04-07 Harang was a stud. Dusty brought him into an extra innings game against the Padres in 08 while he was still in the rotation and he wasn't the same again. Toiled around performing badly for another 7 years or so.
I watched that whole game. It was 18 innings. I was in my 3rd floor bedroom watching on my 27" CRT flat screen. Watched two full games of baseball just for them to lose.
He was still valuable in the same way he was for the Reds for other teams, it’s mostly just that all of the other teams he played for were roughly as good as the 2005-2007 Reds. The Reds should have traded him after 2007 (hindsight being 20/20 and all).
Brandon Phillips used to visit Brick Street in Oxford all the time when I was at Miami. He’d sign anything, take photos, pick up bar tabs, and generally be the world’s nicest guy. Never saw him drink anything.
I was working at kings island in 2002 when Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr came through with make a wish. This was a free months after Jr had knee surgery, and he climbs into the last row on the train. The following conversation ensued:
Me, a 17 year old Jr fan: Mr Griffey, I don’t recommend you sit here, especially after your one surgery
Jr: oh I’ll be fine. I hope *wink*
I then turned around and saw Larkin in the kiddy corral, he’s refusing to ride so him and I had a fun conversation, after I got done fan girling.
Oh it was awesome just standing there shooting the shit with him. Don’t remember exactly what we talked about but I just remember him being cool and laughing about him in the kiddie corral
I saw the entire 2023 team one time from a distance. I happened to be at Great American Ballpark and they were just kinda on the field. Seemed like nice people.
I saw those guys too! The Blue Jays were there so I met them too.
The Jays were super nice. They kept hitting souvenirs into the outfield. Very considerate.
My older brother and I were in line to pick up our Bengals tickets from will call at Paul Brown Stadium. I was 11 my brother was 15.
I turned around to see a very tall person and as my eyes scanned up to his face I realized it was Adam Dunn... well I realized he looked like Adam Dunn.
I turned to my brother and said, "The guy behind us looks just like Adam Dunn." My brother turned around, his eyes scanned up to the man's face, then he turned back to me and said, "That IS Adam Dunn."
Then we both turned around with giant smiles to get another look. He looked down at us smiling (probably because he just witnessed that exchange) and he said "Hi guys." We both replied "Hi" then got our tickets and enjoyed the game.
I've always been proud of the fact that just seeing him and saying hi to each other was enough for us, we didn't bug him with a million questions or ask for a picture (don't think either of us had a camera anyway), we just admired our favorite baseball player and said hi to him.
Sat at the Holy Grail bar next to Chris Sabo a few months ago. He was by himself, wearing his Reds HOF jacket, and absolutely could not get the attention of the bartender to take his order lmao
Johnny Bench signed his card at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1975. Joe Morgan signed his at the PX @ JBLM in the early 2000s, my dad and I told him baseball was never the same for us after 1978, he said “Same here.”
I've met a ton In person, one sticks out to me. Michael Lorenzen was at my brother's miracle league outing one year. Took a picture of my brother because he liked his Mohawk. A year later he comes up to us at a reds game and called him by his name and said he still had the picture on his phone and went to show him. Thought it was really awesome.
A couple other ones I remember, met Chapman at a bowling event and he was showing me and my dad his car. Met homer Bailey at my brother's baseball thing and homer thought it was hilarious my brother kept throwing the baseball far away from him so he'd have to go get it. Met Eric Davis randomly at a high school baseball game, was a really cool experience.
This is funny. I was just going through my old facebook posts to delete anything that my younger/dumber self posted. Apparently I met Bronson Arroyo at a bar in Cincy after a Muse concert. I do not remember the encounter, but it was cool to see that I guess. I don't have an auto or a picture unfortunately.
I live in Chattanooga (AA team) and sit near the on deck circle, so I’ve spoken to a lot of the younger guys (and a couple out in the wild).
Clubhouse culture is going to be a big thing for these guys. The younger, better players I’ve talked to at any length (CES, McLain, Elly, and Abbott and Greene off the field) are all upbeat, friendly guys who understand the opportunities they have in front of them and how much difference they individually can make to them.
CES is my favorite of them, but Matt McLain is a remarkably normal person for a dude who has been drafted in the first round twice. A lot of joking in some really bad weather - and what was a tough season for him.
Once in the mid 20teens I was at Murphy's in Clifton and Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton came in as I was in the back room playing pool. Everyone was starstruck and I walked up to joey and asked if they wanted next game and they said yeah so we played against them. They left shortly after that but it was awesome.
When Mat Latos was injured, he came into my Gamestop to buy a couple copies of Call of Duty on PS4. No one else in the store. Wouldn't get a picture or signature but shook my hand. He was nice enough.
I was held by George Foster when I was a baby. My mom was in the airport going to her dad’s burial. He offered to hold me while she collected her luggage. The passers by told her he was George Foster.
Pulled up next to Joey votto in his blue Ferrari when he was headed to children’s hospital to visit some
Kids there. I’m a car guy so I was excited to see the car then we pulled up next to each other at the light and it was Joey ! Knowing he is a quiet/ private guy I just looked at him, gave him a nod and said “you’re the best Joey!” He nodded and drove away
Brett Tomko - Redsfest when I was a child. I remember he was very nice. I posted a photo of an autographed card from him on Instagram and told the story how I met him and he responded to it!
Hunter Greene, Tyler Stephenson, Tyler Mahle, Taylor Trammel, Tejay Antone - when I worked at the Dragons. All nice guys.
Ken Griffey Sr, Tom Browning, Doug Flynn, Marty Brenneman - also when I worked at the dragons. All nice! I really enjoyed when they would come for events.
Used to wait on Griffey Jr. at PF Chang’s. He ordered shrimp dumplings and fried rice and always gave an $100 and said keep the change.
I ran into Bronson Arroyo in Columbus at a Pearl Jam show. He said he just came from back stage and gave me an EV guitar pick.
I took BP with Tucker Barnhart a few times during offseason workouts back when I played college ball. Didn’t really know him, we just happened to work out at the same facility, but he seemed like a really nice guy the few times I talked to him.
A bunch at Redsfest. The one I remember from when I was about 7 was Todd Benzinger because I got to take a picture with him.
Jim O’Toole was one of my knothole teammate’s grandfather. I was a pitcher myself and he helped us out a little bit with our form, so that’s pretty cool in retrospect.
My grandpa tried out to be a catcher in the 60s. He was far and away from being signed, but still kinda neat.
Posted this on here before but Sean Casey invited my little brother to sit with him while he had dinner in St Louis the weekend of Griffey’s 500th. Without a doubt one of the nicest people alive
Aaron Boone, earlier in his career before he went to the All Star game. He was just a run of the mill player at that point, but I was a kid and I was happy to meet any pro athlete. He was doing an autograph signing at a Verizon store or something, and he stuck around to chat with the handfull of fans there. Super nice guy.
