseball at the time I started both the Athletics and the Phillies, since 1947, and I've never gotten one." I don't know that it even made an impact on me then but as the years went by, 14-15 seasons later, they win it again. And the '90 club was my favorite team of all time. But getting back to the Big Red Machine team. Things I drew from their appearance in uniforms and their abilities to win and the way they carried themselves. They carried themselves with a lot of confidence. They never rubbed anybody's nose in it in the course of a game, because Sparky would not allow them to. He had a rule that if we're six runs or more up from the sixth inning on, nobody will be allowed to hit 3-0 you know, and nobody will steal the base.

Mike Koser  (Lost Ballparks) 14:51 
It was a classy team, a well managed team and in the mid 70s, they just they felt unstoppable.

Marty Brennaman  14:57 
They would beat you systematically, beat your brains out but would do it with such a measure of class that you never incited the anger of the guys in that other dugout except for the Dodgers and they simply did not like each other. And it was at that time the best rivalry in baseball. When I went into the hall in 2000 and I say it today unabashedly I say it I don't know that I got in because I was that damn good a broadcaster, but I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I was associated with that team.

Marty Brennaman Broadcast Audio  15:28 
"Bench is back in and Reed serves it up. Swung on, fly ball, deep left centerfield, Maddus on the warning track...look he got...It's gone! Johnny Bench with a home run to left center and the Reds have tied it up on back to back 9th inning home runs!!! They're on their feet at Riverfront and it is tied at 6 runs a piece!"

Marty Brennaman  15:50 
I was fortunate then because when I went in in 2000 I went in with Sparky and I went in with Tony Perez. Carlton Fisk was the only non red that went in that weekend. So it was really special. But just being associated with that team, and watching the way they went about their business. I can remember games played at Riverfront in the two years in which they were world champions. They could go into the seventh inning, and be three or four runs behind and you'd have crowds of 40 and 45,000 people almost without exception every night, and nobody would go anywhere. Because they knew that sooner or later they would figure out a way to come back and win and more often than not, they did.

Marty Brennaman Broadcast Audio 16:31
"With the tying runs on and nobody out. Griffey second. Davey first.  The strike one pitch swung on and hit into deep centerfield way back...it's gonna be...THIS ONE BELONGS TO THE REDS! Tony Perez has hit a home run to dead centerfield and the Reds have done it again. As Perez hit one over the 404 marker in straight away centerfield  and Cincinnati has pulled it out in the 9th inning by a final score of 8-7. Oh boy!!!"

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 17:03
Man! Such a fun team to watch. So in '75 or '76 I can't remember which but NBC made a terrible decision. They decided they were going to pick their own broadcasters for World Series games. Prior to that, if you were watching the game nationally, folks across the country got to hear Marty Brennaman and if you were playing the Red Sox, as you did in 1975, people across the country got to hear the local Red Sox broadcaster Dick Stockton at the time, and again, in the mid 70s, NBC did away with that. And I think they really lost a unique flavor of those World Series broadcasts.

Marty Brennaman 17:34 
It was a bad mistake. Whoever made the decision on the part of NBC and I guess it was in collusion with Major League Baseball at the time. I was a part of the last TV team in '75. Boston had Dick Stockton, and they had Ned Martin.  They used 2 guys and the reds allowed me to be the only guy to represent the Reds broadcast crew that I felt like Joe should have been a part of that. But they didn't look at it that way. And I worked on TV with Garagiola and Gowdy and Kubek.

Joe Garagiola Broadcast Audio from the 1975 World Series  18:03 
"Hi, everybody. I'm Joe Garagiola, along with Marty Brennaman. We'll be describing the action here at Fenway Park, game seven of the 1975 World Series."

Marty Brennaman Broadcast Audio from the 1975 World Series
"But Joe, I've been around this big league baseball scene only two years now. And without question, it was the finest baseball game I've ever had the privilege of witnessing or broadcasting last night."

Marty Brennaman  18:23
And then after '76, they elected not to use any local announcers, which I think is a major, major mistake because nobody knows that ball club or those two ball clubs better than the guys who followed them for 162 games. And I would like to think that we'll all live long enough to see a correction to that major error and get the local broadcasters involved again.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 18:44 
100%. And I agree with you totally, nobody knows that team. Nobody knows the players. Nobody knows the manager. Nobody knows the city better than that broadcaster.

Marty Brennaman 18:51 
That's correct. And then why that decision was made? I don't know. And I can't believe that they made that decision based on negative comments that they got from people who watched and or listened. I don't believe that. If that was a reason that would be offered up to me today. I'd say that's a damn lie. Because I think that people enjoyed it.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  19:10 
Well look during your time as a Reds broadcaster you had the opportunity to visit quite a few old Lost Ballparks including Jarry Park in Montreal.

