As part of every Reds game broadcast on the Reds Radio Network, Greg Rhodes, noted baseball historian and director of the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, presents a brief, colorful account of a memorable moment in the history of America's longest-running baseball team. These pieces have become a favorite feature for Reds fans, who love to celebrate the Big Red Machine's long and storied history and traditions. This collection brings together every single one of Rhodes' pieces in a single boo...

At age 40, Greg and Heidi Rhodes kept a rash promise to each other made 17 years earlier, when the naive, mortgage-free expats swore to return to China with their own children. Arriving back in the Middle Kingdom in 2005, they were surprised to find their former home city, Chengdu, unrecognizable. Familiar landmarks and expectations had been swept away by China's rushing tide of progress, replaced by glass skyscrapers, McDonald's restaurants, and a frenetic scramble to get ahead. Armed wit...

First published in 1948, Lee Allen’s history of the Reds, like Franklin Lewis’s history of the Cleveland Indians, was originally published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Allen narrates the historic organization’s success, beginning shortly after the Civil War with baseball’s rising popularity among Cincinnati’s elite. Eventually, as interest increased, America’s first professional baseball team was established in 1868—Cincinnati’s Red Stockings.The Cincinnati Reds chronicles each season from the ...

The Big Red Machine dominated major league baseball in the 1970s, but the Cincinnati franchise began its climb to that pinnacle in 1961, when an unlikely collection of cast-offs and wannabes stunned the baseball world by winning the National League pennant. Led by revered manager Fred Hutchinson, the team featured rising stars like Frank Robinson, Jim O'Toole, and Vada Pinson, fading stars like Gus Bell and Wally Post, and a few castoffs who suddenly came into their own, like Gene Freese a...

Is Melvin Beederman DOOMED?Mysterious threatening e-mails, a sad sidekick, and . . . country music? Melvin Beederman and his partner in uncrime, Candace, are really in trouble. Once again someone is out to get them, and this time not even the Superhero's Code can save Melvin from a terrible bologna-filled plight. Candace alone can rescue him—if only she can remember the country singer's motto: "When all else fails, sing about your dog."Melvin Beederman has la...

The three members of the Bad Guy Brotherhood have broken out of jail, and now they're coming after the superhero who put them there: Melvin Beederman! Goofball McCluskey, Max the Wonder Thug, and Calamity Wayne are building a time machine so they can get Melvin before he ever became a superhero.Can Melvin and Candace travel back in time and reach the Superhero Academy to save young Melvin?

Melvin Beederman, superhero extraordinaire, faces his greatest challenge yet when a mysterious villain threatens his favorite rock band!Bad guys tremble at the sound of his name! But this time, Melvin Beederman may have met his match. The Grateful Fred, Melvin's all-time favorite rock-and-roll band, is in danger. Someone has been sending threatening letters, and Fred himself has requested Melvin's help:From: [email protected]: melvin@beederm...

A few million miles away from Los Angeles, danger is lurking. Evil aliens with some seriously hard to pronounce names like Zzykrkv are visiting earth from their home planet, Dork—to kidnap earthlings for their science class!While busy on a snack food errand . . . uh, mission . . . Melvin Beederman, official superhero of Los Angeles, senses that something doesn't feel quite right. Can Melvin, Candance, and friends from the Superhero Academy prevail over extraterrestrial bad guys with...

When Melvin goes to Las Vegas for the Superhero's Convention, Candace is left in charge of Los Angeles. Between the horrible bullies at school and the devious and sinister Spaz brothers (Major and his brother, Big), Candace has her hands very full. And someone has stolen her cape! How will she stop all the bad guys before the city is overrun with crime?The super-sidekick gets her turn in the spotlight in this fifth hilarious book in the Melvin Beederman series.

Bad guys tremble at the sound of his name!Crime is at an all-time low in Los Angeles—but not for long. The McNasty Brothers have escaped from prison, and they want REVENGE. The superheroes need all their noggin power, and a little help from a pretzel-loving rat, to capture the baddest-smelling villains around.

Melvin Beederman is back and ready for action, but this time he's up against an unexpected foe: Valley girls!Fresh out of bad guys to catch, Melvin thinks he can finally catch a break. Little does he know that trouble is brewing in a dressing room at a large department store...Devious and sinister Valley girls Chantele and Brittany aren't just trying on clothes. They're hatching a totally cool plan to take over the city. With their clever disguises and manipu...

Bad guys tremble at the sound of his name!Meet Melvin Beederman. He's a pretty good superhero, even though it always takes him five or six tries to get launched and flying. His weakness (every superhero has one) is bologna, which makes it hard to go into a deli. Still, Melvin manages to keep the city of Los Angeles free of nasty villains—once he's airborne.Crash! Splat! Thud! Kabonk!This series has it all: hilarious story lines, amazing classi...