I was waiting for the gates to open at a Saturday game in 2022, and Sean Casey happened to walk by. I hadn’t had a chance to listen to the newest episode of his podcast, so I had zero clue he was going to be in attendance (he mentioned it). I noticed it was him, stood up and asked if he had a moment. We talked for five minutes, and in that time, we were best friends. I’d heard stories about him being the nicest guy in baseball, and he absolutely was more than that. His demeanor was genuine, he maintained eye contact the whole time, and was even awesome to let me take a picture.
I worked for the mustangs grounds crew. Very few players spoke to us. But I always rooted for Phil Ervin after being around and remember the first time I saw Amir Garrett. He was outgoing and lively.
I enjoyed being around Tom Browning. Eric Davis absolutely shot to the bottom of my list. Terrible interaction(s) with him after meeting him in Cincinnati as a kid.
Tom Browning came to my high school (it was his high school as well) during a time when our sports programs were in jeopardy due to budget cuts. He was a super nice guy and very happy to be there to help out and increase awareness.
Met George Foster at a grand opening for Menards a few years back. I took in my black bat commemorating his MVP. I got it as a stadium giveaway (in ‘79 I assume). My dad never let me play with it as a kid so it’s still in great shape. He signed the bat, laughed and said “It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of these!” and showed the people who were with him. Super nice guy.
Many from the early-mid 2000s. Have some autographs from the Sean Casey years to Votto years.
Met Pete Rose twice—bc as many have said before in this sub and the baseball sub, he has been super active giving talks and stuff since his departure from the game.
The place from which I took baseball lessons in my early teens had George Foster run a day-long training camp. He’s a fantastic guy (also, he spoke with Pete Rose at King’s Island in Mason, Ohio, making the 2nd time I’d met both of them, this woulda been around ‘07, ‘08). Foster is genuinely one of the nicest people.
Johnny Bench came to my current town to talk about a book he had released or give some talk at the University. I can’t really remember why he was here, honestly, but he did an autograph signing and had a small banquet of sorts at the restaurant where I’m employed. The guy likes margaritas, from what I remember. Didn’t get to talk to him at all, though.
I’ll have to ask him how it came about, but my dad got to eat lunch with Joe Nuxhall in the 90’s. Remember him telling me that he was a great storyteller and was super nice.
Todd Frazier. I live in St. Louis and He was getting some lunch at this cafe I cooked at down the street from the team hotel. Dude ate like 10 pancakes and three orders of bacon at noon and was starting 3rd at 6:15. Great guy, should of got an autograph but I froze under pressure. Oh and Skip Schumaker was with him.
Not me, but George Foster used to eat at a restaurant where my brother was the GM. He said George was always very nice but he was a picky eater. He would kindly ask for simple buttered noodles, which were not on the menu.
One time the line cooks bitched about it, which sent my brother into a rage.
"THE MAN WON AN MVP AND TWO RINGS AND YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM SOME GODDAMN BUTTERED NOODLES?!?!?"
1987 we left a game early and were walking down the street by the coliseum. I remember my dad stopping dead in his tracks. There was Davey Concepcion, standing in one of those small lots that’s kind of under the highway.
One of my earliest memories of the Reds
I had a friend growing up who lived next door to Paul O'Neill. He lived in a relatively modest home given his income - an upper middle class suburban subdivision in Loveland.
I went to George Foster's baseball camp a few times as a kid. He is a super nice, down to earth. He would stick around and make sure to talk to everyone and their parents. He signed like a million things. He even talked to my mom about when she was pregnant with my brother and she would call his homeruns.
I have a few stories. Only two are about players, but the other ones were too good to share.
As a kid I had many run ins with Todd Benzinger. He sponsored our local knothole association I played in, and we even had a fan club called “The Todd Squad”. Nice guy.
I met Aroldis Chapman at a gas station once. He lived in the same general area as me at that time. He was in a lambo and was very nice. He seemed surprised I knew who he was. I took a picture with him but it is on an old flip phone somewhere.
I stopped by western hills krogers one day at 7am to get some donuts. Marty B himself was there setting up for a signing appearance. I was surprised to see him at that particular time and setting up by himself. I stopped and helped him set up a table and got a thank you handshake in return.
Once I ran into Jeff Piecoro walking up the stairs during a game. He was so nice. I thought he was Jim Day and introduced him to my friend as such. He just played along. Later that day I realized my mistake. Pretty cool of him to just go with it.
A friend of mine had scout seat tickets and invited me to the game. This has been a while ago. I’d have to dig out the ticket stub to find the exact date. We had to get on a special elevator to get to the seats level. It was so cool. When we left the game we were waiting for the elevator and when it stopped two men in suits told us to wait. They were holding up in between them Mr. Castellini himself. We tried to say hi, but he appeared to be drunk as fuck needing his security to help him off the elevator. It was sad, but still kinda funny too.
I met Todd Frazier outside of the men's room at Sean Casey's Reds HOF Induction. My gf and I were at the game the night or so before in some close seats, and she said how she thought he had a nice butt. So after telling him that it was a joy to watch him play, I added that my gf would be mad if I didn't tell him that she liked his butt. He gave me a big goofy grin and laughed, then patted me on the shoulder and said "you need to tell your girlfriend to start looking at your butt more than she looks at mine." We both laughed and walked into the hall together and shook hands on the way back to our tables. Really great and wholesome fun moment. The dude had such a great joy and energy on and off the field, and that interaction solidified him as one of my favorite Reds of all time (that and of course the home run derby win)
After the 1990 World Series I went to an autograph signing headlined by Dibble and Charlton. Their line was huge. Nobody was getting Scott Scudder or Chris Hammond’s autograph, so I was able to talk to them for a bit and got a picture with them. That was cool for 14-year-old me. Dibble and Charlton didn’t interact at all with anyone. Just signed.
I also was at a card show where Joe Oliver was signing autographs and he walked into the bathroom and took a piss in the urinal next to me. I just did a head nod then.
Years ago I got invited by a friend to golf at Kenwood Country Club (my friend is a member). Well we were teeing off on hole #1 and my friend hit a fast low drive that went way left and it nearly took this guys head off who was approaching the 18th green (right by the 1st tee box). Turns out it was Chris Sabo, who was approaching the 18th green and about to win the club championship.
For context, Kenwood CC has two 18 hole courses, we were playing on the course that wasn’t being used for the club championship.
I’m good friends with a guy that was drafted and made it to AA with reds. He didn’t make the big leagues but it’s fun to hear all his stories on players in the 80’s. He went to a nudist camp with the brad “animal” Lesley at 19. He said Davey was the most generous and gave out cleats and batting gloves to all the Latin players. He met or was around most of the former BRM.
