'Like a family barbecue': Opening Day Parade grand marshal Dmitri Young recalls '99 Reds

Former Cincinnati Reds Player Dmitri Young said he was shocked when he got the call asking him to be a grand marshal of the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade, along with his former teammate Calvin "Pokey" Reese.

He said he's honored to have been asked to help lead the March 28 parade and he's had fun so far sharing stories from the 1999 team that almost made the playoffs.

Young, a two-time All-Star, was a first baseman and outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds from 1998 to 2001. Young hit .300 or better in all four seasons. Over 565 games with Cincinnati, he hit .304 with 67 home runs and 296 RBIs, The Enquirer has reported.

There was magic to that team, Young told The Enquirer's "That's So Cincinnati" podcast.

He came to it young, coming from the St. Louis Cardinals where Tony La Russa was the manager. La Russa was strict, businesslike and "hard on rookies," Young said.

Cincinnati was a very different team: "I came to Cincinnati. I had Ken Griffey Sr. as a hitting coach. You had the captain, Barry Larkin, who pulled me aside and was like, 'Look here. You don't look like you're having fun. I don't know or care how it is in St. Louis, but you're here now. We like to have fun."

Larkin then waved toward the outfield full of players.

"It was like a family barbecue ... it was a fun environment," Young said. The message: Work hard but have fun.

"The one thing that we did have was solid veterans that kind of patrolled how everything was going, taught us how to act like a big leaguer," Young said. "We would go out as a team. We would hang out after the game in the clubhouse talking about the game."

So, what does Young think about this year's team, which is full of young players just like he once was?

"If everything works to plan for this current team they should have a lot of fun," Young said. "They'll be putting up a lot of good numbers and keeping that stadium filled with fans."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Opening Day Parade grand marshal Dmitri Young talks 99 Reds team