In Marty Brennaman's first two years as a broadcaster with the Cincinnati Reds, he identified himself as a part of the team. A conversation during the 1976 season with pitcher Jack Billingham changed that perspective and served as a pivotal point in his career.

"I said to him 'We had a great win yesterday,' '' Brennaman said. "He said 'How many hits did you have? What is this we business?' He was 100 percent correct. For me to say we was completely wrong.''

	Marty Brennaman, left, and Joe Nuxhall have been calling Reds' games for nearly 30 years.

Those who tune in to hear Brennaman, who will call part of ESPN's telecast of the Yankees-Reds game on Wednesday night as part of the "Living Legends" series, will get an honest assessment. It is that style by which he is best known. There is no sugarcoating or favortism when Brennaman calls a game. Objectivity has become his strength.

"I always say that if I praise you, I reserve the right to be critical of you,'' he said. "Thankfully I work for people who understand that.''

Brennaman grew up in Portsmouth Va., his style shaped by listening to the likes of Pirates announcer Bob Prince and Orioles voice Chuck Thompson, as well as Nat Albright, whose recreations of Brooklyn Dodgers games fascinated Brennaman and influenced him to pursue this career path. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Brennaman was briefly a sports anchor, then called high school and college sports on the radio for five years before landing jobs with the Tidewater Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets, and the ABA's Virginia Squires.

Getting the Reds job was not easy. Brennaman beat out more than 200 other applicants to replace Al Michaels, who left to broadcast San Francisco Giants games before moving on to ABC.

Brennaman was paired with Joe Nuxhall, known in baseball history as the youngest player to make his major-league debut. The duo made the partnership work immediately both on and off the air. It still does today.

"We've had success as a team, not individually,'' Brennaman said. "That we've been together 30 years is mind boggling, but I think it's because we're legitimately friends. We eat together and golf together almost every day when we're on the road. In the baseball play-by-play business, it's more important than any other sport that you get along with your partner by virtue of the fact that you're on the air every day.''

Brennaman at a glance

Career highlights: Cincinnati Reds play-by play announcer 1974-present. ... Won the Baseball Hall of Fame Ford Frick Award in 2000. ... Broadcast 15 NCAA Basketball Regionals and 10 Final Fours on radio. ... Was voice of the ABA's Virginia Squires, the NBA's Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers, as well as the University of Kentucky. Best player he ever saw: "It was Joe Morgan over those two years, 1975 and 1976. He could beat you every which way." If he wasn't a broadcaster: "I would have been a professional actor. I did a lot of theatre work in high school. When we go to New York, on my off-nights, I'll go to a Broadway show. I marvel at the talent of people who perform on the professional stage." Most deserving of Hall of Fame induction: "Besides Pete Rose, Ron Santo. I got to vote as a member of the Veterans Committee this year. He was at the top of my list. I'm disappointed that he's not in." Did you know? Brennaman and his partner, Joe Nuxhall, were honored May 25 with their own bobblehead doll at Great American Ballpark. "I guess we've attained a new level of success,'' Brennaman laughed. Collectible trinkets are nothing new to Brennaman, who got a lot of attention a few seasons ago for keeping a bust of Elvis Presley in the broadcast booth.

In Brennaman's first regular-season game at the microphone, he called Hank Aaron's record-tying 714th career home run. Just when he thought it couldn't get any better, it did. The Reds, after losing in the World Series in 1972 and the National League Championship Series in 1973, won back-to-back championships in 1975 and 1976. Brennaman's signature call "This one belongs to the Reds" was heard almost every day as Cincinnati won 108 times in 1975, and then 102 the following season.

"I don't know which was better,'' Brennaman said of the two squads that included the likes of Tony Perez, Pete Rose and back-to-back MVP Joe Morgan. "The thing that most amazed me about those teams, and you see it now when the Braves are in town, they went about their business with style and class. They never showed you up. They were also the best-dressed team in baseball, looking like something coming out of Gentleman's Quarterly. I remember when they flew to Boston and we drove from the airport to Fenway Park. The next day in the papers, there was as much written about how they dressed as how they would play.''

Baseball fans around the country always marvel at the accomplishments of the Big Red Machine, but the team that impressed Brennaman the most was the unlikely champions. The 1990 Reds led the NL West wire-to-wire, beat the Pirates in six games in the NLCS, then swept the defending champion Oakland A's to win the World Series.

"The 1990 team was the most special team I've ever been around,'' Brennaman said. "People are surprised when I say that. Well, everyone picked the 1975 and 1976 teams to win it all, and they did. Nobody picked the 1990 team to win anything, not even the division, let alone the pennant or World Series. Lou Piniella was one of the great managers I've ever been associated with. He didn't have all the answers, but he surrounded himself with National League experienced coaches and listened to what they said. I still think one of the biggest mistakes this organization made was allowing him to leave. I didn't think this team would win the World Series until they won it. I remember though that Joe Morgan and I talked before the series, and he said that one of the teams that had success against Oakland was the White Sox because they had a lot of guys that threw hard. This team had a lot too, and the bullpen with Randy Myers, Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton, was extremely intimidating (In that World Series, the Reds bullpen pitched 13 scoreless innings). Oakland was no match for that pitching staff.''

Brennaman is frequently asked for his thoughts on Pete Rose's situation, since Brennaman was there for almost all of the great moments of Rose's career, his return to Cincinnati as manager, and his banishment from the game. In his acceptance speech for the 2000 Ford Frick Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame, Brennaman didn't hold back. He said that Rose should be a fellow inductee.

"He deserves to be there based on what he did as a player," Brennaman said. "The allegations that surfaced came up when he was a manager. I think you have to separate Pete Rose the player from Pete the manager. I applaud what Bud Selig is trying to do now (to work out a compromise by which Rose is reinstated from baseball's ineligible list). I don't know if he should be (allowed to manage). My gut feeling is that he shouldn't, because any time he made a move, people would ask if he was on the take. I do think he would be an outstanding broadcaster though, because he would be brutally honest.''

That same style has served Brennaman well and will continue to do so. A few years ago, Brennaman tracked down Albright, called him and let him know his importance in shaping Brennaman's interest. Brennaman has had an influence on a number of broadcasters, including his son Thom, who does play-by-play for the Diamondbacks and Fox Sports. He hopes that others think of him with the respect he has for his predecessors.

"I don't think of myself as a Living Legend,'' Brennaman said. "When I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the most mind-boggling thing to me was that I was in with Red Barber and Vin Scully and Jack Buck. I never thought of myself as being in that class. It's nice that others think of me like that''

The temptation to leave has been there at times, but the desire to stay in Cincinnati has always remained stronger.

"In this business, as transient and nomadic as it is, to be a big-league announcer for 30 years and to end your career with the club you began with, that doesn't happen often,'' Brennaman said. It's something that is very important to me. "

Mark Simon is a researcher for ESPN's Major League Baseball broadcasts. He can be contacted at Mark.A.Simon@espn.com