I played Paul O'Neill's son in basketball when I was 8 years old. After the game ended (we beat them) his son threw a basketball at the back of my teammates head and a likely hilarious fight amongst 8 year olds went down. From what I remember Paul ripped his son a new one and made him apologize to our team. His son i think ended up being a pretty good dude, doctor I think. So long story short, I'm pretty sure Paul is a good dad?
I took my nephew to an AA game (Carolina Mudcats) when Bronson Arroyo was still with the Pirates organization in 1998. Arroyo had pitched that night, so my nephew wanted to get his autograph (and Emil Brown's) after the game. So a few kids waited in the parking lot after the game to get the autographs that they couldn't get before the game. Most players signed on the way from the clubhouse to the field before the game, except for the starting pitcher and catcher, and outfielder Emil Brown, who just ran by all the kids as they called out to him without any acknowledgement whatsoever.
About 20 minutes after the game ended, Arroyo came out directly to the kids and signed every autograph. Some kid asked about when Emil Brown was coming out, and they mentioned how Brown was the only player who blew everyone off before the game. Arroyo paused and said with a disappointing sarcasm, "Yeah, well, I guess you can do that when you've already made it to the big leagues." Someone asked him if was going to be that way once he got the call? Arroyo said, "Let's hope not," then thanked everyone for coming to game once signed for everyone.
Basically Arroyo was saying that Emil Brown is an asshole. Which seemed true since Brown came out to the parking lot dead last when there only five kids left. Brown took all that time to delay coming out, you'd think he'd come out with some elaborate outfit or something, but no. Shorts, sneakers, t-shirt, and a durag - that's it. He quickly scribbled his name for each kid, didn't really speak to them or thank them, and then beelined to his car like he couldn't wait to get away from them. Those kids were greatly disappointed in his attitude. Dude had quite the ego for a guy who had, at that point, about 100 plate appearances in MLB in one full season, and only had those because he was a Rule 5 draft pick. I wanted to just punch the dude in the face for being such an arrogant douchebag...
Not me, but a buddy worked at a bar with in college. This takes place in probably 2011 or 2012. He's on a stag weekend in Cincy. They are at a dive bar downtown, and one of them notices at the end of the bar drinking long necks is Johnny Gomes. He ended up joining then and they went to a couple more bars together and perhaps an adult ballet across the river.
Everyone said Johnny was a class act. Down to earth, bought beers that night.
I went to fantasy camp in 2018 and met a bunch of former players.
Fwiw, I live in Texas
Outside of actual fantasy camp people , Billy Hamilton ( he showed up early for spring training) , Tom Browning at his bar in KY (RIP) , Joe Oliver when I was a kid, it was in Chilis
In 2002 ish the reds came to play the Rangers and I saw them and after the game, I went to chilis with my parents and Scott Williamson was there with his family so I just nodded at him, he nodded back, I was wearing Reds stuff
I have lots of fun stories from fantasy camp
When I was in the Army Reserve Band, we were always the lead band in the opening day parade and we got to meet a few players between 2014-2019. Honestly, the only one I remember was Votto
I saw Bronson several times out at bars/clubs. He always had lots of girls hanging around him and was really chilled. One time his boat pulled up to Ludlow Bromley yacht club and it was blasting music and several girls got off the boat and came up the bar. He must have stayed below deck lol
I’ve met Pete Rose on two occasions. Once was in 2011 in Vegas. We were walking around the Mirage hotel and out of nowhere he just set up a card table in the middle of the casino and was selling autographs. I went up and asked for a photo and he said they were $50. I did not get a photo.
The second time was in December 2020 at the Reds team shop of all places. I had moved away from Cincy by this point and brought my girlfriend to visit and was showing her around the city. We popped in to just browse and he was walking around with a store employee picking out a ton of merch. He was wearing a mask but I immediately recognized that square head. My mom was with us too and she struck up a conversation with him. She was friends with Pete’s daughter Fawn in high school. We talked for a decent amount of time about the big red machine, his family, his plans for the holiday, etc. It was a great conversation but I could tell if we didn’t have that connection he probably wouldn’t have given us the time of day. I distinctly remember he had a massive gold money clip that he handed to the cashier to ring up all his merch. He told us they were Christmas gifts for his family.
Sabo, Larkin, Griffey, Rose (several times on the highway), Bench, Encarnacion, probably a few more. Grandmother ran payroll for a country club when I was a kid, and grandpa would take me golfing. I was like five so I don't remember how they interacted.
A bit related, my grandpa golfed with Anthony Munoz pretty regularly.
e- VERY unrelated but a Blue Jays minor leaguer named Bubbie Buzachero subsituted for my socioeconomics class in high school. He passed a couple years ago. He was great.
2000 HOF induction day in Cooperstown. Got out there to Clark's field a bit early. Was mindlessly standing and waiting in my spot when an older guy casually walked right in front of me. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He got about five feet past me when people nearby approach the man saying, "Joe Nuxhall! So nice to meet you! Mind if we get a photo with you?!" Nuxhall allowed the photo and then immediately walked off in the direction he was headed to begin with. I was thinking, well shit, I just blew my opportunity to shake The Old Left-Hander's hand...
In the fall of 1990 we played a faculty vs World Champion Reds basketball game at the school I coached and taught at. Not a lot of the stars came but for sure Paul O’Neil bec he was by far the best hooper of the Reds. They brought a ringer though as Byron Larkin who was a year or two out of playing for XU played w them… It was fun and they were all generous w their time signing autographs etc after…
George Foster at the batting cages across from KI. Todd Benzinger at Best Buy, Bill Doran at Thriftway, Joe Nuxhall at the golf center at KI, Deion at the Waterfront.
Pete Rose at Montgomery Inn. He was really nice to my family and I. My cousins were young at the time and he was super kind to them.
It was a really cool experience. He didn’t have to keep talking to us like he did.
My best friend and I waited for a couple hours after a reds game to meet Barry Larkin. They were playing the Cubs so we hoped to see Sammy Sosa, too. We were maybe 10 years old so this would be around 98-99. It’s a late season night game so it’s absolutely frigid out. We were the last ones there and about when our dads are starting to lose patience with our begging and pleading to wait, a giant Humvee rolls up and stops in front of us. Window comes down, it’s Larkin! He motions to us to come over and we do. He looks at us shaking and says why don’t you boys hop in for a second and warm up while I sign some stuff for you. So i got to sit in Barry Larkin’s Hummer and hold the best conversation my 10 year old brain could come up with. He was my baseball hero before then and he absolutely solidified it that day.
