If Tony Perez was the Mayor of Riverfront Stadium, then Bernie Stowe was the Sage of Cinergy Field who tucked away Riverfront and Crosley Field into eternity with the same tender loving care he christened Great American Ballpark.
When Stowe, the Reds’ long-time clubhouse man, died at age 80 earlier this week it was a blow felt on both sides of The Banks, where in a galaxy far, far away his team and the Bengals once shared a stadium. If it wasn’t for the ever inexhaustible and always accessible Stowe, Bill Connelly wonders how the house would have stood.