I met a piece of baseball history today.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I met former National League Umpire John Kibler. He was the first base umpire in the infamous Mets/Red Sox World Series where Bill Buckner let the slow ground ball go through his legs handing New York the game. He's retired now and living here in Prescott Arizona, sort of a celebrity at the local Sports Bar. We sat together at the bar for well over an hour while he told me stories of calling games at old Riverfront Stadium during the Big Red Machine era. The player on the Reds he that really impressed him was Johnny Bench. He called him the best catcher EVER. The way he called pitches, and his canon arm throwing out base stealers with ease. He should know...he stood behind him while calling balls and strikes.

The people in the above photograph. Umpire John Kibler pointing fair. Home-plate umpire Dale Ford, Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman and Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley and first baseman Bill Buckner, backs turned, facing a ball scooting into short right field. Mets first-base coach Bill Robinson has his arms extended in shock.

He did mention he hated the humidity of Cincinnati during the summer. Truthfully I don't miss it either.

[gregstephens]

I met former National League Umpire John Kibler. He was the first base umpire in the infamous Mets/Red Sox World Series where Bill Buckner let the slow ground ball go through his legs handing New York the game. He's retired now and living here in Prescott Arizona, sort of a celebrity at the local Sports Bar. We sat together at the bar for well over an hour while he told me stories of calling games at old Riverfront Stadium during the Big Red Machine era. The player on the Reds he that really impressed him was Johnny Bench. He called him the best catcher EVER. The way he called pitches, and his canon arm throwing out base stealers with ease. He should know...he stood behind him while calling balls and strikes.

The people in the above photograph. Umpire John Kibler pointing fair. Home-plate umpire Dale Ford, Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman and Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley and first baseman Bill Buckner, backs turned, facing a ball scooting into short right field. Mets first-base coach Bill Robinson has his arms extended in shock.

He did mention he hated the humidity of Cincinnati during the summer. Truthfully I don't miss it either.

Don't know how long you been gone, but it has certainly gotten no better.

[BengalszoneBilly]

Don't know how long you been gone, but it has certainly gotten no better.

I left Northern Kentucky right out of high school on October 28th, 1976 to join the Marines. Of course I return from Arizona periodically to visit family and friends, or attend weddings, high school reunions, and funerals. My last visit was a classic Cincinnati summer...92 degree temperatures with over 90% humidity.

I didn't mind it as long as I could sit on a stool at my old Dixie Chili restaurant on Dixie Highway in Erlanger and eat as many cheese coneys as my stomach could hold.

Dixie Chili is THE original Cincinnati Chili maker. The now larger Skyline Chili was born 20 years later. Sorry Eric.

[skyline]

The humidity in Cincinnati? HA! What a joke.

Come down south, boys, and see what real humidity is all about.