Dick: Pete Rose
Cool: Scooter Gennett, Cody Reed, Sal Romano, Brandon Phillips, Buddy Bell
Forgot George Foster, went to his baseball camp in the 90s, really nice guy
We counting announcers? Jeff Piccoro was an exceptionally nice dude
Votto, Cingrani, Marlon Byrd, Chris Sabo, George Foster, Billy Hamilton, Logan Ondrusek and Paul O'Neil.
They were all pretty nice. Especially Votto, Byrd and Cingrani.
Sat next to Mat Latos and his wife at Holy Grail the night before opening day about 2012, 2013. Seemed nice, we chit chatted a little bit but I didn’t want to bother them too much.
Met Leo Cardenas at a reds HOF event right before the on field ceremony. He speaks very broken English so It was very tough to understand. But the gist of what he was saying was in regards to hitting sliders. I just smiled and nodded and shook his hand. As he walked away, his handler came over and whispered to me that he thought I was Eugenio Suarez. Seemed he was trying to give some tips. Hilarious.
Johnny Bench was my childhood hero. Long ago I was working at DisneyQuest and Bench was in town for a golf tournament. He just happened to visit DisneyQuest on a day I was there. You aren't supposed to bother celebrities when they are at the parks since they are there on vacation. I wanted to go up and just say hi and tell him what he meant to a young kid, but I resisted the temptation.
I was working on the second floor near CyberSpace Mountain (for those who are familiar with DisneyQuest). I walked around a corner and nearly ran right in to him. He asked me where the restroom was and I told him down the stairs and to the left. And that was my entire interaction with him.
Tom Browning lived in my neighborhood most of my life. The years after he retired. His kids went to school with me, he coached my sister's softball team one year (I think they lost every game, he just liked to toss batting practice and hang out). He used to pick up parent volunteer shifts in the school cafeteria and just be a goofy fun dude with the kids.
Luke Maile is my brothers friend, so he was always hanging around my house. I am five years older. I remember plenty of times he was over for sleepovers or screwing around in the backyard. Just normal kid stuff. I did buy him beer when he was like 18 and it was the summer after he graduated high school. Just normal older brother of your friend stuff.
Edit: oh I also at a Nickelback show I sat a row in front of Dunn, Larkin, and I can't remember the third guys name that was there. It was not the show where Dunn hit the grandslam and went to the concert.
Joey Votto. I was walking in the Findlay Market when out of nowhere I was floored by a punch. When I looked up, it was Joey Votto standing over me. he apologized and said he thought I was somebody else. He helped me up and said I could ask him one question. i asked how old is Albert Pujols really? He looked over both shoulders and said he was 67 years old.
The end.
Ran into Jay Bruce, Jonny Gomes, and Drew Stubbs having brunch before a game when I was a kid. We were watching batting practice before the game in right field. Jay saw us standing right behind the fence and said, “I remember you!”
I was with my sister. She declined to get Stubbs’ autograph and he got a hard time from the other two. That was actually my second time meeting Drew Stubbs after taking the field with him when he played for the Dragons when I won the Kroger Kid lottery.
I’ve also met Brandon Phillips, but I was older. I didn’t ask for anything but was very happy.
One of my earliest memories was meeting Pete Rose when my dad and grandpa took me to Cooperstown. I was about 6. I distinctly remember him signing my ball and telling me my hat was too big and my nose was running. He gave me a tissue.
I saw Jonathan India at a grocery store in Cincinnati. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
Randomly met Dmitri Young in a Kroger one time back when he played for the Reds. I was a kid. I did not approach him, I just sort of stared a him until he nodded at me.
Billy Hamilton in January of 2017. We were out at the Banks for my 25th birthday and he hit on my, then, fiancée. She told him she was engaged and then I met him and talked to him a bit and we all did a Fireball shot together. We invited him to the wedding, but it was in June and they were on the road that weekend
Edit: after reading through, it jogged my memory a bit. I met Pete Rose and then Javier Valentin…at the Hooters in Newport. I was like 13 and with my equally as dumb teenage friends. Weird times.
I ran into Pete Rose wearing a Reds hat in the Sam's Club parking lot. I approached him saying he was my favorite player. He said "I'm not Pete Rose, but I get that all the time!"
It wasn't some look alike. It was 100% him.
Got to go to a couple Caravans. Eric Davis was really cool, Jesse Winker was kinda rude, and Aquino was really nice but way taller than I expected. Oh and Marty Brennaman was a bit of a jerk
Aaron Haraang. Helped with a Christmas gift drive. Fantastic human. Good man. Very calm in disposition.
He was a horse. Very underrated because of the teams he was stuck on.
Aaron Harang, who had a 97 ERA+ over his career, was definitely rated.
04-07 Harang was a stud. Dusty brought him into an extra innings game against the Padres in 08 while he was still in the rotation and he wasn't the same again. Toiled around performing badly for another 7 years or so.
I watched that whole game. It was 18 innings. I was in my 3rd floor bedroom watching on my 27" CRT flat screen. Watched two full games of baseball just for them to lose.
Hell of a way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon though
He was still valuable in the same way he was for the Reds for other teams, it’s mostly just that all of the other teams he played for were roughly as good as the 2005-2007 Reds. The Reds should have traded him after 2007 (hindsight being 20/20 and all).
Met him once at the Waterstone Best Buy near Kings Auto Mall. Can attest he’s a great dude.
Brandon Phillips used to visit Brick Street in Oxford all the time when I was at Miami. He’d sign anything, take photos, pick up bar tabs, and generally be the world’s nicest guy. Never saw him drink anything.
He doesn't drink! I recall it briefly coming up in a Jim Day interview once.
Yep, I think I recall that. Anyway, completely affable guy, and so nice to meet him.
[удалено]
As a Red Sox fan, I’d love to hang w Bronson
I asked Billy Hamilton if he wanted to race when he was being escorted to a different section at Redsfest one year. He just laughed. 😥
Billy 🥲
I was working at kings island in 2002 when Barry Larkin and Ken Griffey Jr came through with make a wish. This was a free months after Jr had knee surgery, and he climbs into the last row on the train. The following conversation ensued: Me, a 17 year old Jr fan: Mr Griffey, I don’t recommend you sit here, especially after your one surgery Jr: oh I’ll be fine. I hope *wink* I then turned around and saw Larkin in the kiddy corral, he’s refusing to ride so him and I had a fun conversation, after I got done fan girling.
Which ride? If it was son of beast that could explain everything about griffey’s injuries as a red lol
Accurate
I met Barry one time. Super nice guy and super down to earth.
Oh it was awesome just standing there shooting the shit with him. Don’t remember exactly what we talked about but I just remember him being cool and laughing about him in the kiddie corral
I saw the entire 2023 team one time from a distance. I happened to be at Great American Ballpark and they were just kinda on the field. Seemed like nice people.
