Joe Morgan Day at GABP

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan was honored with a statue sculpture of his likeness outside Great American Ball Park this past Saturday September 7th, 2013.  I was there, of course (and as always), for this Big Red Machine celebratory occasion.  The throng of humanity was so great and so dense for Joe Morgan Day that I was at no point on Saturday able to acquire a photo of said statue sculpture.  Watch this space for a future inclusion.  

Saturday morning I rode out of The Ranch at 8:45 a.m. in hopes of a ringside space to occupy for the 10 a.m. statue sculpture unveiling ceremony.  My stealthy progress was swift and devastating until I reached Mehring Way at 9:30 a.m. whereupon my advance ground to an emphatic halt by Joe Morgan Day gridlock.  It took me 20 minutes to creep from Elm St. to Joe Nuxhall Way, a distance of maybe 1500 feet, perhaps slightly more than a quarter mile, after which I was rewarded by paying $12 for the privilege of parking underneath the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  Exiting my Jeep Covert Operations Assault Vehicle I dashed [OK, I walked] for the stairwell and made my way rapidly [leisurely] up out of the humid depths of the Central Riverfront Parking Garage and into the brilliant sunlight and cloudless blue sky of autumnal Cincinnati.  Already the multitudes of Reds Country had surrounded the temporary dais near the intersection of Joe Nuxhall and Johnny Bench Ways.  This was the scene that greeted me at 9:55 a.m.:

Oh the humanity!

Scanning the theatre of operations for a commanding viewpoint, I made no delay in seizing the high ground in Crosley Terrace:

I wasn't kidding about the cloudless blue sky!

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman emceed the event and introduced one-by-one the members of the Great 8 [Rose, Bench, Perez, Foster, Griffey, Concepcion, Geronimo and of course Morgan] who took their seats alongside the still-veiled statue sculpture.  Thunderous applause welcomed each member of the Great 8, the longest and heartiest reserved for The Hit King Peter Edward Rose.  The speechifying that ensued was reverential, inspiring, and humorous.  I counted three references to Joe Morgan Honda located on Interstate 75 at exit 29 in Monroe and one reference to Joe Morgan wine [cue: Tanya O'Rourke!]

Before and during the ceremony, I photographed two pioneers of Cincinnati broadcast media:

700 WLW's Bill "Seg Man" Dennison (facing camera; sunglasses, lanyard) and also:

The silver-haired, silver-jacketed Nick Clooney, former long-time news anchor at WKRC channel 12 and father of an Hollywood actor of some alleged repute.

The statue sculpture was unveiled, more applause thundered up and down the Ohio river valley and then we assembled fans took up our places in line for the ballpark gates to open.  Projecting its message to all corners of Reds Country was this massive notice for Little Joe, prominently positioned overlooking Crosley Terrace:

The gates opened promptly at 11:01 a.m. and we Reds faithful (and a handful of Dodgers heathens) were showered with our gift (for the first 20,000 fans) of a Joe Morgan #8 t-shirt provided graciously by the Rawlings Company - they of the Golden Glove Award among so much else.  Like baseball gloves.  Once inside the ball orchard, Joe Morgan #8 t-shirt draped over one shoulder, I set about capturing the scene prior to the on-field portion of the day's celebration:

Drifting around to the third base side of the concourse, I ran head-long into the quartet signing that day's National Anthem:

The Mistics!  That's me in the middle.  I've been going to Reds games since the mid-1970s and attending dozens of Reds games each year since the mid-1980s and I am here to attest; The Mistics are, hands down, the all-time greatest singers of the National Anthem in Reds history!

I didn't get around to buying tickets for Joe Morgan Day until the week before, so I opted for old high school era stomping rounds - the very last row.  Here was my expansive view from Row V, Section 530, Seat 25:

I zoomed-in for a closer look at the summit of Mount Adams, Claudio's old neighborhood before he ditched Reds Country for the financial hubs of, first, Hub City and, now, The QC of NC:

I can just see my corner table in The Celestial from here.  Well, almost.  River traffic was brisk.  Viewed below, the Belle of Cincinnati steams past GABP:

Here we pause for a moment of silence in remembrance of the old Delta Queen.....

.....Thank you.  Next, check out the XL-length coal barge(s) being pushed up river:

As you might expect, I took a voluminous amount of photos of the on-field ceremony for Joe Morgan Day.  I'll share just a few:

The players of the Great 8 were announced individually by Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman (seen standing behind the podium on the dais) and the Great 8 stood in line (on the infield grass, in front of home plate) of their classic batting order.  In the photo above, Johnny Bench walks the red carpet, gesturing appreciatively to the crowd, on his way to joining his teammates.  Next up, Peter Edward Rose:

My Nikon Coolpix L12 captured the moment Pete Rose and Johnny Bench shook hands, something they haven't done on the field before a Big League game in Cincinnati since, oh, maybe Opening Day, 1978.  Once Joe Morgan was introduced and he took his place in the lineup, the Reds placed the image of them alongside their lineup from some 1970s postseason game of unknown description on the scoreboard:

Little Joe next proceeded to the podium where he made a heartfelt address to his biggest fans, his old teammates and the Reds organization:

After Joe's address, the Great 8 took their positions in the field - one wonders bittersweetly if this was to be for the last time - for Joe Morgan's ceremonial first pitch (below):

The 2013 Cincinnati Reds then went out and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in 10 innings, the winning run scored by pinch runner Billy Hamilton.