Courtesy Kentucky Post

(May 18, 2010) He has an uncanny knack for always getting it right. Marty Brennaman, the Reds' Hall of Fame play by play legend, has never blown the call of a big play during his 37 years on 700 WLW. Saturday night I had the chance to see the most recent one unfold in person.

The nuts and bolts of what happened have been well documented: Top of the 9th inning, Cincinnati clinging to a 4-2 lead over the Cardinals. Reds' closer Francisco Cordero, referred to in some circles as 'whole pack', is on the mound. 'Whole pack' conjuring up visions of a nervous smoker, who'll blaze through a 'whole pack' of cigarettes as Cordero does his high wire act.

Cordero lit the first one by yielding a single to David Freese. Chain smoking through numbers 2-5 when he wild pitched him to second. 5 through ten went up in smoke when Freese was chased to third base on Yadier Molina's ground out.

The pack's back 10 started to smoulder when Skip Schumaker singled home Freese to pull the Cardinals with a run at 4-3. Would this be another blown save and another huge crowd that went home with a bad GABP experience to relate?

As the sellout Civil Rights' Game crowd edged closer to the brim of its seats, Francisco ignited the final five 'nails' when he delivered a pitch to Joe Mather that the pinch hitter smoked into left field, buzzing into the padding on the wall. Whereupon it dropped like a dead duck. No bounce, no caroom, no nothing.

All of which Mr. Brennaman was recounting with his typical aplomb. To watch the play unfold and listen to Marty's call in such close proximity in the 700 WLW broadcast booth is to be within feet of Picasso and a canvas.

Marty related how Chris Heisey had to pick up the ball that had come to a dead stop on the warning track, wheel and throw, without benefit of a windup, a strike to shortstop Orlando Cabrera.

With that dart, Marty's timbre climbed to a slightly higher frequency. No shouting, no shrieking, nothing but pending excitement loomed in his voice. Cabrera pivoted and uncorked another dot in the general direction of home plate. As the ball approached, everyone in the stands and listening on the radio realized there was going to be a play at the plate.

As I'm watching catcher Ramon Hernandez field the ball and maneuver himself to fend off Schumaker's dash for the dish, breathing ceases. Same for everyone else. That is a natural reaction when watching two trains rushing toward each other on the same track. How Marty maintains his flow of words and thoughts as the unspeakable plays out, is professionalism of the first order.

It is nothing short of awesome to witness Marty Brennaman's flawless portrayal of the the unfolding events mingle with the last dissipating wafts of 'whole pack's' induced drama, as "This one belongs to the Reds."

Last night, no one did it better than Heisey, Cabrera and Hernandez. And for that one moment, they were in Marty Brennaman's league.

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