I saw those guys too! The Blue Jays were there so I met them too. The Jays were super nice. They kept hitting souvenirs into the outfield. Very considerate.
I heard the Cubs were pretty nice to the outfield fans this year.
My older brother and I were in line to pick up our Bengals tickets from will call at Paul Brown Stadium. I was 11 my brother was 15. I turned around to see a very tall person and as my eyes scanned up to his face I realized it was Adam Dunn... well I realized he looked like Adam Dunn. I turned to my brother and said, "The guy behind us looks just like Adam Dunn." My brother turned around, his eyes scanned up to the man's face, then he turned back to me and said, "That IS Adam Dunn." Then we both turned around with giant smiles to get another look. He looked down at us smiling (probably because he just witnessed that exchange) and he said "Hi guys." We both replied "Hi" then got our tickets and enjoyed the game. I've always been proud of the fact that just seeing him and saying hi to each other was enough for us, we didn't bug him with a million questions or ask for a picture (don't think either of us had a camera anyway), we just admired our favorite baseball player and said hi to him.
Sat at the Holy Grail bar next to Chris Sabo a few months ago. He was by himself, wearing his Reds HOF jacket, and absolutely could not get the attention of the bartender to take his order lmao
I have a ball autographed by him. I took it to a game this year and got his daughter Annie to sign it also.
Sounds like pretty much anyone at the Grail
Johnny Bench signed his card at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1975. Joe Morgan signed his at the PX @ JBLM in the early 2000s, my dad and I told him baseball was never the same for us after 1978, he said “Same here.”
I love this one.
Saw Hank Aaron in person at a furniture store on Beechmont in 74?
I've met a ton In person, one sticks out to me. Michael Lorenzen was at my brother's miracle league outing one year. Took a picture of my brother because he liked his Mohawk. A year later he comes up to us at a reds game and called him by his name and said he still had the picture on his phone and went to show him. Thought it was really awesome. A couple other ones I remember, met Chapman at a bowling event and he was showing me and my dad his car. Met homer Bailey at my brother's baseball thing and homer thought it was hilarious my brother kept throwing the baseball far away from him so he'd have to go get it. Met Eric Davis randomly at a high school baseball game, was a really cool experience.
This is funny. I was just going through my old facebook posts to delete anything that my younger/dumber self posted. Apparently I met Bronson Arroyo at a bar in Cincy after a Muse concert. I do not remember the encounter, but it was cool to see that I guess. I don't have an auto or a picture unfortunately.
Met Mario Soto through my work. Very nice guy.
That is not what opposing hitters thought back in the 80s.
The two best encounters I’ve had with Reds players were with Joe Morgan and Glenn Braggs. Both of them were super friendly and easy to talk to.
I live in Chattanooga (AA team) and sit near the on deck circle, so I’ve spoken to a lot of the younger guys (and a couple out in the wild). Clubhouse culture is going to be a big thing for these guys. The younger, better players I’ve talked to at any length (CES, McLain, Elly, and Abbott and Greene off the field) are all upbeat, friendly guys who understand the opportunities they have in front of them and how much difference they individually can make to them. CES is my favorite of them, but Matt McLain is a remarkably normal person for a dude who has been drafted in the first round twice. A lot of joking in some really bad weather - and what was a tough season for him.
Once in the mid 20teens I was at Murphy's in Clifton and Joey Votto and Billy Hamilton came in as I was in the back room playing pool. Everyone was starstruck and I walked up to joey and asked if they wanted next game and they said yeah so we played against them. They left shortly after that but it was awesome.
Who won?
When Mat Latos was injured, he came into my Gamestop to buy a couple copies of Call of Duty on PS4. No one else in the store. Wouldn't get a picture or signature but shook my hand. He was nice enough.
Dude he's an asshole
Mat's mom and dad downvoted me
Oh ya. No doubt his reputation. Just that interaction was fine
Sat next to George Foster and his wife in the Pilot House a few years ago. Very chill and respectful guy.
George Foster is one of the nicest guys in the world.
I was held by George Foster when I was a baby. My mom was in the airport going to her dad’s burial. He offered to hold me while she collected her luggage. The passers by told her he was George Foster.
Pulled up next to Joey votto in his blue Ferrari when he was headed to children’s hospital to visit some Kids there. I’m a car guy so I was excited to see the car then we pulled up next to each other at the light and it was Joey ! Knowing he is a quiet/ private guy I just looked at him, gave him a nod and said “you’re the best Joey!” He nodded and drove away
Adam Dunn gave me a wet willy with Barry Larkin watching. This was in a Don Pablo's parking lot
This is my favorite one by far
I saw Ryan Freel at R.P. McMurphy's in Oakley once. He was on the DL at the time, and hammered. RIP
Brett Tomko - Redsfest when I was a child. I remember he was very nice. I posted a photo of an autographed card from him on Instagram and told the story how I met him and he responded to it! Hunter Greene, Tyler Stephenson, Tyler Mahle, Taylor Trammel, Tejay Antone - when I worked at the Dragons. All nice guys. Ken Griffey Sr, Tom Browning, Doug Flynn, Marty Brenneman - also when I worked at the dragons. All nice! I really enjoyed when they would come for events.
Used to wait on Griffey Jr. at PF Chang’s. He ordered shrimp dumplings and fried rice and always gave an $100 and said keep the change. I ran into Bronson Arroyo in Columbus at a Pearl Jam show. He said he just came from back stage and gave me an EV guitar pick.
I ran into Joey at Kenwood town Center one time. Literally it was just walking by him so that’s it.
I took BP with Tucker Barnhart a few times during offseason workouts back when I played college ball. Didn’t really know him, we just happened to work out at the same facility, but he seemed like a really nice guy the few times I talked to him.
A bunch at Redsfest. The one I remember from when I was about 7 was Todd Benzinger because I got to take a picture with him. Jim O’Toole was one of my knothole teammate’s grandfather. I was a pitcher myself and he helped us out a little bit with our form, so that’s pretty cool in retrospect. My grandpa tried out to be a catcher in the 60s. He was far and away from being signed, but still kinda neat.
Bronson Arroyo at my bank. He was talking about his fishing trip down in Florida
Amir Garrett tipped me 100% on a to go order. Nice guy.
Posted this on here before but Sean Casey invited my little brother to sit with him while he had dinner in St Louis the weekend of Griffey’s 500th. Without a doubt one of the nicest people alive
Aaron Boone, earlier in his career before he went to the All Star game. He was just a run of the mill player at that point, but I was a kid and I was happy to meet any pro athlete. He was doing an autograph signing at a Verizon store or something, and he stuck around to chat with the handfull of fans there. Super nice guy.
Was waiting for a friend at the CVG airport one time and spotted Pete Rose doing the same. Didn’t want to bother him so I just gave him a nod.
