By Cindi Andrews and John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County commissioners said Tuesday they have no problem with "And this one belongs to the Reds" adorning Great American Ball Park if that's what the Cincinnati Reds want.

"It sounds to me like it's a wonderful thing to do," Commissioner John Dowlin said.

The county received dozens of calls and e-mails from fans of veteran radio broadcasters Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall on Tuesday calling for Brennaman's signature line to be included in the new ballpark. They were responding to Reds chief operations officer John Allen's comment in the Enquirer that the county vetoed hanging "And this one belongs to the Reds" in the new park. Instead, Nuxhall's signature "Rounding third and heading for home" is writ large in red neon.

However, neither county commissioners nor their administrator ever told the Reds they couldn't use the Brennaman line, Reds and county officials all agreed Tuesday.

Allen was out of town in business meetings in the afternoon and couldn't be reached for comment. But he talked to Reds spokesman Rob Butcher earlier in the day after he began to hear about the fallout from Tuesday's story.

"He told me it came up two or three years ago at a meeting about the ballpark," Butcher said. "... Whoever was representing the county at that meeting said it might not be such good idea to display, `And this one belongs to the Reds,' because there might be some taxpayer out there who would get upset by it"- thinking it meant the stadium belonged to the Reds.

Allen doesn't remember who the county representative was, Butcher said.

"After the (comment) was made, we agreed that we'd use (Nuxhall's phrase) there, and it's worked out well," Butcher said. "That's where the ballpark rounds third and heads for home. That's the third-base side."

Allen told the Enquirer last week it was not the Reds' intention to display Brennaman's signature phrase on the same wall, just that they were considering it somewhere.

"If they now say it's OK, that's good to know," Butcher said. "It's nice to know there is support for it. It could happen. ... But we want to make clear there isn't any kind of a power struggle about this."

Mike Sieving, the county's construction executive, seconded that.

"My operating philosophy on this project all along is that this is the Reds' business and they know how they need to market their business," he said. "They have been very much involved in the design, more so than the county has been."

Now that the county's position has been clarified, the Reds might put up a sign honoring Brennaman and his signature phrase. But it won't happen soon, certainly not by Opening Day, Butcher said.

"Right now, we're getting ready to open the ballpark."

E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com or candrews@enquirer.com