To combine the two most famous lines in Cincinnati sports broadcast history, the phrase “and this one belongs to the Reds” is “rounding third and heading for home.”

Marty Brennaman, Cincinnati Reds radio play-by-play man/legend, announced Wednesday that 2019 would be his final season at the annual radio affiliate luncheon. Brennaman has been the Reds' lead broadcaster since 1974 when he took over for Al Michaels.

Brennaman is fully retiring. He says he will broadcast no games in 2020.

"It'll be tough," he said. "Today's been tough. I don't think I'll feel the full impact until a year from now when everybody's packing up for spring training. Nobody loves spring training more than me."

Doc:The Reds are family in Cincinnati. Marty sits at the head of the table.

More:Relive some of Marty Brennaman's greatest calls in the Cincinnati Reds radio booth

Also: Social media reactions to Marty's announcement

Brennaman wanted to delay the announcement until the final game of the season, so he could avoid a farewell tour. But the Reds talked him out of it.

"I'm honored," he said. "But I'm also uncomfortable with it."

Brennaman has won the highest honors a baseball broadcaster can. He received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000. He was inducted in the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2005. He has been named Ohio Broadcaster of the Year 17 times – most recently earlier this week.

But he is more than that in his adopted hometown. He is a combination of celebrity and everyman. He’s an approachable icon. Call-in shows are dominated by fans asking Brennaman if he remembers encounters at United Dairy Farmers or Kroger.

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Brennaman, 76, was hired as a 31-year-old in 1974. He was a polished announcer by then. He began his career in High Point, North Carolina, after graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1965. He did high school sports, small colleges and anything else the station needed.

He moved up and on as the years went by, broadcasting Virginia Tech and William & Mary football and basketball and the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association.

He took over as radio voice of the Triple-A Tidewater Tides (now the Norfolk Tides) in 1971. His work got the attention of the Reds, who were looking for a replacement for Michaels.

Brennaman sent in his tape and got the job from a field of 200 applicants.

Thus began his run with Joe Nuxhall. “Marty and Joe” would do virtually every game over the next 28 years. Brennaman’s most famous gaffe came in his second game of spring training from old Al Lopez Field in Tampa. “Hello and welcome to Al Michaels Field.”

It cracked up Nuxhall, and they laughed their way to becoming twin Cincinnati icons.

The fan reception for Brennaman was good from the start.

"It was incredible to me because there were very few public criticisms of my work early," Brennaman said. "But I was shocked, but I was with a good team. I was broadcasting a good team in 1974."

One of Brennaman's first calls was Atlanta's Hank Aaron tying Babe Ruth's all-time home run record.

"I was scared to death," Brennaman said. "I was overwhelmed. I had never been in a stadium with 55,000 people. Then he hits a homer in the first inning. Nuxhall said 'what do you do for an encore?' I said 'it's a pretty good way to start. It was one of the big thrills of my life. I never expected to be doing big league baseball."

Marty and Joe's broadcasts were like no other in baseball. Brennaman continued to call other sports. He did 11 Final Fours. He called the famous Christian Laettner Duke-Kentucky game.

But his day job made him famous. He and Nuxhall talked about growing tomatoes, golf and whatever topic they fancied. They had a lot of inside jokes and a manner that delighted fans.

Brennaman was the smooth broadcaster. Nuxhall was the former player with limited play-by-play skills but a vast knowledge of the game and folksy charm.

When Nuxhall moved to part-time after the 2003 season, the final moments of their final broadcast brought tears in the booth and to fans listening throughout Reds country.

A lot of people have shared the booth with Brennaman since then – most notably his son, Thom, who is about to begin his 13th season with the Reds.

Steve Stewart, Jeff Brantley, Jim Kelch, Doug Flynn and Jim Day have all spent a lot of time in the chair to the left of Marty since Nuxhall, who died in 2007, stepped down. But Marty and Joe will be forever linked in Reds lore.

The last time Nuxhall and Brennaman were together was on the golf course at Kenwood Country Club, playing with a group that won the right to play with them.

"We were sitting on the 14th tee box and he said to me, 'We really had a good time, didn't we?' It was so out of character for him. All I could say was 'yeah, we did.' Four days later, he was dead.

"I really believe, and I'll believe till I die, that he had a premonition that it was the last time we'd be together. He was special."

Two words have marked Brennaman’s career with the Reds: Critical and controversy.

Brennaman has never been afraid to criticize a player. That’s led to strained relationships at times. But he is famous for standing his ground.

The controversies have been many as well. In 1988, Brennaman and Nuxhall were summoned to commissioner Peter Ueberroth’s office for their part in the near riot at Riverfront Stadium. Manager Pete Rose and umpire Dave Pallone got into an argument that led to Rose’s ejection. Rose shoved Pallone. The fans threw all sorts of objections on the field. Brennaman and Nuxhall spurred the crowd on.

As they waited to see to Ueberroth, Brennaman said to Nuxhall: “I’ll bet you never had this much fun with Al Michaels.” Nuxhall didn’t find it funny, but despite his legendary temper, Nuxy could never stay mad at Marty. And vice versa.

There were other controversies as well. Brennaman ticked off Johnny Bench, among others, by mentioning Pete Rose in Brennaman’s Hall of Fame induction speak.

In 2007, he went after Chicago Cubs fans after they threw over a dozen balls on the field after an Adam Dunn home run.

“This is the kind of thing, quite honestly, right now, that makes you want to see the Chicago Cubs team lose,” he said on the broadcast. “... Far and away the most obnoxious fans in baseball, in this league, are those who follow this team right here. Throwing 15 or 18 balls onto the field, there's absolutely no excuse for that, and that is so typical of Chicago Cubs fans. It's unbelievable.”

The Reds sent their chief of security with Brennaman on the next trip to Chicago.

He clashed with owners Marge Scott and Carl Lindner. He had chances to move to bigger markets – Boston and San Francisco among them.

But Brennaman, a native of Portsmouth, Virginia, has immersed himself in the Cincinnati community. He raised son Thom and daughter Dawn, the children of his first marriage, and Ashley, a daughter from his second marriage, in Cincinnati.

He was the public address announcer for Anderson High School football for a number of years. His Marty Brennaman Classic golf tournament has raised millions for the community fund.

"That's going to be around," he said. "I'm looking forward to more of it. I've got to find something to do."

Brennaman is married to Amanda, his third wife. The couple travels extensively. He said one of his retirement plans is to return to Europe. The couple spent two weeks in Italy in October.

His retirement will allow more time for that.