Anderson Township Little League Opening Ceremonies

It was cold, windy and early, but Rich and Josh braved the weather and went to Josh's baseball opening ceremonies last Saturday morning.  The little league teams paraded around the park.  Josh is on the Mariners, but the biting wind made him keep his Stanford sweatshirt over his uniform.  Rosie the Red from the MLB Cincinnati Reds was there.  The league president spoke.  ATLL is the largest little league in Southern Ohio.  Who knew?  Then they brought out the big wigs, the real reason Josh and Rich were there:  MLB Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Joe Morgan and 'The Voice of the Reds', for the past 36 years, Marty Brennaman.  They listened a bit, took a few pictures, then Josh said his body was numb and he'd seen enough.  They came home for a hot breakfast and warm shower.  A morning of classic Cincinnati.  Good times.

Rosie the Red

Joe Morgan

Marty Brennaman

Joe Morgan Info:

Joe Leonard Morgan (born September 19, 1943) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. Morgan is currently a member of the Cincinnati Reds front office.


After joining The Big Red Machine in November 1971 after a trade, Morgan's career reached a new level. This includes eight consecutive All-Star Game appearances (1972–1979) to go along with his 1966 and 1970 appearances with Houston.


Morgan, along with teammates Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, and Dave Concepción, led the Reds to consecutive championships in the World Series. He drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, now ranked as one of the greatest World Series of all time. Morgan was also the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976. He was the first second baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP back to back.


Morgan was an extremely capable batter—especially in clutch situations. While his lifetime average was only .271, he hit between .288 and .327 during his peak years with the Reds. Additionally, he drew many walks, resulting in an excellent .392 on-base percentage. He also hit 268 home runs to go with 449 doubles and 96 triples, excellent power for a middle infielder of his era, and was considered by some the finest base stealer of his generation (689 steals at greater than 80% success rate). Besides his prowess at the plate and on the bases, Morgan was an exceptional infielder, winning the Gold Glove Award in consecutive years from 1972 to 1976.


After his career ended, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1987, and his jersey number 8 was retired. He was honored by the Reds by throwing out the 1st pitch at the Reds 1st spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark (in Arizona) on March 5, 2010.

Play Ball!