Hanks, Howard, Miller make Cincinnati third stop

CINCINNATI – Actor Tom Hanks and two show business friends turned a rain delay into an event Wednesday.

Hanks, director Ron Howard and comedian Dennis Miller made Great American Ball Park their third stop on their hush-hush ballparks tour.

A two-hour rain delay during the Reds-New York Mets game provided a chance to snap photos with fans and offer their opinions of the game.

The trio sat behind a table in an interview room behind the press box during the rain delay, cracking jokes and recounting their boyhood baseball memories for the media. They’d been to Baltimore – Hanks led the crowd in spelling O-R-I-O-L-E-S during the seventh-inning stretch – and to Pittsburgh before arriving in Cincinnati.

Hanks, a star of “The Da Vinci Code” that Howard directed, decided to visit seven ballparks as a birthday present.

“I turned 50 10 days ago,” Hanks said. “This is the dream you have all the way back.”

The trio arrived without fanfare, and wouldn’t say where they were going next. Hanks said they’ve shortened the trip to fewer than seven ballparks, but didn’t provide more information.