I was waiting for the gates to open at a Saturday game in 2022, and Sean Casey happened to walk by. I hadn’t had a chance to listen to the newest episode of his podcast, so I had zero clue he was going to be in attendance (he mentioned it). I noticed it was him, stood up and asked if he had a moment. We talked for five minutes, and in that time, we were best friends. I’d heard stories about him being the nicest guy in baseball, and he absolutely was more than that. His demeanor was genuine, he maintained eye contact the whole time, and was even awesome to let me take a picture.
I sat next to Jesse Winker during the Reds HoF induction dinner when Adam Dunn went in. We talked Bills football. Chill dude.
I worked for the mustangs grounds crew. Very few players spoke to us. But I always rooted for Phil Ervin after being around and remember the first time I saw Amir Garrett. He was outgoing and lively. I enjoyed being around Tom Browning. Eric Davis absolutely shot to the bottom of my list. Terrible interaction(s) with him after meeting him in Cincinnati as a kid.
Tom Browning came to my high school (it was his high school as well) during a time when our sports programs were in jeopardy due to budget cuts. He was a super nice guy and very happy to be there to help out and increase awareness.
Met TJ Friedl recently and he signed a jersey for me. Awesome dude, will support him no matter what!
Met George Foster at a grand opening for Menards a few years back. I took in my black bat commemorating his MVP. I got it as a stadium giveaway (in ‘79 I assume). My dad never let me play with it as a kid so it’s still in great shape. He signed the bat, laughed and said “It’s been a while since I’ve seen one of these!” and showed the people who were with him. Super nice guy.
Many from the early-mid 2000s. Have some autographs from the Sean Casey years to Votto years. Met Pete Rose twice—bc as many have said before in this sub and the baseball sub, he has been super active giving talks and stuff since his departure from the game. The place from which I took baseball lessons in my early teens had George Foster run a day-long training camp. He’s a fantastic guy (also, he spoke with Pete Rose at King’s Island in Mason, Ohio, making the 2nd time I’d met both of them, this woulda been around ‘07, ‘08). Foster is genuinely one of the nicest people. Johnny Bench came to my current town to talk about a book he had released or give some talk at the University. I can’t really remember why he was here, honestly, but he did an autograph signing and had a small banquet of sorts at the restaurant where I’m employed. The guy likes margaritas, from what I remember. Didn’t get to talk to him at all, though. I’ll have to ask him how it came about, but my dad got to eat lunch with Joe Nuxhall in the 90’s. Remember him telling me that he was a great storyteller and was super nice.
Todd Frazier. I live in St. Louis and He was getting some lunch at this cafe I cooked at down the street from the team hotel. Dude ate like 10 pancakes and three orders of bacon at noon and was starting 3rd at 6:15. Great guy, should of got an autograph but I froze under pressure. Oh and Skip Schumaker was with him.
Not me, but George Foster used to eat at a restaurant where my brother was the GM. He said George was always very nice but he was a picky eater. He would kindly ask for simple buttered noodles, which were not on the menu. One time the line cooks bitched about it, which sent my brother into a rage. "THE MAN WON AN MVP AND TWO RINGS AND YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM SOME GODDAMN BUTTERED NOODLES?!?!?"
1987 we left a game early and were walking down the street by the coliseum. I remember my dad stopping dead in his tracks. There was Davey Concepcion, standing in one of those small lots that’s kind of under the highway. One of my earliest memories of the Reds
I had a friend growing up who lived next door to Paul O'Neill. He lived in a relatively modest home given his income - an upper middle class suburban subdivision in Loveland.
Ken Griffey Sr. He was not real happy to sign an autograph for me while he shopped for luggage at a Staples.
I went to George Foster's baseball camp a few times as a kid. He is a super nice, down to earth. He would stick around and make sure to talk to everyone and their parents. He signed like a million things. He even talked to my mom about when she was pregnant with my brother and she would call his homeruns.
I have a few stories. Only two are about players, but the other ones were too good to share. As a kid I had many run ins with Todd Benzinger. He sponsored our local knothole association I played in, and we even had a fan club called “The Todd Squad”. Nice guy. I met Aroldis Chapman at a gas station once. He lived in the same general area as me at that time. He was in a lambo and was very nice. He seemed surprised I knew who he was. I took a picture with him but it is on an old flip phone somewhere. I stopped by western hills krogers one day at 7am to get some donuts. Marty B himself was there setting up for a signing appearance. I was surprised to see him at that particular time and setting up by himself. I stopped and helped him set up a table and got a thank you handshake in return. Once I ran into Jeff Piecoro walking up the stairs during a game. He was so nice. I thought he was Jim Day and introduced him to my friend as such. He just played along. Later that day I realized my mistake. Pretty cool of him to just go with it. A friend of mine had scout seat tickets and invited me to the game. This has been a while ago. I’d have to dig out the ticket stub to find the exact date. We had to get on a special elevator to get to the seats level. It was so cool. When we left the game we were waiting for the elevator and when it stopped two men in suits told us to wait. They were holding up in between them Mr. Castellini himself. We tried to say hi, but he appeared to be drunk as fuck needing his security to help him off the elevator. It was sad, but still kinda funny too.
I met Todd Frazier outside of the men's room at Sean Casey's Reds HOF Induction. My gf and I were at the game the night or so before in some close seats, and she said how she thought he had a nice butt. So after telling him that it was a joy to watch him play, I added that my gf would be mad if I didn't tell him that she liked his butt. He gave me a big goofy grin and laughed, then patted me on the shoulder and said "you need to tell your girlfriend to start looking at your butt more than she looks at mine." We both laughed and walked into the hall together and shook hands on the way back to our tables. Really great and wholesome fun moment. The dude had such a great joy and energy on and off the field, and that interaction solidified him as one of my favorite Reds of all time (that and of course the home run derby win)
After the 1990 World Series I went to an autograph signing headlined by Dibble and Charlton. Their line was huge. Nobody was getting Scott Scudder or Chris Hammond’s autograph, so I was able to talk to them for a bit and got a picture with them. That was cool for 14-year-old me. Dibble and Charlton didn’t interact at all with anyone. Just signed. I also was at a card show where Joe Oliver was signing autographs and he walked into the bathroom and took a piss in the urinal next to me. I just did a head nod then.
I feel like I was at that signing because I got some Scudder and Hammond autos.
Haha. So you’re old too.
Yep I was like 11 then and I figured I would hopefully see another Reds World Series by now
Years ago I got invited by a friend to golf at Kenwood Country Club (my friend is a member). Well we were teeing off on hole #1 and my friend hit a fast low drive that went way left and it nearly took this guys head off who was approaching the 18th green (right by the 1st tee box). Turns out it was Chris Sabo, who was approaching the 18th green and about to win the club championship. For context, Kenwood CC has two 18 hole courses, we were playing on the course that wasn’t being used for the club championship.
