>>And I can still name the starting eight for each year of the Big Red Machine of the 70s.
You guys were awesome! The Big Red Machine was one of the great all time teams. I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 60’s/70’s and was a huge Pirate fan. I had lots of cousins in Cincy and we always had a baseball feud going on. :) Mom used to stick me on a Greyhound to Cincy to spend a couple of weeks each summer there. It meant that Mom had one less kid in her hair for a week or two, and my Cincy cousins had someone to badger about baseball. :)
My all time favorite was Willie Stargell and 2nd was Roberto Clemente. Many’s the time I sat in the left field bleachers at Forbes Field to watch them play the Reds. And even more in Three Rivers Stadium.
I do miss those days...
You guys were awesome! The Big Red Machine was one of the great all time teams. I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 60s/70s and was a huge Pirate fan. I had lots of cousins in Cincy and we always had a baseball feud going on. :) Mom used to stick me on a Greyhound to Cincy to spend a couple of weeks each summer there. It meant that Mom had one less kid in her hair for a week or two, and my Cincy cousins had someone to badger about baseball. :)
My all time favorite was Willie Stargell and 2nd was Roberto Clemente. Manys the time I sat in the left field bleachers at Forbes Field to watch them play the Reds. And even more in Three Rivers Stadium.
I do miss those days...
Around 1975 or 1976 I went to the old Riverfront ballpark for a doubleheader with the Pirates, aka the Lumber Company. Got down there a couple of hours early to watch batting practice, which was always great when those two teams were playing each other.
We watched Stargell hit TWO balls into the red seats of Riverfront - right field naturally, and caught two from....oh lord, (gettin old is hell)....that big outfielder...what was his name? Had a bit of trouble with coke during the end of his career....(sorry I can’t remember his name).
Both of those teams were fun to watch.