Reds fans are gonna feel this one…

For my birthday in 1988, at what I believe was my very first Cincinnati Reds game, I walked away with something I’ll never forget — a signed ball from the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

A family friend was the visiting clubhouse manager at Riverfront Stadium and wanted to do something special. He tried to get the Reds to sign one, but that couldn’t happen… so he went to the other dugout.

And if you grew up watching baseball in the ’80s and ’90s, you know how wild that was. The Reds and Dodgers were heated division rivals — every series felt like a playoff series.

This ball has been with me for 37 years now, first sitting on my dresser as a kid and now proudly displayed in my collection. It’s not just a ball — it’s a piece of that old-school NL West rivalry that shaped my baseball childhood.