Cincinnati Reds Are World Champions



Photo from Jockpost


October 20, 1990:

Two hours after Cincinnati won the World Series, A's pitcher Dave Stewart walked onto the semidarkened field of the Oakland Coliseum and yelled in his squeakiest voice, " Jose Rijo, where are you, you star?" Rijo, still in uniform, had not tired of the celebration. He was still grinning, dancing, holding his 11-month-old son, Jose Jr., kissing his wife, Rosie, and hugging his father-in-law, Hall of Famer Juan Marichal.
Stewart, the 1989 World Series MVP, and Rijo, the 1990 World Series MVP, met five feet in front of home plate, which is about where Rijo's devastating slider had exploded all night. Rijo had defeated Stewart 2-1 to complete the Reds' sweep, but the Oakland ace embraced his former teammate, whispered in his ear, gave him his phone number and said, "You better call me this winter."
"I told Jose I loved him and I was very proud of him," Stewart said. "He's been through a lot. When you get traded, it's not a good feeling. He made the best of it. If we had to lose, I'm glad it was Jose Rijo who beat us."
Beat them twice, in fact, and allowed only one run in 15? innings. Rijo pitched seven shutout innings to win Game 1, and in the clincher gave up just two hits, struck out nine and retired 20 straight hitters before giving way to closer Randy Myers with one out in the ninth. "You could see it in Jose's eyes," said Cincinnati catcher Joe Oliver. "He was on a mission. That's the best I've ever seen him throw."
Said Reds reliever Norm Charlton, "We'll always remember that in the final game of the World Series he beat the team that got rid of him."

Box Score here.  For me, this is one of those I-remember-where-I-was moments.  I was watching the game at my grandparents' house when Todd Benzinger hauled in that final popup.  Grandpa would only be alive another few weeks, while grandma would live until this January.  My other grandma, who died in 2008, made me a hand-drawn poster which said something like:

Cincinnati Reds World Series Champions

October 20, 1990

We're #1

with all the ribbons and confetti-type stuff that cheerleaders put on pep rally signs (I may still have it around somewhere).  A guy dad worked with had won world series tickets in the lottery, had used games 1 and 2, and told dad we could get game 7.  This created quite the dilemma for me, as I wanted so badly to go to the game, but I didn't want to take the risk of jinxing the team in the deciding game.  Luckily, the Reds eased my burden by completing the sweep in Oakland.

I have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that a child born the day Jose Rijo shut down the A's is now legally able to purchase alcohol.  That is, until I started looking for a video clip of the final out.  Unfortunately, Major League Baseball seems to vigilantly protect it's copyrights.  However, there was this clip of Marge Schott, paying tribute to the soldiers then participating in Operation Desert Shield (or at least I think that's what she means to do):

I somehow remembered it as her honoring our troops in the Middle West, instead of Far East. I think maybe I got confused between what she actually said, and possibly the only thing she could have said which would have been more confused.

I also came across the awful Reds Hot video, which is only redeemed by the audio clips of Marty and Joe, and Randy Myers demonstrating how not to dance at 3:12. I'm glad they get the anti-drug message in there:



If there were any doubts about the time frame, check out Glenn Braggs' outfit in this interview about him breaking his bat when he swung and missed:



Hopefully, the Reds won't fall into a Cubs-style drought, and can possibly win another World Series in my lifetime.