Cincinnati, Ohio -  While in town for a wedding, I was able to sneak away for a few hours to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. A tribute to the oldest professional team in baseball. 

 

 

Appropriately enough, the hall is built just a few feet from the spot where Pete Rose belted his 4,192^nd hit.    

 

A stroke that made him baseball's hit king. Equally as poetic, a patch of rose bushes grow in what was the left field at Riverfront Stadium, later dubbed Cinergy Field for the local power utility.

I was immediately greeted by the statue to baseball's greatest catcher, Johnny Bench. He literally re-defined the position. In courtyard named Crosley Terrace, sandwiched between the stadium, team offices/ticket windows and the Great American Ballpark, were statues for several other Reds greats.  

 

 

Ted Kluszewski, complete with his trademarked sleeveless jersey waited on deck. Nearby Joe Nuxhall, the boy-wonder turned broadcaster, was stationed on the mound pitching to Frank Robinson who was batting and another Reds great Ernie Lombardi set up behind the plate.

 

Joe Morgan, the perennial second baseman for the Big Red Machine, was a recent addition. A strategic Pete Rose statue is expect to be placed in the next couple years.

As you enter the hall, you'll find the eras of the Reds from1869 to today. Logically progression through the history of the team, documented with a prominent artifacts and memorabilia. The story builds as you wind through the rooms. 

 

Near the “Rose Garden” was a back stairway. This room commemorated each of Pete Rose's historic hits. A collection that climbs three floors. Pete of course isn't allowed to be highlighted in the hall, as a condition of his banishment from baseball. But, the museum has carefully selected ways to honor his contributions in less official ways. 

 

There's a section for hometown players. Those guys who came from Cincinnati or nearby. There's also stadium models of Crosley Field and the Palace of Fans. 

 

Finally a room that honors the championship teams complete with hardware from the 1975, 1976 and 1990 teams. Nearby life sized bronzed statues of the starters from THE Big Red Machine are immortalized.

 

The tour is brought to a peak with the radio commentary Reds announcers offsetting gallery of more than 60 Hall of Famers.