Cincinnati fans know about the Reds' World Series in 1961, the Big Red Machine postseasons in the 1970s and the wire-to-wire 1990 World Championship.
Filmmaker Cam Miller wants Reds fans to know about the 1964 team, which was in the chase until the last day trying to win the pennant for ailing manager Fred Hutchinson, and manager Jack McKeon's surprising 1999 team, which lost a one-game playoff to the New York Mets.
Miller, who makes all the films and videos for the Reds Hall of Fame, has launched podcasts celebrating the 60th anniversary of Hutch's last Reds team ("TEAM 64") and the 25th anniversary of the 1999 club powered by Greg Vaughn, Sean Casey, Dmitri Young, Eddie Taubensee and Barry Larkin ("TEAM 99").
The first episode, TEAM99, instantly struck a chord.
"So many people responded. I got 78 emails. I was shocked. I read them all," says Miller, who has made films about Crosley Field, Riverfront Stadium, the 1937 flood and Covington's Blue Sox professional baseball club in the old Federal League. They're all on his YouTube channel.
In the 1998-99 off-season, then-Reds general manager Jim Bowden traded Paul Konerko to the White Sox for outfielder Mike Cameron, and swapped outfielder Reggie Sanders to San Diego for All-Star slugger Greg Vaughn, who hit 50 home runs and drove in 119 for the Padres.
"This trade gave the Reds not only power, but hope," says Miller, who lives in Taylor Mill.
The acquisition also moved the Reds into the modern era of facial hair. Vaughn convinced majority owner Marge Schott to rescind the club's ban on beards and mustaches dating back to Bob Howsam's regime in 1967. Vaughn kept his goatee, and 12 other teammates got their 'stache on, Miller says.
"How many kids fell in love and became lifelong fans because of that team?" Miller posits.
Vaughn’s stay at Cinergy Field was brief after the 96-win season. He headed to Tampa Bay via free agency as Bowden set his sights on getting Ken Griffey Jr. from the Seattle Mariners.
The '64 Reds (92-70-1) were in the race until the last day of the season under interim manager Dick Sisler, who took over the team in August from the ailing Hutchinson. Hutch, who led the team to the 1961 World Series, died of cancer in November 1964 at age 45.
Miller reads this quote from outfielder Frank Robinson: "Hutch's great fight against all odds makes us much all better players and better men. It's bound to give us a little extra incentive. All of us feel like we're going to win the whole thing for him."
But they didn't. The Reds had a golden opportunity after the Phillies' epic collapse on Sept. 21 after a 90-60 start. The Reds won seven in a row to move into first, while the Phils dropped 10 straight. The Reds entered the final weekend a half-game behind first place St. Louis. The Phils swept the Reds, while the Cardinals beat the Mets to win the National League.
"Hutch was sick. We all knew what our goal was, because of Hutch, but it didn’t work out," Joe Nuxhall, the former Reds pitcher and broadcaster once told me, as I wrote in my book, Joe Nuxhall: The Old Lefthander & Me. "The Phillies come into town, and they just beat us . . . They kicked our butts. The Phillies had blown a seven-game lead. That year we had it."
The '64 team contained the first seeds of the Big Red Machine, which dominated the National League in the 1970s. Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Tommy Helms were on the team, to be joined by Lee May (1965), Johnny Bench and Gary Nolan (1967).
Miller plans to post the second episode of each series the last week of March, before Opening Day. They're available through his Queen City Historical Review page on Substack, or on Apple podcasts and Spotify podcasts. He has 120 subscribers to his Queen City page who pay $5 a month, or $30 a year.
"You get a little bit of baseball, and a little bit of non-baseball, and Cincinnati history articles, and it really helps me out with my passion projects. Believe me, the subscriptions are a huge deal so thank you to all who have subscribed," he says.