Broadcast Audio 19:19
The lights have been turned on here at Jarry Park so let's play ball!

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  19:23
And I think your first time there would have I'm guessing would have been '74. Right?

Marty Brennaman 19:27
Yes, correct.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 19:28
Yeah, yeah. When the Expos began playing 1969 It was supposed to be this makeshift ballpark. They were going to build a new stadium quickly and move into that. They ended up playing there till I think through the 76 season. I'm curious what your impressions were of Jarry Park when you first went there in '74.

Marty Brennaman  19:43
Well, first time I walked in there. I said, "What the hell am I doing here? This looks like a minor league ballpark." I was kind of taken aback and that's exactly what it was. It was a minor league ballpark, but they made do.  They did a good job. It was a wide open ballpark. You know, there was no double deck to it. Especially in the outfield from foul line to foul line that was a recreational area out beyond the right field fence and there was a giant Olympic swimming pool out there. And if you went early in the year, you know you paid the price because it was cold as the dickens up there.

Broadcast Audio 20:14
"And the temperature 43 degrees."

Marty Brennaman 20:17
Even though you were in a radio booth, you were really not shielded a whole lot from the elements. I'll never forget one night, we started a game and all of a sudden a tremendous rainstorm with accompanying high winds came in. And we were on the air when this monsoon set in and players were immediately sent off the field and Joe and I were in the process of sending it back to the studio because we were getting rain that was coming in. And the wind was blowing so hard that it blew a window in on us. And fortunately it hit the countertop where all our stuff was and otherwise one or both of us could have been hurt along with our engineer, but I was speechless because I had been in the big league ballparks by then. And now I'm introduced to Jarry Park and I was a bit surprised and you were right, they were in that ballpark a whole lot longer than the Expos fans had anticipated they would be.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 21:12 
Beyond right field you had like you said the Olympic sized swimming pool where I think Starkville popped a few balls. And did you ever see anybody hit the pool during the break?

Marty Brennaman  21:20 
Let me tell you an interesting story about that. We played a Saturday afternoon game. And that was my first trip into Montreal. I'm in the clubhouse after the game is over and waiting to get on the bus and go back to the hotel. We were staying at the Queen E Hotel downtown and Bench came up to me and he said, "What are you doing tonight?" I said, "I'm not doing anything." He said. "you're going with me."  I thought I mean you know I get a personal invitation to go out with Johnny Bench. So we go out. And I never forget we went to a TGI Fridays up there. And I had nothing to eat. I was subsisting on the popcorn that they had out for the patrons and I was drinking gin and tonic. And I got messed up. I mean really messed up and I got sick. And so Bench said, "You ain't ready for this yet." So he takes me outside and calls a cab, and sends me back to the hotel. So I go to bed, wake up Sunday morning, it's getaway day. We've got an afternoon game there. I felt like a million dollars. I was not hungover - was nothing. I get to the ballpark. And I couldn't wait to tell Sparky about it. And I'm telling him this story and he stops me in the middle of it. He said, "Wait a minute, stay right here." So he goes out of his office and into the trainer's room. Bench is on the training table as sick as a dog, but it had nothing to do with the night before he was medically ill. He had a temperature of 101. And Sparky walked in there and he said, "You know what?"He said, "I've changed my lineup today." He said, "I had Bill Plummer catching." He said, "you're catching." And he said, "if this game goes 1000 innings, you're going to catch every pitch." And Johnny was mystified. And Sparky told him he said "I know what you did last night. I know who you were with." And so he has to play. And in the 10th inning, he and Griffey hit home runs. Griffey hit the first one and his home run landed into the swimming pool in right field and then Bench homered and they win the game. And I was taught my first lesson and that's what you do you don't talk to the manager about if it involves players and that never happened again. I learned the hard way and Bench was not real happy with me.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 23:33 
Oh my gosh, what an incredible story.  So good. By the time by the way, you made it to the Houston Astrodome, this would have been mid 70s I guess at that point, it's not quite a decade old. It sits vacant now decaying in complete disrepair. But when it was built...

Old-time Broadcast Audio 23:49  
"The Astrodome...The world's greatest pleasure palace, a culmination of a foresight, daring fate and the dreams of a people of Harris County. This is the Astrodome. Truly the eighth wonder of the world."

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 24:05 
I mean, it was like nothing anybody had ever seen. What do you remember about your first broadcast experience at the Astrodome?

