Back to the Playoffs!!
Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Corey in All, General Baseball.
Reggie...Reggie...Reggie...
The last Major League Baseball Playoff Game I attended was in 1995 at Riverfront Stadium. It was game two of the National League Championship Series, and the Atlanta Braves were in town. I remember the game being a great one, heading into the tenth inning tied at two. The Reds trailed one game to nothing in the seven game series, and were heading to Atlanta following the game. Little did I know, they would not come back in the 1995 season.
The Braves scored four runs in the top of the tenth inning of Reds pitcher Mark Portugal to take a 6-2 lead. Mark Wohlers came in to shut the door in the bottom of the inning putting the Reds in a 2-0 hole in the race to four wins. Something I will never forget that night is Reggie Sanders striking out four times in the game, and ended his 1995 Playoff campaign hitting .138. In the back of my mind I never have forgiven Reggie for not putting the Reds on his back and carrying them to the World Series.
After the Reds were swept in 1995, they have not returned to the playoffs since. They came close in 1999, needing game #163 to decide the Wild Card as they played the New York Mets in a one game playoff, also at Riverfront Stadium (NOTE: It was really called Cinergy Field then, but to me it will always be Riverfront). I was in attendance that day with my dad as Al Leiter shut the Reds down and the Mets advanced on.
Tomorrow, I will make my return to the MLB playoffs as my buddy Craig and I drive to St. Louis to see the Los Angeles Dodgers take on the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the National League Division Series. This will be my second trip to the New Busch Stadium, but I am very excited to explore this place again. The first time I was there was just after the stadium opened, and some of the construction, like the left field upper deck seats, was not even opened yet.
Craig is a diehard Dodgers fan, and no doubt will have an old t-shirt on from his childhood that is faded with holes in it. Me? I will daydream the entire game picturing my favorite team, the Cincinnati Reds returning to the Major League Baseball Playoffs.
Please check back for my review of the new Busch and the NLDS.
