Top 10 Baseball games I ever attended: #7

May 22, 1990: Reds vs. Cubs

T1: Sabo F8, Hatcher HBP, O'Neill F7, Davis K
B1: Walton 1B, Sandberg FC, Grace 1B(7-5), Dawson IBB, McClendon F8
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

The Reds are off to a hot start ... 26-9 coming into this game. This great record is apparently in spite of manager Lou Pinella's propensity for intentionally walking guys in the first inning. Guess Lou is expecting a low-scoring game here.

T2: Morris K, Quinones BB, Oliver K, Oester 3U
B2: Salazar P6, Dunston 2B, Wrona K, Bielecki K
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

How about that? Mike Bielecki started two of the best 10 games I ever saw (see #8). Ironically, one was for the Cubs and one was against. I was more excited to see the Reds starter, Tom Browning who was always one of my favorites. He had broken in with the Reds in 1985, finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year race and helped turn around the Reds from doormats to contenders.

T3: Browning K, Sabo BB(CS), Hatcher F8
B3: Walton 5-3, Sandberg F9, Grace F8
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

It was a tumultuous time following the Reds back then. The year before, the whole Pete Rose debacle blew up. He was banned from baseball in August 1989. Far worse than that, Marge Schott was "running" the team which of course consisted of: firing all scouts ("Because all they do is sit around all day and watch baseball.") and pinching pennies whereever possible, such as not paying the $200 a game to run the out of town scoreboard ("Why would anyone care about some other game when they're watching this one?")

T4: O'Neill 1B, Davis BB, Morris 4-6-3, Quinones P6
B4: Dawson 6-3, McClendon F7, Salazar F9
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

But 1990 was sort of a sweet spot in between the Rose years and the Schott-induced Geländemarsch to pitifulness ... where they have resided pretty much for the last decade. The 26-9 start had been led by great pitching. Browning and Jose Rijo were the expected studs of the staff, but this was the year of Jack Armstrong. Armstrong had the half-season of his life at the beginning of 1990, being named to start the All-Star game after a 9-3 start. He only won three games after the break, but his first half played a large role in getting the Reds into the playoffs for the first time since 1979.

T5: Oliver 4-3, Oester F7, Browning 1B, Sabo 5-3
B5: Dunston F8, Wrona 6-3, Bielecki 1-3
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Browning had retired 11 straight at this point. He is, of course, most famous for the time he retired 27 straight as part of the only perfect game thrown by a Reds pitcher. There have only been 17 perfect games in MLB history. Browning got the only one against a team that went on to win the World Series w/ a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers on 9/16/88.

T6: Hatcher 2B, O'Neill 4-3, Davis 5-3, Morris 5-3
B6: Walton 1B, Sandberg FC, Grace F7, Dawson F7
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

tbKMD had joined Dolberry for this game. She won our traditional attendance guess ... only missing the announced crowd of 29,860 by 129 people. We were both grad students at the time, though heading in opposite directions. tbKMD was excelling in the Pharmacology program at prestigious Northwestern University ... Dolberry was flailing though Geophysical Science at U. of Wewillcallyoueverymonthuntilyoudieorgiveusmoney.

T7: Quinones 4-3, Oliver 2B, Oester 3U, Browning K
B7: McClendon P6, Salazar 5-3, Dunston 2B, Wrona IBB, Bielecki K
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Baseball strategy has changed a lot in the last 18 years. Nowadays, I would think many managers would have pulled Browning for a pinch hitter w/ the go-ahead run in scoring position in the 7th. Thankfully, Sweet Lou let Browning bat. Unfortunately, the gratuitous intentional walk has remained a staple of the game. Pinella bypassed the catcher who hit .172 on the season, and would be sent down to the minors for the rest of the year only one week later, to get to the pitcher who hit .163 on the season. Why Lou? Why?

T8: Sabo 6-3, Hatcher 5-3, O'Neill K
B8: Walton P6, Sandberg 2B, Grace 3-1, Dawson IBB, McClendon 5-3
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Even though the score was 0-0, the whole park had to sense that the Reds had the Cubs right where they wanted them. 1990 was the year of the Nasty Boys. The triumverate of Randy Myers, Rob Dibble, and Norm Charlton gave the Reds one of the most potent bullpens of all-time. Between the three of them they pitched 339 innings that year, gave up only 261 hits and struck out 351.

