The game was going to start at the awful time of 4:10 PM. If it was an earlier day game, we would have left on Friday night and had just half of the five hour drive to go before getting to the park. If it was a night game, we could have left at a more reasonable hour that same morning. I already knew flipping the switch from a groggy, five hour ride to full Ballhawk mode would not be fun.
The magnitude of this trip didn't hit me until I was packing on Friday night. The very next day, I would be at a new stadium watching the Cubs. It didn't fully register in my brain at this point since I was nowhere near the city the game was being played in. I was still watching the first game of the series on TV as I was finishing up!
There wasn't much you missed between 7:00 and 1:00. Although, this sums it up pretty well:
The worst thing about the trip was the time frame we had. In my mind, there was very little room for error. We were scheduled to arrive at 12:30 for a gate opening time of 2:10. I really felt like that was cutting it way too close. Just a couple stops for gas and some trouble finding a parking spot would do me in as far as balls go. It was awful to keep thinking about that the ENTIRE ride.
Our arrival ended up being 1:20, giving us 50 minutes to spare. Even with that extra time, I wouldn't be comfortable in this new area until I was actually standing in front of the gates.
We first passed Paul Brown Stadium, where the Bengals play. Like a lot of cities, Cincinnati has a sports complex part of town where both stadiums share lots of common parking lots.
Next was a quick view of downtown:
It was kinda weird. I'm used to seeing Chicago with tall buildings that gradually become smaller, and is highly populated for miles and miles. Once you get six or seven blocks away from these office buildings, there's a bunch of open fields everywhere and not too many buildings.
The directional signs for parking were very straightforward, and we were able to find a lot for $12 that was well within walking distance from the park. It was now 1:35. The constant state of panic I was feeling since the sun came up was starting to subside. I wasn't going to shrivel up and die if we somehow arrived after 2:10, but I really felt like I needed it. Great American Ball Park is one of the worst stadiums for catching balls due to the layout and little details in the outfield seats.
A new park meant getting to the right place, familiarizing myself with my surroundings, developing a strategy, putting it into action, and then beating out other fans for balls. I had to cram that all into the hour and a half that BP was going on. Plus this was a Saturday, and almost completely sold out. I was still happy to be here, and somewhat up to the challenge, but I couldn't have written a script for a worse situation for me.
We emerged from our underground parking lot and started to walk East on Second Street. Our first interaction with Southern Ohio folk was a man in his 40's seeing our Cubs stuff, then saying to us "You guys 'dun make the drive!"
Downtown was nice and quaint.
When GABP opened in 2003, I thought the Reds were getting a little full of themselves. They ARE baseball's oldest team, established in 1869, but Cincinnati was definitely not the most notorious baseball town. It all made a lot more sense about three years ago, when I realized Great American was an insurance company.
Just a couple minutes later, the park was in full view.
I was excited to see how they honored and incorporated the long history of this team into the park. I only bring it up right now because that stone mural on the left depicts guys that look like they're way back in the 1900's. Maybe from the 1919 World Series?
I remember the exact time when I took this next photo- 1:43 PM. We made it, and I couldn't be more relieved.
Views to the left and right:
Since we had just a few minutes, we went into the vast fan shop they had connected to the park.
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| The Reds' last World Series win was 1990. |
I didn't even have to search for the most important part of the afternoon. The season ticket gate was right outside the gift shop.
Just by chance, both sets of tickets I picked up from eBay were from season ticket holders. It's like fate wanted me to catch as many balls as possible. They were cheap, too. Total, I spent $49 on four tickets.
As you can see, we were by no means in the front of the line. If I had to guess, I'd say there were about 150 people in front of us. I found myself starting to complain, but immediately came to my senses. We made it from five hours away. I was going to be fine.
Right at 2:10, people started to head inside. They checked my bag, then I walked 10 more feet as I was putting it back on to get my ticket scanned. As soon as I was in, I admired the field for no more than two seconds before starting my jog to right field. I tried to strategize as best as I could with the 25 seconds I had before I found myself in right field.
