Sitting atop the National League Central on August 5…you might think that this is the best the Cincinnati Reds have fared going into the last two months of the season since their 1990 World Series championship.
You’d be wrong.
This year’s incredible turnaround (a .560 winning percentage) is actually good for their fifth best record at this point in the season since they swept the A’s nearly 20 years ago.
Glenn Braggs was a member of that wire-to-wire championship team and was on hand a couple of weeks ago when he and his teammates were honored at the annual Reds Hall of Fame Induction.
I recently caught up with the slugger, and here is his exclusive account of what went down that weekend.
The weekend was a combination 1990 Championship Team Reunion as well as Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. I arrived Friday morning on a red eye from Los Angeles and met up with the guys from that World Series team at Great American Ball Park later that evening.
About 13 of the guys showed and it was great to hookup again and rehash memories. Our team had a lot of camaraderie and hasn’t missed a beat. Reds Hall of Famers Barry Larkin, Eric Davis and Tom Browning were there as well as 2010 Inductee Chris Sabo.
The Reds beat the Rockies that night and following the game, we were honored on field with a tribute and a pre-Hall of Fame ceremony for this year’s inductees Pedro Borbon, Chris Sabo and Tony Mulane. Afterward, M.C. Hammer performed and we all loved it considering his song “U Can’t Touch This” was our clubhouse theme song in 1990.
On Saturday, there was a meet-and-greet at the Reds Hall of Fame with the fans and later, we attended another game at the ballpark to see the Reds win again. I also met up with legendary club house manager Bernie Stowe and he was still as feisty as ever.
Johnny Bench and ESPN Announcer Joe Morgan were there and it was as though we were all family. Many of the former Reds from the “Big Red Machine” were on hand as well as many Reds greats such as Tommy Helms and Jim O’Toole.
Not many people know this, but I wore number 15 because George Foster was one of my favorite players and we always have great chats when I see him. I always enjoy re-connecting with all of these guys because baseball is a fraternity and it doesn’t really matter what era you played in.
Sunday saw another game in which the Reds fought hard but this time lost a close one. Afterward, the Hall of Fame Gala began with tributes to the 1990 Championship Team, Pete Rose becoming the all-time hits leader, and, of course, the inductions of three new Reds Hall of Famers.
A big thanks to Glenn Braggs for serving as The Hall of Very Good’s eyes and ears at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame weekend. To check out more photos from the weekend…click HERE!
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