Why I love Opening Day in Cincinnati
It's not just about baseball. It's about Cincinnati.
The temperature was just 41 degrees, but a steady drizzle combined with a blustering wind to make it seem as if we were trudging into the Alaskan bush. I shoved my hands deeper into my pockets and soldiered on, one step after another, onward and upward.
I couldn’t have been happier. You see, I was at Riverfront Stadium on that chilly spring afternoon. It was my first Opening Day.
I wrote those words three years ago, reminiscing over my very first Opening Day in Cincinnati. Jose Rijo started, Chris Sabo homered, and Rob Dibble surrendered a tape-measure home run to future Hall of Famer Larry Walker. And the Reds won! Even though it snowed and we watched from way up in the red seats, it was a perfect day.
Then again, most Opening Days are perfect. Some, of course, are more perfect than others. Like 2005, when Adam Dunn hit two home runs and Joe Randa, in his first game for the Redlegs, hit a walk-off homer. As I walked out of the park that day, brimming with excitement, I was never happier to be a Reds fan.
In my season preview column at Cincinnati Magazine this week, I talked a little about some competing feelings: (a) the apathy felt by much of the Reds fan base, and (b) the excitement that many of us still feel for the beginning of a new season. Even in a year like this one, with a team that is likely to disappoint, Cincinnati always wants to get excited for game number one, and I love it. I think I’ve been to nine or ten Opening Days at this point, and I’ve never been disappointed with the experience. Not once. The Reds have won some, they’ve lost some, and I dunno, maybe they tied a few. Who can remember? It doesn’t really matter. You see, it isn’t about baseball. It’s about the Reds. And it’s about Cincinnati.
Now maybe that doesn’t make any sense.* How can it be about the Reds, but not about baseball? Well, just go to an Opening Day game, and you’ll understand. It’s a different crowd. It’s not even a baseball crowd. There will be people there who will never return to the stadium for the rest of the season. There will be people who will never watch a Reds game on television all year.
*Not the first time you’ve had that thought when reading some of my words, I’m certain.
But they’ll show up for Opening Day. Because it’s an event that’s bigger than baseball. It’s not about being a baseball fan; it’s about being a Cincinnatian.
The hardcore baseball fans among you are recoiling right now. I get that. It should be about baseball, right? That’s what I thought once upon a time too.
But now that I’m searching for ways of enjoying Reds baseball without any expectation of a winning team, the community surrounding the team has become more important to me. Misery loves company, right? If some casual fans want to show up and enjoy our obsession, I’m all for it. Hardcore Reds fans — among the most passionate and most knowledgeable of any in baseball, believe me — will have the stadium to themselves for the other 80 home games.
So, by all means, please try to catch an Opening Day game in Cincinnati if and when you can. You’ll have a blast, I promise. It’s no longer the hottest ticket in town, but it’s still the best.
And I’ll make another promise: the very first Opening Day after the Castellinis sell the Reds, I’ll be right there at Opening Day with you. In fact, I can’t wait.
At Cincinnati Magazine: Opening Day will cure any fan’s apathy
Opening Day of the 2023 baseball season is upon us and apathy reigns in Cincinnati. After posting the lowest attendance figure in Great American Ball Park history one year ago, the Reds have had trouble selling out this year’s season opener, once the hottest ticket in town.
Reasons for apathy among the fan base are evident to everyone who hasn’t been asleep for a quarter-century. The Reds lost 100 games last year for only the second time in franchise history, and they followed it up with an off-season in which management did very little to improve the club. Ownership slashed the payroll another $25 million dollars. Rinse, repeat.
So no, I can't blame any Reds fan for being apathetic. After all, I'm in year four of my personal Castellini boycott. The Reds have not won a playoff series since 1995, and that streak isn't likely to end soon. If the lost generation of Reds fans aren't quite ready to hop aboard the bandwagon, it's completely reasonable.
On the other hand, I am deep in the throes of my annual bout of spring fever. I'm genuinely excited about the upcoming Reds season! Read the rest at Cincinnati Magazine.
The Riverfront: A Cincinnati Reds Show
In addition to our regular episode this week, I joined Tim Daniel and Joe Farfsing for the latest episode of “Late Night Reds Talk at The Riverfront.” It was a fun discussion about Opening Day and what to expect from the ol’ Redlegs, followed up by a great conversation with Jordan Schusterman of Cespedes Family BBQ.
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