Marty Brennaman  24:10 
Well, I remember from the visiting clubhouse all the way up to the press level, it seemed like five miles. There was no easy way to get to it. Because if you were going upstairs after finishing whatever you had to do in the clubhouse and get ready for a broadcast, you walked out of the clubhouse, you had to walk down the hallway, going by the home club, I had a long way to go to get to the elevator. And that was on the first base side. And then you had to take the elevator up to the press level and you have to double back to where you started from to get to the radio booth. So it was forever and the day but aside from that, I'm talking about awestruck now, even though it was the Astrodome it settled in, in terms of folks getting used to it for someone who was there for the first time and I'm sure it was played out and begin to whether you were broadcasting or you were a fan or whatever the case might be, you were awed when you walked in there. For those who don't know, it was a domed stadium. But unlike all the ones that had been built after that it was not a retractable roof. That did not come into existence yet.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 25:15
Yeah, that's right.

Marty Brennaman 25:16
So it was covered 24/7. But it was obviously an incredible respite from having to play at old Colt Stadium in the heart of summer where you know, the temperature was ridiculously high. The humidity equal to it. It was air conditioned comfort. It was astroturf. It was a cavernous ballpark.  To do what Jimmy Wynn did the one year when he hit I don't know 30 home runs or whatever the number was from a small man in stature was absolutely incredible.

Broadcast Audio 25:44 
"There it goes. Deep into center field way, way back goes Matty Alou, and that ball is in Astro Orbit! Oh, did he hit it!  To straight away centerfield and Wynn hit it over that point."

Marty Brennaman  25:58 
It was a place that guys did not like to play in. If they were power hitters, and they enjoyed hitting a lot of home runs. That's the last place in the world you wanted to play because there was no such feel that the ball carried better in one sector than it did in the other because there were no elements that would come into play. But I loved it.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 26:17 
Well and you're right, you think about the Houston residents who spent time at Colt Stadium, which was not far from where the Astrodome was built. And I went back and looked at pictures a couple months ago and saw that they had metal folding chairs at Colt Stadium. Now you talk about if you've ever been to Houston in the summer, 105-106 degrees on metal folding chairs?!

Marty Brennaman  26:38 
That's right. Yeah, I can't imagine. It's unfortunate that the really good Houston teams did not come until later. That is teams that played in the Astrodome. You know, it wasn't until the '80s when they had Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott and Bob Knepper and their rotation and offensively, they were just a good team. And then they drew people like crazy because once the newness was eliminated, the honeymoon was over. And I can't recollect that they ever really drew well. I think they drew better for us and the Dodgers when we came in than they did for other clubs in the National League and didn't really enjoy great crowds until the mid '80s, when they became a very, very solid baseball team.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  27:18 
Yeah. And it's just sad to see the Astrodome in its state today just sit there.  And the city, it feels like that, I'm not sure what they should do with it, turn it into an apartment complex, destroy it. But again to know that there was so much history there...

Marty Brennaman  27:30 
No, I agree with that. I felt the same way about Forbes Field in Pittsburgh because I had an uncle who was an insurance executive in Pittsburgh and I would go up in the summertime when the Pirates had an extended homestand and he would take me to Forbes Field every night.

Old Time Broadcast Audio  27:45 
"This is Pittsburgh where the Allegheny and Monongahela River is joined to form the golden triangle as we open at historic Forbes Field that once was the stamping grounds of the immortal Honus Wagner."

Marty Brennaman  27:56
I got to see some good teams come in and play. I saw the Reds come in and play. I saw the Cubs come into town, the Cardinals, I was enamored with that old ballpark in Schenley Park out of the University of Pittsburgh.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 28:08
Right.

Marty Brennaman 28:09
 You know, they had the batting cage slammed up against the fence in centerfield.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 28:14
And it was in play.

Marty Brennaman 28:15
 Batting practice, they would roll that thing out and put it face first against the bricks in centerfield because it was such a huge ballpark. And it rarely if ever came into play because nobody could get a ball that far, rarely, ever. And I felt that way about Forbes Field. It's just unfortunate that you move on to another era that dictates you know, luxury boxes and all the attendant things that go with building a brand new ballpark and the old girl is left to fend for herself. Tiger Stadium was another one. We used to go up there every summer. It was a reciprocal deal between the Reds and the Tigers. They had knothole baseball in Detroit. We had kid gloves baseball in Cincinnati. And we would play two games a summer, exhibition games, one in Detroit, one in Cincinnati, the proceeds going to youth baseball, and we would broadcast it. And so I was introduced to Tiger Stadium on an obviously a limited basis. But I was there enough to gain a true appreciation of that old ballpark.  I was not in an old park.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 29:19
 Riverfront stadium.

Marty Brennaman 29:20
Yeah. But among the old parks that I was in, I was always impressed by the history of the park and the great players that had played there and always have had a special place for the ones I've talked about.  Forbes Field was great. Griffith Stadium was another one. I was in the old Yankee Stadium. They were special ballparks to me and always will be.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 29:43
Yeah and there are so many eccentricities to all of these ballparks that make them unique in and of themselves. I think of Tiger Stadium and how Ty Cobb would have the grounds crew heavily water the area in front of home plate to deaden his bunts. They called that area "Cobb's Lake". I mean how great is that? There's just a lot of history with each one of these parks. It's like poetry. I mean, it's, it's beautiful.

