A Blast From The Past

Last night I was working on a couple of sermon outlines on my laptop, while Linda was using the main computer for her online college class. Benji called and mentioned that Fox Sports Network was replaying "an old Reds game". I tuned in to see why a baseball game was being replayed on a cold night in January, and was surprised to see that it was the final game of the 1990 National League Championship Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now, Linda is not usually interested in televised baseball games that do not feature her sons or grandsons - not to mention a game that was played over 17 years ago! So, rather than interrupt the award winning offering of the Lifetime ("Television for Women") Network, I took my laptop and went up to the bedroom to let Jack Buck and Tim McCarver, of CBS Sports, provide some background noise and take me down memory lane while I worked on my upcoming series of lessons from Romans. I'm afraid I ended up doing a lot more reminiscing than exposition...

The details of that game and series (although I watched them at the time) had faded from my memory over the years. How the memories came rushing back! That series was played just eight days before my 40th birthday. My kids were in high school then. Life was very different than it is now. The opening round of the First Gulf War (Desert Storm) was still three months away. Bill Clinton was the Governor of Arkansas, and no one I knew had ever heard of Osama Bin Laden.

I heard names and watched players who had long ago retreated into the deep recesses of my memory. I had been a Cincinnati Reds fan from the age of ten. The glory days of the "Big Red Machine" of the 70's were long gone, and the Pete Rose gambling scandal had come and gone, and the Reds had basically settled into being "also rans" in the National League Western Division. Now, this 1990 edition of the Redlegs, under new manager, Lou Piniella, had won their division and faced the Pittsburgh Pirates (95-67) - led by Bobby Bonilla and a skinny young guy named Barry Bonds! The 2-1 win was nailed down for the Reds as Glenn Bragg made a leaping catch in right field, robbing Carmelo Martinez of a two run homer in the ninth inning. It was a great game.

The Reds won the playoffs 4 games to 2 over a really excellent Pittsburgh team, managed by Jim Leyland. Both teams were strong defensively and with potent offenses. Eric Davis roamed center field for the Reds. The late Joe Oliver did the catching duties. Paul O'Neill played right field before he donned the pin stripes and made the big money in the Big Apple. Ron Oester was the "old veteran" on the team and Barry Larkin was the hot shot young shortstop. Chris Sabo was the "Pete Rose throwback" who played third base. The big advantage the Reds had, however, was in a trio of relief pitchers known as "The Nasty Boys" - Randy Meyers, Norm Charlton, and Rob Dibble. These guys combined that season for 44 saves and 351 strikeouts. They were fearless, mean, and intimidating to anyone who dared dig in against them.

Charlton (who also started some games later in the season) was the winning pitcher in relief in game 6, in a game played before more than 56,000 fans at Riverfront Stadium. Meyers and Dibble shared the honor of series Most Valuable Player for the NLCS. The Nasty Boys went on to pitch 8 2/3 innings in the World Series, allowing no runs on six hits. Dibble got the win in game 2 and Meyers picked up the save in game 4 as the Reds swept the Oakland A's in four games.

That was the last great Reds team. 1990 was their last trip to the World Series, but every season, hope springs anew.

It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise to find the replay of that game. It brought back lots and lots of memories. It also served to remind me that there are only 26 days left until Spring Training begins, again!