By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The exchange, anticipated for months, passed in a matter of seconds. "It is a work in progress," Reds radio broadcaster Marty Brennaman said, "because it gets better by the day."

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game

With that pleasantry, broadcast on a cool, clear evening over 50,000 watts, a new era in the Reds radio booth began at 7:51 p.m. Friday.

"Thank you Mr. Hall of Famer," Steve Stewart said in response to Brennaman's introduction. "It's nice to be here."

Hired as Joe Nuxhall's successor on Feb. 11, Stewart worked his first regular season Reds game on Friday.

With several family members and thousands of Reds fans listening to the broadcast, Stewart worked the third, fourth and seventh innings of a 5-1 Reds win at Great American Ball Park.

"I was a little nervous when it started, but got more comfortable," Stewart said afterward. "Marty was Marty, which makes it more fun and easier. And it's always more fun when you win."

Friday was not the first time Stewart and Brennaman had worked together.

They did a handful of spring training games in Florida.

"If he was nervous he certainly didn't show it," Brennaman said. "He's going to be fine. After working with him in spring training for a number of games I don't think anybody has got to worry about him not doing a good job."

Stewart will work the remaining two games of the Pirates series before Nuxhall rejoins Brennaman in the booth during the Reds' upcoming road trip to Philadelphia and Chicago.

Nuxhall is in his 60th season with the Reds and 38th as a broadcaster on the team's radio network. He will work about half of the games this season.

Stewart, who spent the previous four seasons with the Orioles radio team, will pick up the remaining games this year before taking over on a full-time basis in 2005.

"He's a polished play-by-play guy," Brennaman said, "and he is going to do nothing but get better."

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E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com