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Marty Brennaman got his start calling professional sports contests in 1970 with the American Basketball Association’s Virginia Squires. The following season he added baseball to his plate as the primary man for the Triple-A Tidewater Tides. In 1974 he got his big break when he was hired by the Cincinnati Reds.

Brennaman remained in the Reds broadcast booth for the next 45 years. During his illustrious career Brennaman earned the highest honors his team and sport bestow. In 2000 he was given the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award which honors broadcasters for “major contributions to baseball.” Twenty years later the Reds inducted Brennaman into the Reds team Hall of Fame.

From 1974-2004 Brennaman called play-by-play with former Cincinnati pitcher Joe Nuxhall. Marty and Joe each had a memorable catch phrase. After a Reds victory Brenaman declared, “this one belongs to the Reds”. When he signed off, Nuxhall told the audience, “This is the old left-hander, rounding third and heading for home”.

In addition to three Reds World Series titles, big moments that Brennaman announced include Hank Aaron’s 714th homer, Tom Seaver’s no-hitter, Pete Rose’s 4,192nd hit, Tom Browning’s perfect game, Ken Griffey’s 500th and 600th homers, and Roy Halladay’s postseason no-no in the 2010 NLDS.

Shown here is an official publication from the team dated February, 1974. The Cincinnati Reds-Letter top story is the hiring of Brennaman as broadcaster. Just below that story is the announcement of Nuxhall returning for his 8th year. Both men have signed near their adjacent photo.

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Joe Nuxhall had two careers in Major League Baseball. He debuted as a big league pitcher on July 10th, 1944 and remains the youngest man to play at the sports highest level at 15 years, 316 days old. In 16 seasons he won 135 games with 20 shutouts and 83 complete games.

Immediately after retiring as a player he joined the Reds broadcast team. For more than a half-century he endeared himself to the Cincinnati faithful. From 1974 until he retired from full-time duties in 2004 Nuxhall teamed with play-by-play man Marty Brennaman.

Elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1968 for his pitching career, Nuxhall was beloved as a player and announcer. The old lefthander is featured in one of eight statues near the entrance to the Reds’ Great American Ball Park. The others are Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose.

In the collection is this 1964 Topps card autographed by Nuxhall.