Tony Perez

From Cuba to Cooperstown

The 1970s belonged to Pérez—and the Big Red Machine—and after the Big Red Machine was gone, Pérez was far from finished. He had good seasons with Montreal and Boston, made it back to the World Series with Philadelphia in 1983, and returned to Cincinnati in 1984 where he became the oldest player to hit a grand slam home run.

Erardi’s story is scenic and lively, especially describing the Big Dog’s demeanor, which endeared him more to Cincinnati fans than any player in recent memory. The courtliness, on and off the field, traces Pérez’s manner back to the Cuban lineage from which he had come.

Whether by practice or instinct he carried the best qualities of his Cuban forebear, the great El Inmortal Dihigo. Pérez was unselfish, unflappable, and joyous. Even better than that, he was a good teammate. A good man then, now… always.

The Wire-to-Wire Reds

Sweet Lou, Nasty Boys, and the Wild Run to a World Championship

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They were a one-year wonder, but what a year. The 1990 Cincinnati Reds stunned the baseball world by winning the National League pennant and then sweeping the heavily favored Oakland A's in the World Series. The Reds held first place from game one through the end of the world championships -- becoming one of only three wire-to-wire champions in major league history.

Surprisingly, the story of this colorful team has never been told before in a book. In conjunction with the 20th anniversary of this historic achievement, The Wire-to-Wire Reds brings back the memories with original interviews, more than one hundred photos, and riveting storytelling by award-winning Cincinnati Enquirer columnist John Erardi and blog-master Joel Luckhaupt. With a foreword by Hall of Fame Reds announcer Marty Brennaman, The Wire-to-Wire Reds is the ultimate keepsake for fans throughout Reds Country.

Sparky Anderson

The Life of a Baseball Legend

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Two columns in an 8-column ensemble from The Cincinnati Enquirer and Detroit Free Press, 2010

Cincinnati's Crosley Field

The Illustrated History of a Classic Ballpark

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Cincinnati's Crosley Field presents the field's history through text and more than 150 photographs.

The Cincinnati Reds played at Crosley Field from 1912 through 1970, and the ballpark holds an iconic place in the city's history as well as throughout Reds Country. One of the most beloved ballparks in Major League history, Crosley Field played host to the first night game and the first of Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters, as well as four World Series and two All-Star games. From the outfield terrace to the "Moon Deck," from Lombardi's "snooze" to Big Klu's biceps, Blackwell's "whip" to Rose's belly-flop slides, the Redlegs to the Big Red Machine, Cincinnati's Crosley Field has them covered in words and pictures.

Greg Rhodes and John Erardi also present the great Negro Leagues teams that played at Crosley, as well as the field's many colorful characters, such as longtime announcer Waite Hoyt and the top-hatted vendor known as Peanut Jim. In April 2009, the Reds' Hall of Fame and Museum opens this season's key exhibit, Crosley Field Remembered, and Cincinnati's Crosley Field will be sold at the team's gift shop as a souvenir.

Opening Day

Celebrating Cincinnati's Baseball Holiday

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Big Red Dynasty

How Bob Howsam and Sparky Anderson Built the Big Red Machine

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It is baseball's last great team. And always will be. Here is the inside story of the greatest starting eight in baseball history, and one of the greatest teams of all-time: The Big Red Machine.

Drawing upon dozens of interviews and thousands of pages of research material, authors Greg Rhodes and John Erardi document the behind-the scenes maneuvering that guided this baseball juggernaut, the real story of what turned around the 1975 season; the clubhouse conversations that fueled --sometimes explosively -- the "chemistry" of the four superstars; the coming of free-agency and the resulting decline of the Big Red Machine.

Big Red Dynasty is a compelling, riveting romp through a decade that changed baseball forever and left as its legacy some of the greatest postseason performances of all time: the dramatic 1972 playoffs; the nerve-wracking Reds-A's World Series of 72; the 1975 Reds-Red Sox Series classic; and the 1976 post-season sweep of the Phillies and Yankees.

"Nobody has chronicled a dynasty team and an era the way this book does", says Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman. "This is the bible."

The First Boys of Summer

The Eighteen Sixty-Nine Cincinnati Red Stockings Baseballs First Professional Team

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The story of the 1869 - 1870 Cincinnati Red Stockings - baseball's first professional team.

Pete Rose 4,192

Baseball's All-time Hit Leader

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The Mud Daddy Chronicles

Raging Bass, Mystic Muskie and Twinkie Tiramisu

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A memoir of more than three decades of fishing trips, The Mud Daddy Chronicles follows three journalists and friends through the seasons of their lives. Mysterious omens over the years reveal that a supernatural current, an environmental warning, courses through these annual weekend quests for fish. Three young men with dreams and goals become gray-haired guys with grit and guts. These stolen weekends pile up year after year until the years and trips blend one into the other and become decades. All soon realize that a spiritual dimension accompanies these pilgrimages for smallmouth bass. Full of fishing tips (as well as plans for a potato launcher, suggestions for lures and 20+ man-and- a-pan recipes) The Mud Daddy Chronicles is a glimpse into a mystical and remarkable natural world while offering a cautionary tale about the environmental threats that haunt our national waterways. The stories and recipes in this book prove, too, that nothing is better than a crisp autumn morning on a boat on the water - life-long friends nearby, libations at hand and a smallmouth bass tugging on 10-pound test

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