7/1/24: Mo Egger with Cam Miller

Local filmmaker Cam Miller is working on a project about the Big Red Machine, and if you're a Reds fan, it will be must-watch.

Cam joined us to discuss it on ESPN1530. 

Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.

Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.

Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Brandan, Mint and Jones on Baseballis coming up and Chad Brandle did this
show on Friday, which I appreciate. I was off and I think right
before he went on the air,maybe two hours before he went on the
air, we found out that DanteCorleone is dealing with a blood cloud issue.
And look, obviously the most importantthing there is his health and well

(00:24):
being. There is a football componentto it. I know on Friday show
Chad spend a little time on thefootball end of it, and so I
felt like today would be an appropriatetime to talk about what the impiket my
impact might be on the twenty twentyfour UC football season, keeping in mind
that the only thing we really careabout is Dante's health. So that's coming

(00:45):
up in just about an hour.Cam Miller has been on this show before
because whenever he has either released acool project or having an event to discuss
and show one of his project.When he is about to embark in a
cool project, we get him onthe show. And this morning he announced

(01:07):
in typical camway because he sent outa press release that used his version of
the old letterhead that the Reds usedto send out press releases on he is
embarking on a project, a fulllength feature documentary that tells the story of
the Big Red Machine. Cam iswith us now. The press release was

(01:30):
awesome. It's good to have you. Good afternoon, my friend. I
am doing day today, but theCincinnati Basebook Clubs, I'll be all right.
Stretch to go, buddy. That'sright. I'm glad you're doing this.
Now. Look, here's the thing. Right you released this, You're
going to do this project. It'sgoing to be a massive undertaking because you're
not just looking at one year,two years. You want the entire span

(01:53):
of the Big Red Machine. Youwant to connect everybody who played for them.
There aren't that many teams, theeras who have had their story told
before. So give us an ideaof how this is going to be different.
Well, I started this actually backtwenty twenty. It would have been
the fiftieth anniversary of nineteen seventy andthe whole run of the Big Red Machine.

(02:14):
But of course COVID happened and Ihad to kind of put in the
back bar. But I had ameeting with the Reds a couple of weeks
ago and we decided let's go fullwith this. Since it's going to be
the fiftieth anniversary of the nineteen seventyfive teams, So of course I already
had a lot of this stuff alreadycooking, So I just I'm kind of
tweaking things, and I decided totake a different angle. I wanted to
not only tell the story of theBig Red Machine, but also connect it

(02:37):
with reds Country, because that isreally the decade when Red's Country became a
thing, right because their front's built, They've got the world's largest parking garage.
You got access to seventy five andseventy one, so I mean they're
breaking attendance record. I think itwas eight out of ten years, it
was like two million. I meanthey finished one, two or three in
attendance every year the decade. Theonly year that they didn't was when they

(02:59):
finished five hundred nineteen seventy one.So it just felt like I had to
tell the story with Pete and Johnnyand George and Joe and all of these
guys, but also connected with storiesfrom fans. So I'm going to be
traveling around Red Country, if youwill, and getting stories, listening to
some transistor radios. Got some greatset pieces. We're working with we broke

(03:19):
out the leisure shoot mode. We'regonna be It's gonna be fantastic. My
friend, Wow, well, didI mean you you didn't have to go
buy a Leezer shoe leisure suit.Can't even say you didn't have to go
buy when you already had one.Of course, come on, what I'm
what I'm what I'm kind of interestedin is and look, I was born
in seventy seven, so you know, I know of that era because I
live here, because I love theReds because my dad worshiped those teams.

(03:44):
But but I don't I don't havefirsthand knowledge. Here's what I want to
know, and I don't know ifthis is something you could really tap into.
The Reds win the World Series inseventy five, but they lose in
seventy they lose in seven games inseventy two, they're upset by the New
York Mets. In nineteen seventy three, they don't win the National League West
in nineteen seventy four. I'm kindof interested in what was said about the

(04:06):
Reds going into that World Series againstBoston, and maybe specifically what was said
about them going into Game seven.Given the fact that for all their renown
and for as famous as those guyswere, and for as many individual and
team accomplishments as that team enjoyed,they hadn't won the big one, right,
And I absolutely dig into that.It's really fascinating when you go back

(04:28):
through the articles and also you know, radio interviews and not just Cincinnati but
the national pundits. I mean,there was a time there was actually going
to be a show I think itwas in seventy five. There was going
to be this a show that wasgoing to be broadcast what happened to the
Big Red Machine question Mark, andit was the Channel five I think it
was Channel five. At times theywere not showing that, like it was
a thing where it was like therewas national talk and since I was like,

(04:49):
no, we're not going to hearanything about that, but you're right,
I mean there was. And canyou imagine like Spoky would have been
fired after seventy three. I mean, it's just it wouldn't have lasted.
So there are some fascinating stories withthat. And also bad luck. I
mean, the injuries of seventy one, they really I mean they still to
the world Saris and seventy two,but seventy three the Mets. That was
a surprise, you know, seventyfour they still win. I mean they

(05:11):
win ninety games eight At the tenyears and seventies they went one hundred and
more or three times, so itwasn't like they were I mean, it
was a competitive, competitive era ofbaseball, So just because they didn't win
the big one wasn't like they werefailing. But we measured things by championships,
of course, and when once theywon those two, it was kind
of like that said it, andthere hasn't been a back to back champion
in the National League since, solet's not forget that. But you're absolutely