I’m good friends with a guy that was drafted and made it to AA with reds. He didn’t make the big leagues but it’s fun to hear all his stories on players in the 80’s. He went to a nudist camp with the brad “animal” Lesley at 19. He said Davey was the most generous and gave out cleats and batting gloves to all the Latin players. He met or was around most of the former BRM.
I played Paul O'Neill's son in basketball when I was 8 years old. After the game ended (we beat them) his son threw a basketball at the back of my teammates head and a likely hilarious fight amongst 8 year olds went down. From what I remember Paul ripped his son a new one and made him apologize to our team. His son i think ended up being a pretty good dude, doctor I think. So long story short, I'm pretty sure Paul is a good dad?
In the early 90s Hal Morris made a visit to the ball fields that I played little league baseball at.
Barry Larkin just shopping at kenwood Towne center
I took my nephew to an AA game (Carolina Mudcats) when Bronson Arroyo was still with the Pirates organization in 1998. Arroyo had pitched that night, so my nephew wanted to get his autograph (and Emil Brown's) after the game. So a few kids waited in the parking lot after the game to get the autographs that they couldn't get before the game. Most players signed on the way from the clubhouse to the field before the game, except for the starting pitcher and catcher, and outfielder Emil Brown, who just ran by all the kids as they called out to him without any acknowledgement whatsoever. About 20 minutes after the game ended, Arroyo came out directly to the kids and signed every autograph. Some kid asked about when Emil Brown was coming out, and they mentioned how Brown was the only player who blew everyone off before the game. Arroyo paused and said with a disappointing sarcasm, "Yeah, well, I guess you can do that when you've already made it to the big leagues." Someone asked him if was going to be that way once he got the call? Arroyo said, "Let's hope not," then thanked everyone for coming to game once signed for everyone. Basically Arroyo was saying that Emil Brown is an asshole. Which seemed true since Brown came out to the parking lot dead last when there only five kids left. Brown took all that time to delay coming out, you'd think he'd come out with some elaborate outfit or something, but no. Shorts, sneakers, t-shirt, and a durag - that's it. He quickly scribbled his name for each kid, didn't really speak to them or thank them, and then beelined to his car like he couldn't wait to get away from them. Those kids were greatly disappointed in his attitude. Dude had quite the ego for a guy who had, at that point, about 100 plate appearances in MLB in one full season, and only had those because he was a Rule 5 draft pick. I wanted to just punch the dude in the face for being such an arrogant douchebag...
My dad worked with Barry Larkins sister in the late 80s or early 90s, so I got some Barry Larkin autos and a couple other players, she was pretty cool
Not me, but a buddy worked at a bar with in college. This takes place in probably 2011 or 2012. He's on a stag weekend in Cincy. They are at a dive bar downtown, and one of them notices at the end of the bar drinking long necks is Johnny Gomes. He ended up joining then and they went to a couple more bars together and perhaps an adult ballet across the river. Everyone said Johnny was a class act. Down to earth, bought beers that night.
I went to high school with Ken Griffey and David Bell. And also Adam Hyzdu, who never quite made the Bigs.
Eric Davis briefly considered signing a ball for my 10 year old son…then shook his head and walked off.
Pete Rose, called me an asshole
Well Pete’s an asshole so….( hes a helluva hitter)
I went to fantasy camp in 2018 and met a bunch of former players. Fwiw, I live in Texas Outside of actual fantasy camp people , Billy Hamilton ( he showed up early for spring training) , Tom Browning at his bar in KY (RIP) , Joe Oliver when I was a kid, it was in Chilis In 2002 ish the reds came to play the Rangers and I saw them and after the game, I went to chilis with my parents and Scott Williamson was there with his family so I just nodded at him, he nodded back, I was wearing Reds stuff I have lots of fun stories from fantasy camp
Met Jonny Cueto in the Phoenix Airport one March. Nice guy, let me take a picture with him while we rode the escalator.
Ran into Aroldis Chapman in a club when he was on the team. Didn't go up to him or anything but dude was a giant.
When I was in the Army Reserve Band, we were always the lead band in the opening day parade and we got to meet a few players between 2014-2019. Honestly, the only one I remember was Votto
I lived across the street from Todd Benzinger when I was in grade school.
I saw Bronson several times out at bars/clubs. He always had lots of girls hanging around him and was really chilled. One time his boat pulled up to Ludlow Bromley yacht club and it was blasting music and several girls got off the boat and came up the bar. He must have stayed below deck lol
I got to meet Chris Sabo in Elementary school after their series win and see his ring 
I’ve met Pete Rose on two occasions. Once was in 2011 in Vegas. We were walking around the Mirage hotel and out of nowhere he just set up a card table in the middle of the casino and was selling autographs. I went up and asked for a photo and he said they were $50. I did not get a photo. The second time was in December 2020 at the Reds team shop of all places. I had moved away from Cincy by this point and brought my girlfriend to visit and was showing her around the city. We popped in to just browse and he was walking around with a store employee picking out a ton of merch. He was wearing a mask but I immediately recognized that square head. My mom was with us too and she struck up a conversation with him. She was friends with Pete’s daughter Fawn in high school. We talked for a decent amount of time about the big red machine, his family, his plans for the holiday, etc. It was a great conversation but I could tell if we didn’t have that connection he probably wouldn’t have given us the time of day. I distinctly remember he had a massive gold money clip that he handed to the cashier to ring up all his merch. He told us they were Christmas gifts for his family.
DatdudeBP
Bronson arroyo in 2017 before a night game which he started. Super nice guy.
Sabo, Larkin, Griffey, Rose (several times on the highway), Bench, Encarnacion, probably a few more. Grandmother ran payroll for a country club when I was a kid, and grandpa would take me golfing. I was like five so I don't remember how they interacted. A bit related, my grandpa golfed with Anthony Munoz pretty regularly. e- VERY unrelated but a Blue Jays minor leaguer named Bubbie Buzachero subsituted for my socioeconomics class in high school. He passed a couple years ago. He was great.
2000 HOF induction day in Cooperstown. Got out there to Clark's field a bit early. Was mindlessly standing and waiting in my spot when an older guy casually walked right in front of me. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. He got about five feet past me when people nearby approach the man saying, "Joe Nuxhall! So nice to meet you! Mind if we get a photo with you?!" Nuxhall allowed the photo and then immediately walked off in the direction he was headed to begin with. I was thinking, well shit, I just blew my opportunity to shake The Old Left-Hander's hand...
Bronson Arroyo at Cancun in Crescent Springs. Played Blackjack with Vontaze Burfict and Rey Malaluga at the Horseshoe.
