How We Lookin'?
The Immortal Words of Marty Brennaman
How We Lookin’?: The Immortal Words of Marty Brennaman takes a look back at Marty Brennaman’s 46 years in the Cincinnati Reds booth and then some. Brennaman tells his story alongside fans, colleagues, Reds players, and family members. His work in broadcasting led to the Ford C. Frick Award for "major contributions to baseball" in 2000.
When Marty arrived in Cincinnati for the 1974 season, the Reds booth would never again be the same. He had the challenging task of having to replace Al Michaels, who had just departed for the San Franciso Giants. By the time that he retired at the end of the 2019 season, he was one of several broadcasters to have spent at least 40 years broadcasting games for a single team. Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione joined the 40-seasons-with-one-team club a few years ago but had two seasons with other teams.
Jaime Jarrin (64 seasons/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Vin Scully (67 seasons/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Denny Matthews (56 seasons/Kansas City Royals)
Bob Uecker (54 seasons/Milwaukee Brewers)
Mike Shannon (50 seasons/St. Louis Cardinals)
Jack Buck (46 seasons/St. Louis Cardinals)
Eric Nadel (46 seasons/Texas Rangers)
Ernie Harwell (42 seasons/Detroit Tigers—55 seasons overall)
Jerry Coleman (42 seasons/San Diego Padres—51 seasons overall)
Joe Castiglione (42 seasons/Boston Red Sox—44 seasons overall)
In addition to the three World Series championships (1975, 1976, 1990), Brennaman was behind the mic for a few milestone home runs (Hank Aaron’s 714th career home run and both Ken Griffey Jr.’s 500th and 600th home runs), Pete Rose’s record-breaking hit, one perfect game, and six no-hitters. He did some basketball, too, as he was on the sidelines the Kentucky-Duke game that ended in heartbreak back in 1992. It was one of the 15 NCAA Regionals that he called along with 11 Final Fours. But before that, Brennaman’s earlier work with the Virginia Squires opened the door to calling AAA baseball, which later led to the Reds opportunity.
He coined “And this one belongs to the Reds" following Reds wins. Nobody can really repeat it in the same way. Take it from Jeff Brantley. The Cowboy joined the booth in 2007. He mentions how he once started to announce it, only to take a left turn.
The thing that applies to broadcasters like Marty is that the blowouts are what helps separate the great announcers from the average announcers. It’s what makes a radio broadcast so much fun to listen to because broadcasters have to talk about something. I think I was listening to a Reds broadcast where Marty was discussing Kentucky basketball but I could be mistaken. Growing up in Reds country, if they were playing a game and we were in the car, you better believe we were listening to the broadcast.
Kirk Herbstreit comments that he prefers the radio broadcast to TV, especially during the late innings in big games. He’s not necessarily wrong here. This isn’t to say anything negative about the TV broadcasters because I enjoy watching baseball on TV but the radio broadcasts cannot afford to have so much dead air.
As both Thom Brennaman and Nick Lachey note, sports broadcasting is not what it used to be. Lachey finds that the “tradition is a dying breed” while Brennaman says that the “days of Harry Caray and Marty are long gone.” Jim Day even notes that teams are in more control of their broadcast. And yet, Marty is the type that was not afraid to give listeners the truth. He would give it straight even when team leadership didn’t like it.
“He’s not some loudmouth that doesn’t do his work…he’s a purist,” commented Urban Meyer.
“I really appreciated that he was gonna be real,” Herbstreit said. “Sometimes too real.”
These comments would segue into the 2008 controversy surrounding Marty and Chicago Cubs fans, calling them “far and away the most obnoxious fans in baseball.” He only doubled down on his comments the next day in a radio interview. Sure, the film could have done without covering the controversy but it would not be telling a full portrait of Brennaman. It’s the same reason why filmmaker Terry Lukemire also covers the 1988 incident where Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall commented on the on-field altercation between Rose and umpire Dave Pallone. They either had to apologize on air or then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti would ban them from baseball. Imagine how different Reds games would be.
When Junior was playing for the Reds, he insisted that Marty call his 500th and 600th career home runs. Marty didn't want to do it if it came during an inning he wasn't working in. He ultimately caved but as luck would have it, both home runs came during innings he worked. His 500th HR call is one of his favorite calls. Where some broadcasters have a traditional home run call, Marty did not. He just said whatever words were coming out of his mouth.
How We Lookin’? is a film that Cincinnati Reds fans will appreciate the most but it’s worth recommending for the average baseball fan, too. That being said, Kentucky fans will probably want to fast-forward through THE SHOT.
DIRECTOR: Terry Lukemire
FEATURING: Marty Brennaman, Pete Rose, Tom Browning, Bronson Arroyo, Thom Brennaman, Jeff “Cowboy” Brantley, Jim Day, Chris Welsh, Dave “Yid” Armbruster, Rick Walls, Charley Frank, Amanda Brennaman, with Urban Meyer, Kirk Herbstreit, and Nick Lachey