Zerhusen's voice booms at Cincinnati Reds games

Do you hear that booming voice declaring "Now batting for the Cincinnati Reds ..." as you squint at the field from your seats at the top of the stadium?

You grin at the sound of the voice as it expertly stretches out the syllables of your favorite player's name.

But where is that voice coming from? The ballpark's speaker system, of course. More accurately, if you're at Great American Ball Park, the sound is coming from the lips of Reds public address announcer Joe Zerhusen.

You might be surprised to know that Zerhusen holds the same fond memories of the mysterious voice of the PA announcer.

Zerhusen, a longtime Reds fan who grew up in northern Kentucky, reminisced about his childhood visits to Crosley Field, where Paul Sommerkamp did the PA work.

"When I would go to the games, it was like, 'Wow -- [listen to] that big voice coming out of nowhere!' It was a neat thing, and I would actually try to imitate the way he would introduce Frank Robinson and Pete Rose and those guys," Zerhusen said.  read the rest of Meggie Zahneis's story