(05:33):
right. I mean there was alot of quote unquote failure talk for not
winning more than they did, buta small market, you know, team
doing what they did. It's justan incredible story. It is an incredible
story, and it's so important thatit's told. It's so important that it's
told while these guys are still alive. Then obviously Sparky Anderson passed away fourteen

(05:55):
years ago and Joe Morgan passed awaya couple of years ago. It's to
me, it's important that this getstold while we still have these guys of
the non sort of Grade eight BigRed Machine players. In your opinion as
a filmmaker involved in this project,who was the most interesting? Well,
so far there's been three, andit's really hard to narrow down. Arm

(06:17):
Buster, Chaining and Flynn. Thosethree guys just have some unbelievable stories and
some moments that That's one of thethings about going through the archives. I
get to listen to other games besidesal Michael's nineteen seventy two. I get
to listen to some games besides nineteenseventy five and the wil Chairs. I
get to go through all of thisthese radio broadcasts and you get to see

(06:40):
some of these games where it's bottomof ninety two out and you got Chaney
coming up, and you know,it's just the magic that he that he
brought. The same with Armbus,were the same with Flynn, those guys.
There was something about that bench inthese role players. Everybody had,
you know, a piece in themachine so to speak. They all had
They knew their role. There wasno ego. It was like I do
this well, and I'm gonna dothat in best my ability. It just
was unbelievable how it was. Imean, managed. It's incredible. I

(07:04):
mean, going through some of thesebroadcasts just then, I kind of thought
I knew, but until you golisten to a July game in nineteen seventy
four and Martin and Joe are goingat it and it's just the crowd,
how loud they were. It wasjust an unbelievable time, just incredible.
You ever, do you need anassistant, because that's like, right up
my alley, come down and offersome help. I've been listening to people.

(07:28):
They've been emailing me about some voiceoverworks. So I'm telling you,
I'm gonna be there's gonna be likeimagine Kim Burns in the Civil War document.
You're reading letters of Bob Howson.Oh man, oh man, I'm
gonna call you, buddy, I'mgonna call you. I'm there, I'm
there, and with no hesitation.The name of the project is the Machine
in Red's Country? Was that era? Red's Country is something that a lot

(07:50):
of us have grown up with?Was that era the first the first time
that that that that phraseology, forlack of a better way of putting it,
was used. Yeah, you startseeing it on official publications in sixty
eight sixty nine, So When BobHousen comes in, he kind of jumps
a hold of that. He takesus by the reins. We're going to
market this team, not just toyou know, Cincinnati, We're going to

(08:13):
market to Red's Country. And whatdoes what is Red's Country? Well,
they had one hundred over one hundredradio stations and I think it was seven
states, and then nine TV stationsin four states. I mean, it
was unbelievable the reach they had,and of course seven hundred being having the
power that they had, and thecaravan, I mean again, stuff that
nobody really did. They went outand promoted the Reds the clean cut team

(08:35):
or no mustaches, black shoes.It was it was an industry. It
was this is how we do things. And there's a reason why they were
successful. And of course Bob Housenkind of made it happen that the whole
Reds country, you know, Mistique. The project is going to be released
next year coincides with the fiftieth anniversaryof the Reids winning the nineteen seventy five
World Series. Can you give usany specifics on when we'll be able to

(08:58):
see it. The hope is bythis springtime, before the season starts and
it will be in a theater andit's going to be a full length feature
film. I'm talking to a coupleof local theaters about doing something with charity
so we can get that place soldout and donate part of the proceeds there.
But we're looking at the springtime release, which means I've got a lot

(09:18):
of traveling to do. I'm hopingI can rent like a VW bug and
then just travel around with these littlecities in Ohio and Indiana. That's what
you and I need to do,man, Yes, yeah, travel around,
smoke some cigars in the VW andget interviews. That's that's the dream.
That's the real Reds Caravan right there. Absolutely all right? So you're
you're talking about this publicly, isthere somewhere that folks can go to get

(09:41):
teased a little bit more. I'llbe posting a trailer this week on my
YouTube YouTube, Candler Films. Getready for that. I'm working on it.
It's going to be fantastic. I'vegot a lot of things coming down
the pike. You know. Thehard part is I'm trying to promote it
to get people excited about as I'mmaking it, so there's like it's like,
I'm like, do I show thatyet, I'm I'm going to hold

(10:01):
that back. I mean, we'retalking about old school Reds tractors from the
past that they might make an appearance. If you remember the picture of le
May on the tractor, we mightbe getting that back into action. So
there's all these really cool things I'mworking on, but I also have to
promote it. So I say,I got to a trail. I gotta
throw my bone. So it's comingthis week. You can follow me on

(10:22):
Twitter, you can find me onFacebook and Google Candle. The films and
only good things will pop up.I promise. Cannot wait to see it
and the final product. I'm sureI'll bother you to come on with me
when it's out. I am reallyexcited about this. You're as good as
they come. I appreciate the time, man, Thanks so much. Thanks
my friend, You're great. That'sthe great Cam Miller. This is going

(10:43):
to be incredible, the machine inReds Country. If you have not got
to Cam's YouTube, you can watchall those other features. His film on
Riverfront Stadium, both from a Redsand a Bengals perspective. Films. I
should say just top notch stuff.His Covent and BLUESX film is terrific.
This is going to be awesome.Go find it. Look for the trailer

(11:05):
this week.