After 19 years at shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, Barry Larkin announces his retirement as an active player, to become special assistant to Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden. A 12-time All-Star, National League MVP, and three-time Gold Glove winner, Larkin spent his entire career in Cincinnati, his hometown.
In front of a sellout crowd of 41,626 fans, the Phillies play their first game in their $458 million Pattison Avenue ballpark. On a cloudy day, the Citizens Bank Park history begins with a 4-1 loss to the Reds with right fielder Bobby Abreu hitting the park’s first homer, accounting for Philadelphia’s only run.
2003 – At Great American Ball Park, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hits his 500th career home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Scott Sullivan in the 7th inning, becoming only the 18th player in major league history to hit 500 or more home runs, as well as the first Hispanic player to do so. Despite Sosa’s highlight, Cincinnati edges the Cubs, 10 – 9.
Avoiding arbitration, the Reds give Danny Graves (7-3, 3.19, 32 saves) a three-year deal. The team’s former closer is slated to join the starting rotation this season after posting a 1-0 record with a 1.89 ERA in his four appearances as a starter at the end of last season.
2002 – The Reds and Padres reach an agreement to trade Ken Griffey, Jr. for Phil Nevin, but Nevin, with a no-trade clause in his contract, nixes the deal. He says he will only agree to a trade to a West Coast team that trains in Arizona. Griffey tore a tendon in his knee during the first week of last season, setting up another season limited by leg injuries. He also pulled a hamstring and strained hip muscles, limiting him to 70 games, a .264 average, eight homers and 23 RBIs. In a week, the White Sox will turn down an offer of Griffey for Magglio Ordonez.
Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run with the San Francisco Giants in a 3 – 0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Ryan Jensen relieves Giants starter Jason Schmidt in the 1st inning and carries a no-hitter into the 8th before surrendering a single to Jason LaRue.
Making his first appearance in almost seven years, Jose Rijo allows one unearned run in five innings as the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Chicago Cubs, 5 – 3. It is Rijo’s first win since July 13, 1995.
The Reds defeat the Cardinals, 5 – 4, on Ken Griffey, Jr.’s 11th-inning inside-the-park home run. The “run-off” home run breaks the Cardinals’ 11-game winning streak. The Cards, who also won 10 in a row in May, are the first team since the 1978 Pirates to post a pair of double-digit win streaks in the same season.
The Brewers defeat the Reds, 5 – 1. Cincinnati P Jose Rijo hurls the last two scoreless innings in relief, his first major league action in six years.
Diamondbacks flamethrower Randy Johnson strikes out 20 Reds in Arizona’s 4 – 3 win over Cincinnati in 11 innings. Johnson gets all 20 in his nine innings of work, but does not officially tie Roger Clemens and Kerry Wood’s record since the contest goes into extra frames. The Reds score two in the top of the 11th, but the D’Backs come back with 3, scoring the winning run on a bases-loaded walk by reliever Danny Graves.
Enjoy our free trial and start listening to games, interviews and shows! Ruth, Mantle, Aaron, and Seaver!