Place No. 59: Reds Hall of Fame and Museum

The Cincinnati Reds have the best baseball museum not located in Cooperstown.

It’s not even close.

Josh Pahigian takes us to Great American Ballpark – more specifically, the team’s Hall of Fame and Museum – as spot No. 59 in the “101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out.”

The museum would be glorious enough just for displaying Tom Seaver’s jersey and his Reds Hall of Fame plaque. But the team created an interactive world that allows fans to learn about history and participate in it, too.

Great American was the host for the 2007 and 2008 BaseballTruth Executive Games, and earned a special place in my heart when the infamous Streak of Shame was snapped there last year.

We toured the museum just after it opened. It’s in a free-standing building next to the stadium, and admission was free with our ticket, though the team added an admission fee last year.

The first thing we saw upon entering is the massive 1976 World Series pennant. If you listened closely, you could still hear the Yankees weeping from the four-game spanking the Big Red Machine dropped on the Bronx that year.

That’s a pretty good start. And then things got better.

The hall’s first temporary exhibit was called “PETE!” and my companions openly speculated it will still be the temporary exhibit when they bring their grand kids to games years from now.

The Queen City appears to be obsessed with Pete Rose, which is something considering he’s not allowed to enter the ballpark without buying a ticket.

And that’s OK with me. We all have our heroes, and sometimes they are flawed. Even Tom bounced his ceremonial pitch when he closed out Shea.

There was a nice collection of Rose jerseys, bats and balls and his story filled the whole lower level before walking you down a corridor to windows that show the Rose Garden. A white rose bush shows where his record-breaking hit landed.

Then we moved upstairs where things got exciting. Turning a corner we came to a section of outfield wall with a bin of baseball gloves. And not just modern gloves – you could try on a glove from just about any era, even some sweet fingerless models.

The idea, of course, is to pose for photos making spectacular Endy catches, which we did many times over.

A few more steps revealed a batting cage, then a pitchers mound where people threw toward a wall with a painting of an umpire.

Embedded in the wall was an umpire’s mask, and from the other side you could look through and decided whether pitches were balls or strikes. I took one off the mask, and it was pretty scary.

And, appropriately, near the pitching cage was the tribute to some of the greatest Reds hurlers. Shining like a beacon to all that is good in life was the glorious Seaver jersey.

We were standing in awe – well, I was standing in awe and my friends humored me by standing by – and a Reds fan walked past, looked at the jersey and said, “Look, it’s a ‘onesy’ like a baby wears.

”“What?”

“Look at the way it’s in the frame. It looks like it has leg holes like a onesy.”

If someone wants to have a little fun at the Rob Dibble display, I’m all for it. But disparaging remarks about the No. 41 hanging there was just unacceptable. He got “the look” then moved along.

After a period of recovery and extended reverence, we moved along to a dugout display, where there was a section of the bench from Riverfront Stadium and a statue of Sparky Anderson leaning on the rail.



Even more life-sized statues were a few feet away, depicting “The Great Eight” celebrating a win, with the three most recent Reds World Series trophies.

There were also displays to assorted Reds greats – like Johnny Bench – and individual achievements – like Tom Browning’s perfect game. A broadcast both allowed fans to make the call on a number of moments in Reds history.

Then came the actual Hall of Fame plaques, which was anticlimactic compared to the rest of the vibrant museum. There were just plaques suspended on wires from floor to ceiling.

Naturally, Seaver is a member. I’m still waiting for the White Sox and Red Sox to extend the honor.

The Hall leads you down a stairway into a gift shop dominated by a massive World Series trophy.

I was so hoping the Mets would do something like this when they opened Citi Field. Of course, they didn’t. But there’s plenty of space in that parking lot for a museum, and it took the Reds several years to get this gem open after the stadium debut.

Maybe the Mets will take care of business in time for Josh to update the book.

Baseball Place No. 45: Joe DiMaggio's Italian Chophouse; and 45A) Montgomery Inn

There’s no truth to the rumor that we tried to open the frame holding a Tom Seaver Reds jersey at the famous Montgomery Inn so we could rub our hands on its polyester glory.

Oh, sure, we contemplated it. That was back in 2002 at we embarked on our second BaseballTruth.com Executive Game, taking in games in Dayton and then Riverfront – OK, Cinergy Field, if you insist -- in its final year.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Josh Pahigian is taking us to Joe DiMaggio’s Italian Chophouse in San Francisco for spot No. 45 in his “101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out.”

