Brennaman says 2019 his last season with Reds

CINCINNATI — Like his longtime broadcasting cohort used to say, Marty Brennaman is rounding third and heading for home.

The Reds play-byplay announcer said Wednesday that he will retire after the 2019 season, his 46th in Cincinnati. His career started with a chance to call baseball history. It entered a final season with deep sighs and emotional moments.

“It’s something I’ve thought about a long time,” Brennaman said, calling it one of his most difficult days. “It’s something I’ve anguished over more than anything I’ve anguished over in my life. I wake up at night, at 4 o’clock in the morning, and I stare off into the darkness and think about what I’m doing.”

Brennaman, 76, said he wanted to retire while he is healthy and can still do things he has always wished to do.

Brennaman joined the Reds’ broadcast team in 1974, replacing the popular Al Michaels. His first regular-season game at Riverfront Stadium provided a chance to call Hank Aaron’s 714th career homer, which tied Babe Ruth’s revered record. Hall of Fame announcer Marty Brennaman says his 46th season with the Cincinnati Reds will be his last. He says the decision to retire is “something I’ve anguished over more than anything I’ve anguished over in my life.”

Brennaman said color commentator Joe Nuxhall turned to him after the inning and asked his new partner, “What the heck do you do for an encore? I said, ‘I don’t know.’ ”

Brennaman and Nuxhall became an endearing broadcast duo for 31 years from 1974 to 2004. They would talk about the Big Red Machine’s exploits and compare notes on garden tomatoes. Fans referred to them simply as Marty and Joe.

“Throughout Reds country, Marty and Joe were a staple of summertime, fans tuning in not just for the love of the Reds but because they loved Marty and Joe,” owner Bob Castellini said.

Each of them developed a distinctive sign-off line. Nuxhall,

a former Reds pitcher, would say he is “rounding third and heading for home,” a saying that is remembered in lights outside Great American Ball Park. Brennaman would end each win by declaring that “this one belongs to the Reds.”

One of the highlights of Brennaman’s career was receiving the Ford C. Frick Award in 2000 at the Baseball Hall of Fame, the fourth Reds announcer to receive the broadcasting award along with Red Barber, Al Helfer and Russ Hodges.

In addition to his work with Reds radio and television, Brennaman has worked NCAA Tournament games, including 11 Final Fours. His son, Thom, also is a broadcaster, for the Reds and other sports.