Marty Brennaman  30:06
Well, not only that, when you're talking about Tiger Stadium from a broadcast perspective, the first time Joe and I went in there to do this exhibition game, the visiting radio booth, hung off the second deck, and there was a heavy rope contraption that they had draped over the booth. Really thick rope. You could just flip it down over the booth. When the game began, and I asked Ernie Harwell one night The first night I was there, I said, "What is this? "He said, "Look how close you are to home plate." I said, "Okay." He said, "You can almost hear every conversation that will go on between the umpire and the catcher and the umpire and the hitter or all three at one time." He said, "If a foul ball comes up here, you are not going to have time to get out of the way of it. And that's why we have this contraption that will protect you." And I'm not kidding, you were so close to home plate. It was scary. But it gave you a perspective that in every other ballpark that we ever worked in, you never gained that except for one place and that was Tiger Stadium.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 31:08
Wow.

Marty Brennaman 31:09
And the other thing is Wrigley Field and that's one of my all time favorite parks that - actually my favorite park of all time is Fenway Park in Boston. Wrigley Field would be number two and Dodger Stadium would be number three. Wrigley Field when I came Mike - their PA announcer was a fella by the name of Pat Pieper.

Old Time Audio - PA Announcer Pat Pieper  31:28
"Attention. Attention please. Have your pencil and scorecards ready and I'll give you the correct lineup for today's ballgame."

Marty Brennaman 31:38
And Pat sat in the first row behind home plate in the box seats and he did his PA work from that location. Now that's a throwback to -  there were little things like that people of a later age would never have the good fortune of experiencing that guys like me and even guys that were way before me the Scullys and the Bucks and the Harwells and, and people like that of the world that worked in Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, which I never did, and Shibe Park in Philadelphia or the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field and places like that. I wish I had worked Crosley Field here in Cincinnati. I wish I'd had the pleasure of working in those old ballparks because I loved them all.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 32:20 
If you had to pick one old ballpark to broadcast from which one would you choose?

Marty Brennaman  32:25  
It would be a toss up. I think my I would probably toss it up between Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds. Because even today, when I see pictures of both of them - Ebbets Field, when they say local ballpark, that's what it was, you know, the players lived there year round in Brooklyn and it was not unusual to see Gil Hodges walking into a drugstore, Duke Snider at the grocery store - Peewee Reese the same and the Polo Grounds because of its configuration, how deep it was, etc. And I would love to have worked in those parks. Every time I hear Polo Grounds, I think of Bobby Thompson.

Russ Hodges Broadcast Audio from game 4 of the 1954 World Series 33:01
“Branca throws…There’s a long fly… it’s gonna be, I believe… The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby hit it into the lower deck of the left-field stands… The Giants win the pennant and they’re going crazy! They're going crazy!"

Marty Brennaman 33:20
Those two would be a toss up for me without any question.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks)  33:23 
To hear you tell stories and relive some of these experiences and talk old ballparks it has been a trip down memory lane and I am eternally grateful for the time.

Marty Brennaman  33:33 
Mike I'm glad we could spend some time together. I appreciate you thought enough of me to give me a call and any other time you want to talk to an old guy about the way it used to be, I'm here and I got plenty of time on my hands.

Mike Koser  (Lost Ballparks) 33:43 
The next time you get back out here to California. Let's go play some golf.

Marty Brennaman  33:47 
I'd look forward to it pal. You can book that. I'll do that.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 33:50
Alright, take care, Marty. Have a great week.

Marty Brennaman 33:52
All right, Mike. You too pal.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 33:54
Really enjoyed that conversation with Hall of Famer Marty Brennaman, who broadcast for the Reds from 1974 to 2019. Hope you enjoyed it as well. A reminder, in addition to the podcast Lost Ballparks is also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can follow along each day on the platform of your choice. And if you haven't already, please take a moment and hit the subscribe button. It's free on whatever platform you listen to podcasts on.  And if you like what you're hearing, please let us know by leaving a review and rating of the podcast. I really appreciate it. Next week on Lost Ballparks. Hall of Famer Rod Carew. Carew finished his career with 3053 hits. But there was one that brought his former teammate Harmon Killebrew to tears...

Broadcast Audio  34:33 
"What are you thinking? You were there to see number one. You're here to see number 3000. (long pause) Harmon all choked up. It's amazing isn't it?"

Rod Carew 34:42
Actually it was special. You know? It was really special.

Mike Koser (Lost Ballparks) 34:46
Hear that story next Wednesday when Rod Carew joins us on Lost Ballparks.