Damned if I know why.

It’s not like DiMaggio ever set foot in the place. He died in 1999, and the restaurant opened in 2006.

The company owns it specializes in celebrity themed restaurants. Josh says this is the most upscale of the company’s places. It sounds like the memorabilia consists of old photographs.

Snore.

I’m starting to doubt Josh’s cred as a Red Sox fan. He seems to be bending over backward to list Yankee shrines, even pretend ones like this.

Naturally, I have no intention of checking out this place, so I’m offering up:

Alternative Place No. 45A) Montgomery Inn, Montgomery , Ohio

Like I was saying, we headed to Cincy for our second Executive Game, and Will noted that it would only be proper to start our adventure at the most famous rib place in the state.

And while there are several Montogmery Inns now – and even concession stands in Great American Ballpark – Will insisted that we needed to dine at the original, where Ted “Rib King” Gregory first concocted the amazing sauce to coat the pork.

After picking up Scott, we headed over to Montgomery, a Cincinnati suburb. The restaurant is kind of unassuming on the outside. But the interior is a spectacular show of wall-to-wall framed jerseys, most of them signed.

It’s almost hard to hold a conversation in the place because my eyes were constantly drifting some new treasure revealed above someone else’s table.

The waitress came and took our orders, and both Will and Scott requested a side of Gregory’s special sauce and suggested I do the same. Don’t the ribs come covered in sauce?
We dined at the Montgomery Inn concession stand at Great American last year. This is a pulled-pork sandwich, with an extra container of sauce, of course.

The side cup was for dipping, they replied. Of course, they were correct because that sauce is amazing. I was dipping the chips and bread, and would have probably dipped my salad, too, had I saved some.

The one slight disappointment was that I didn’t see a jersey for the greatest played every to step on a mound wearing a Reds home uniform, and that would be Tom Seaver. Everyone else was there.

But why would I doubt? Tom was in a place of prominence, a high-traffic area near the door. Alas, it was well-protected from out sauce-stained fingers.

We had a great time in Dayton, and I don’t think any of us hit a concession stand for food after our Montgomery Inn visit.

And Cinergy/Riverfront the next day was a thrill. It was looking almost Shea-like with its outfield seats removed and the new park rising just beyond the wall.

There was much joy when I discovered bottles of Montgomery Inn sauce in my local supermarket.

I confess that when I’m grilling at home, I fill a little cup with sauce and take it out to the grill with a slice of bread, dipping away as dinner cooks.

The Executive Board gathering in 2002: Will, Scott, me, Steve and Jim.

Baseball Place No. 38: Crosley Field Replica

Finally, Josh Pahigian and I are on the same page.

We’ve had alternative places going all the way back to the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, spot No. 18 in the “101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out.”

I actually like most of my places more than his, but that’s OK.

But here we are, enjoying the same place once again, No. 38, The Crosley Field Replica in Blue Ash, Ohio.

The Reds abandoned Crosley midway through the 1970 season, and only a plaque and some seats mark its location at the corner of Findlay and Western.

But folks in the suburb of Blue Ash decided that just wasn’t going to do. The Blue Ash Sports Center includes a field created to Crosley’s dimensions, even adding the famous 4-foot incline along the outfield wall.

Created in 1988, the park has some real Crosley seats to add authenticity. But what seals the deal is the five-story scoreboard, an exact replica of the original.

It’s got the ads and Longines “official watch,” but also the lineups and out-of-town scores from June 24, 1970 when the Reds beat the Giants 5-4 for their last game there.

The original, from Opening Day 1957.

The lineup that day included Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, and the Giants fielded Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.

And the scores show the Mets forever beating the Cubs, in a doubleheader, with Tom Seaver getting the victory in the first game and Nolan Ryan in the second.

Only the line score changes, because this is a working scoreboard for recreation leagues. What I wouldn’t give to trot my coed softball team out there!

The park also is recreating a field that mirrors Riverfront Stadium’s specifics, too. But that’s not as quirky, and there no way they could recreate the electric message boards, though some might pine for the dot races.

I do confess that the closest I’ve gotten to this marvel is in the car, catching a glimpse as Will and I headed to Reds games. But I’m sure we’ll head back, and next time we’ll be sure to check out the park – maybe even bring the Wiffle Balls!