T9: Davis K, Morris 4-3, Quinones F7
B9: Salazar F8, Dunston P3, Wrona K
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Browning came out of the game after 9 innings. (Bielecki stayed in and finished the 10th.) In doing the research for this article, I found out Tom Browning had written a book entitled: Tom Browning's Tales from the Reds Dugout. It was selling for 7 cents (!) on Amazon so I bought it. (Shipping was $3.99 but still ...). Look for a book review on the DCV some time in the future. Hooray!

T10: J. Reed 1B, Oester Sac, Larkin K, Sabo 4-3.
B10: Dascenzo K, Walton F9, Sandberg F9
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Am guessing that Larkin didn't start this game because the next day was an off day and Barry had played every game so far in 1990. This year and 1999 were the only two years of his career that were injury-free for the Reds great hometown hero. If I had to make a list of my all time favorite Reds it would look like this: 5 - Eric Davis, 4- Ken Griffey Jr., 3 - Johnny Bench, 2 - Barry Larkin, 1 - Joe Morgan.

T11: Hatcher F7, O'Neill K, Davis 1B, Benzinger P4
B11: Grace E5, Dawson 1B, McClendon K, Salazar IBB, Dunston K, D. Smith K
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Dibble bailed out Charlton w/ the two K's there in the 11th. Sweet Lou put a little extra pressure on him w/ his fourth order of a free pass (to Luis Salazar?!?!?). I listen to Dibble on my XM satellite radio sometimes on the bus ride home. For a guy who broke into the league like a wild stallion ... one time hitting a woman in the upper deck w/ a ball thrown in anger ... he's fairly reasonable to listen to on the radio. Guess he's going to be the color commentator for the Nationals this year ... which is sure to be an exercise in patience.

T12: Quinones 1B, Reed Sac, Oester L5, Roomes K
B12: Wynne K, Walton BB, Sandberg K, Grace BB, Dawson IBB, McClendon 4-6.
(Reds 0, Cubs 0)

Intentional walk #5. Third of the day to Dawson who will tie Roger Maris' mark for most IBB's in a game if he gets another one. Lloyd McClendon had a rough day ... 0 for 6 and he left nine runners stranded. This earned him a frowny face from tbKMD in the scorebook, but it presumably prepared him a bit for the frustration he would face in later life managing the Pirates for five years.

T13: Sabo HR, Hatcher 4-3, O'Neill 1B(8-6), Davis 6-3
B13: Salazar HR, Dunston F8, Girardi K, Wilkerson K
(Reds 1, Cubs 1)

You have got to be kidding me! Randy Myers gives up a HR to Luis Salazar? (Lou, you should have walked him!) DCV Teaser: There's another game coming up in the countdown where Myers gave up a HR at Wrigley and something interesting happens. Stay tuned.

T14: Benzinger F7, Quinones 1B(SB), Reed 4-3, Oester IBB, Griffey Sr. 4-3
B14: Walton 6-3, Sandberg BB(PB), Grace F8, Dawson IBB, D. Clark K
(Reds 1, Cubs 1)

1990 was the year the Reds swept the vaunted Oakland A's in the World Series. Jose Rijo pitched like a madman (15 IP, 1 ER, 2 wins) and Billy Hatcher got 9 hits in 12 at bats; but for me the hero of that series will always be Eric Davis who hit a 2-run HR in Game 1 that propelled the sweep. In Game 4 of that series he lacerated his kidney trying to make a diving catch. While the rest of the Reds were celebrating their title, Davis was in an Oakland hospital. The story goes that the Reds made him pay for his trip home from the hospital, since the season was over.

T15: Sabo 1-3, Hatcher F9, O'Neill 4-3
B15: Salazar BB(SB), Dunston P2, Girardi K, Ramos F8
(Reds 1, Cubs 1)

The game ended up being the third longest game of the entire 1990 season. One of oldest baseball bromides is that "if you go to a game you are sure to see something that you've never seen before". In this game we saw something that had never HAPPENED before and has never happened since ... a player be intentionally walked 5 times in a game. After leaving 20 men on base over 15 innings, the Cubs finally capitalized in the 16th.

T16: Davis F9, Benzinger K, Quinones 1B, Reed 4-6
B16: Walton K, Sandberg 1B, Grace E6, Dawson IBB, Clark 1B

Final: Cubs 2, Reds 1