Cinci Series

[JustinCylander]

I bet JV is thrilled to be throwing Saturday while I'm there. I've seen him pitch 6 times in the last 3 years, he has 5 losses and a no decision. I'm his personal bad luck charm...

[dadair6]

Going to be a warm one this weekend. Temps expected to be 82 Friday, 91 Saturday and 90 Sunday. At least they moved Sunday's game to 8:00pm and the Saturday game is at 4:05pm so hopefully it's not too bad.

[JustinCylander]

Going to be a warm one this weekend. Temps expected to be 82 Friday, 91 Saturday and 90 Sunday. At least they moved Sunday's game to 8:00pm and the Saturday game is at 4:05pm so hopefully it's not too bad.

Like I mentioned before, since it's only a couple hours away and most of my friends are Cincy fans, I go to a couple games a year at GABP, it's always been a scorcher, plus I guess being down in the valley right next to the river, it's always humid as hell.

[dadair6]

Enjoyed the park and especially the people last night. GABP is odd in that it blends traditional style with a modern style. The roundness of the seating bowl along the outfield is something you don't see in most new ballparks. We stayed for the fireworks after the game. It was a nice touch by the Reds organization to have a Detroit/Michigan themed soundtrack.

[Detroit Rock City]

Can't wait to get to the game today. JV on the mound and front row seats along the third base line towards the outfield. Saw lots of Tigers fans at the game last night on tv so hopefully plenty more today

[dabeave]

Here is a recap of our Cinci trip
*(I wrote this out once back on Sunday, but I had a technical difficultly and lost the whole post)

Parking:
We parked on the other side of the river in Kentucky. The bridge we took across was a block from the stadium to the west. We ended up parking right next to the river, next to the bridge. There was a sign that a business there was closed for construction? Later once we were in the stadium, we could actually see our car across the river.

Around the stadium:
Cincinnati is in the process of building up the area around the park. We walked by a series of fountains and waterfalls near the stadium. The one reminded us of Duns River Falls in Jamaica. I71 goes next to the stadium, in a similar manner that I75 does. The city’s business district is right here too, and we saw men walking by in suits (safe near the stadium)

Just like Comerica, there were plenty of vendors outside selling bottled water and peanuts to bring into the game.

Next to the stadium is the Christian Moerlein brewery. After the game I had a couple of beers in their beer garden. They were $6.50 each. I saw on the menu a bucket of 5 beers for $10. Anyhow the appetizer we had there was good, the crowd was friendly, and the waitress was fast and pleasant.

Before the game we walked a block north of I71 and a block east (on 4th), to Skyline Chili. We were the only Tigers fans in there. It was a sea of red, where 90% of the people had reds gear on. I had a small 5 way chili and a cheesy chili dog. Overall the quality wasn’t exceptional, but it was different. Basically it was spaghetti, with chili on top, with shredded cheese on top of that. They served beer there, so I had a Hudepohl red with my meal (Killians of Cincinnati to me). The main thing to note here is that they have a VERY small menu. They really stick to their core food here. If you don’t want Coney Island style food, you may want to eat elsewhere. Our meal for 2 of us with a beer was under $20.

Next to the stadium is a Toby Keith – I Love This Bar. It was basically the same as the one at Great Lakes Crossing.

In the stadium:
The overall stadium was nice. In center field they have what looks like a steam paddle wheeler. The ‘cabin’ of it is a party suite. On the concourse in center field they have mist-ers you can walk under.

I like buying the $1 score card at the Comerica vendor. The vendor here told us that we had to buy a program to get a score card ($5) and a pencil (75c). What we found out later was that they give away for free a basic score card at the designated driver booth. They didn’t seem to care if you were signing up or not, as 5 people grabbed them by while my wife signed up.

We also learned during the game that scoring is quite difficult in the national league with all the pinch hitters, position changes, ect. Make sure to have a pencil and eraser 8).

The usher near us told us that they recently put a new beer hall in the stadium. I didn’t make it there, but he was quite proud of it, and mentioned that the prices for the premium beers there were about the same as the generic Budweiser around the stadium.

In the lower part of bleachers in right field, there was permanent Kroger signs. They would flip them over when their pitcher got a strike out. They had Ks on the other side. There was a promotion where if they get 9Ks in a game, all fans in attendance get a free small pizza. With a pizza mogul of on owner like we have, it would be nice to see something like this in our stadium, even if they upped it to say 11 strikeouts in a game (we have Verlander ).

During the game when the reds hit a home run, they shot fireworks off.

When we intentionally walked their batter, they played chicken noises.

In left field they had 3 video ‘stripes’. At the beginning of the game they showed the current league standings on it (pennant race). During the game the first ‘stripe’, had a picture of the player, the second stripe had the current inning (batting order, and what they did (K, GO, 1B, ect), and the third board had the player’s statistics. This was a nice feature I wouldn’t mind seeing at Comerica.

Seating:
We had 5th row right field bleacher seats. Great American Ball Park was like Comerica in regards to the sun. My wife is from the UP, and her complexion does not tan. I would have paid more to get us out of the sun had I known this before. The seats in the upper level down the base lines had a nice view of the river and were generally shaded for most of the game. However they have 3 tiers of seats. The people in the 3rd deck seemed like they were in the stratosphere. I would recommend sticking to the 2nd deck.

Lodging:
We just stayed at a Red Roof Inn in Sharonsville. It was right off I75, 10 miles north of the city. The area we were in felt safe. The hotel was definitely a 2 star. Clean enough for us, but not exactly the nicest hotel I’ve stayed in. However, you get what you pay for ($70 out the door off Priceline).

Finally, and the most important: The fans of Cincinnati are NICE. I’ve been to Boston, New York, and both Chicago stadiums. They were even nicer than the fans at Comerica when you are cheering for the Tigers. I was very surprised. Not one taunt. Not one boo when we cheered for the Tigers. Not one peanut to the back of the head. I had people actually stop me in the concourse to have candid conversations.

*Side Note – They shot their post-game fireworks off from just outside the stadium. Tigers should take note of this and it appears the grass is ready to catch fire the past few times I’ve watched them at Comerica.

Thanks everyone for the help planning this trip.