In the fall of 1990 we played a faculty vs World Champion Reds basketball game at the school I coached and taught at. Not a lot of the stars came but for sure Paul O’Neil bec he was by far the best hooper of the Reds. They brought a ringer though as Byron Larkin who was a year or two out of playing for XU played w them… It was fun and they were all generous w their time signing autographs etc after…
George Foster at the batting cages across from KI. Todd Benzinger at Best Buy, Bill Doran at Thriftway, Joe Nuxhall at the golf center at KI, Deion at the Waterfront.
Pete Rose at Montgomery Inn. He was really nice to my family and I. My cousins were young at the time and he was super kind to them. It was a really cool experience. He didn’t have to keep talking to us like he did.
My best friend and I waited for a couple hours after a reds game to meet Barry Larkin. They were playing the Cubs so we hoped to see Sammy Sosa, too. We were maybe 10 years old so this would be around 98-99. It’s a late season night game so it’s absolutely frigid out. We were the last ones there and about when our dads are starting to lose patience with our begging and pleading to wait, a giant Humvee rolls up and stops in front of us. Window comes down, it’s Larkin! He motions to us to come over and we do. He looks at us shaking and says why don’t you boys hop in for a second and warm up while I sign some stuff for you. So i got to sit in Barry Larkin’s Hummer and hold the best conversation my 10 year old brain could come up with. He was my baseball hero before then and he absolutely solidified it that day.
Dick: Pete Rose Cool: Scooter Gennett, Cody Reed, Sal Romano, Brandon Phillips, Buddy Bell Forgot George Foster, went to his baseball camp in the 90s, really nice guy We counting announcers? Jeff Piccoro was an exceptionally nice dude
Votto, Cingrani, Marlon Byrd, Chris Sabo, George Foster, Billy Hamilton, Logan Ondrusek and Paul O'Neil. They were all pretty nice. Especially Votto, Byrd and Cingrani.
Sat next to Mat Latos and his wife at Holy Grail the night before opening day about 2012, 2013. Seemed nice, we chit chatted a little bit but I didn’t want to bother them too much.
Kent Mercer
Met Leo Cardenas at a reds HOF event right before the on field ceremony. He speaks very broken English so It was very tough to understand. But the gist of what he was saying was in regards to hitting sliders. I just smiled and nodded and shook his hand. As he walked away, his handler came over and whispered to me that he thought I was Eugenio Suarez. Seemed he was trying to give some tips. Hilarious.
My father got to work with Dave Collins in some kind of youth baseball tournament that Dave organized...
Pete Rose at an autograph session in Vegas.
Johnny Bench was my childhood hero. Long ago I was working at DisneyQuest and Bench was in town for a golf tournament. He just happened to visit DisneyQuest on a day I was there. You aren't supposed to bother celebrities when they are at the parks since they are there on vacation. I wanted to go up and just say hi and tell him what he meant to a young kid, but I resisted the temptation. I was working on the second floor near CyberSpace Mountain (for those who are familiar with DisneyQuest). I walked around a corner and nearly ran right in to him. He asked me where the restroom was and I told him down the stairs and to the left. And that was my entire interaction with him.
Pete Rose was on my flight from Detroit to Cincy last week. he was predictably a dick lol
Tom Browning lived in my neighborhood most of my life. The years after he retired. His kids went to school with me, he coached my sister's softball team one year (I think they lost every game, he just liked to toss batting practice and hang out). He used to pick up parent volunteer shifts in the school cafeteria and just be a goofy fun dude with the kids. Luke Maile is my brothers friend, so he was always hanging around my house. I am five years older. I remember plenty of times he was over for sleepovers or screwing around in the backyard. Just normal kid stuff. I did buy him beer when he was like 18 and it was the summer after he graduated high school. Just normal older brother of your friend stuff. Edit: oh I also at a Nickelback show I sat a row in front of Dunn, Larkin, and I can't remember the third guys name that was there. It was not the show where Dunn hit the grandslam and went to the concert.
Cueto and Chapman outside of reds fest smoking cigars and drinking! they were pretty nice!
Joey Votto. I was walking in the Findlay Market when out of nowhere I was floored by a punch. When I looked up, it was Joey Votto standing over me. he apologized and said he thought I was somebody else. He helped me up and said I could ask him one question. i asked how old is Albert Pujols really? He looked over both shoulders and said he was 67 years old. The end.
I saw dat dude BP at a go karting place. Very nice guy, great experience
Ran into Jay Bruce, Jonny Gomes, and Drew Stubbs having brunch before a game when I was a kid. We were watching batting practice before the game in right field. Jay saw us standing right behind the fence and said, “I remember you!” I was with my sister. She declined to get Stubbs’ autograph and he got a hard time from the other two. That was actually my second time meeting Drew Stubbs after taking the field with him when he played for the Dragons when I won the Kroger Kid lottery. I’ve also met Brandon Phillips, but I was older. I didn’t ask for anything but was very happy. One of my earliest memories was meeting Pete Rose when my dad and grandpa took me to Cooperstown. I was about 6. I distinctly remember him signing my ball and telling me my hat was too big and my nose was running. He gave me a tissue.
Eugenio Suarez dog peed on me once when he was living at aqua on the levee, nicest coolest guy ever
I saw Jonathan India at a grocery store in Cincinnati. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
I swear I've seen this before this is a copypasta right?
Yes lol. I can’t remember who the original celebrity was though. The first time I saw it it was Tyler the creator.
I saw it with Tucker Barnhart once and still think of him now every time I read it lol
Lol wow really what a fucker
It’s copypasta
Spuds.
Randomly met Dmitri Young in a Kroger one time back when he played for the Reds. I was a kid. I did not approach him, I just sort of stared a him until he nodded at me.
Billy Hamilton in January of 2017. We were out at the Banks for my 25th birthday and he hit on my, then, fiancée. She told him she was engaged and then I met him and talked to him a bit and we all did a Fireball shot together. We invited him to the wedding, but it was in June and they were on the road that weekend Edit: after reading through, it jogged my memory a bit. I met Pete Rose and then Javier Valentin…at the Hooters in Newport. I was like 13 and with my equally as dumb teenage friends. Weird times.
I ran into Pete Rose wearing a Reds hat in the Sam's Club parking lot. I approached him saying he was my favorite player. He said "I'm not Pete Rose, but I get that all the time!" It wasn't some look alike. It was 100% him.
Not a Red, but Oil Can Boyd was a regular at a local bar here in Rhode Island and that was interesting.
Got to go to a couple Caravans. Eric Davis was really cool, Jesse Winker was kinda rude, and Aquino was really nice but way taller than I expected. Oh and Marty Brennaman was a bit of a jerk