When I got near the foul pole, I realized the outfield and infield seats didn't connect. I frantically looked around and saw a staircase going down. I took that, which brought me behind what GABP calls the "Moon Deck".
I picked the first tunnel I could, and walked out to my first full view of the 7th park I've seen in my life.
The Reds were still hitting, so there were plenty of players scattered all around the field.
I stayed put for a minute hoping for something to happen. In a perfect world, there would have been a deep homer into a row I could get to before anyone else. I would pick it up, extend my streak, then keep experimenting and observing. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.
I couldn't believe all those other people beat me out here already. I was definitely on the clock in terms of other fans. I had about 20 more minutes before all 40,000 fans could come inside. This is where the start time screwed me over again. Since it was RIGHT in the middle of the afternoon, families had to devote the entire day to come. If it was a 1:10 game, they wouldn't be able to round up the kids fast enough to get here at 11 AM. If it was a night game, they would probably be doing something else earlier in the day. Having the gates open at 2:10, a more normal start time for a game, really sucked. I won't explain my WHOLE thinking on this, but you get the point. Pure frustration before anything even happened.
My initial plan was still the same- get a ball as quickly as possible. I moved down to the front row, again just waiting for something to happen.
That wasn't going to work either. Too many people and not enough players in front of me.
Once everyone settled after coming through the STH gate, I picked this spot in right center. It had the best mix of player proximity, number of fans, and overall availability of seating areas. The sections over here were really small, making it a great location for a ball. It could land anywhere in these couple sections, and I would be right near it. If one came over here and I didn't get a decent look, nobody else would have one either.
Right there, you have Sam LeCure, Johnathan Broxton, and Manny Parra. I think I got LeCure right by looking at my screenshot roster. Even though Parra was on the DL, he was going to come off soon, so it would make sense for him to be out there. Regardless, the only one I was positive of was Broxton in the middle.
Mat Latos was also in center field.
He was the first one I shouted to out here. He got close enough to me when a ball was hit in the gap. I moved over as far as I could into the corner spot before the batter's eye, and asked for it.
Instead of ignoring me, he felt it was necessary to stop, point, and say "Haha!". It was obviously because of my clear devotion to the Cubs; I had a blue shirt under my pinstriped jersey, and a navy blue hat. I usually try to match both colors, but since MY team was on the road, I decided to deck myself out in blue to better my chances at catching a Cub's eye.
That wasn't a laugh to just acknowledge my existence either. It had that tone that made it sound like he was a bully from 5th grade. Almost like a "You really think I'm gonna give this to you, dumbass?". What a jerk! I wish him nothing but awful starts for the rest of his life!
I was thrown for a loop when I saw this:
That just looks like a normal shot of people in left field, right? Well, that's exactly the point- there are people in left field!
I was under the impression that season ticket holders would get early access to the stadium, but ONLY right field and up to the first base dugout; no left field or visitor's dugout side allowed until all the gates opened. I took this picture at 2:27, a good 13 minutes before that area was suppose to be open. I felt cheated, but honestly, it didn't make a difference. I wasn't going to move at this point in BP. I just made a mental note for tomorrow that there was no such rule.
Now, I want to say something. I've often walked the thin line of being lucky and actually having skill over the past three years of doing this. I've been on the far side of both ends of the spectrum. Regardless, I've collected plenty of balls in the process.
My first one was a mix of both.
Try to follow me here.....
There was a ball hit high and deep, but ultimately short of the wall. However, I realized it may have enough to bounce on the warning track. This wall in right field was incredibly short at just about 8 and a half feet.
The ball rocketed off the dirt and barley cleared the wall, tipping the yellow line before flying into the seating area, which is why you see an X; that's my best guess as to where it hit. I was watching this unfold about four seats out of frame from where that guy in the front row is standing. He wasn't there at the time this was happening, so I had my whole right side clear.
The wall definitely changed the path of the ball, causing it to have more direct speed rather than popping up into the seats. It ricocheted off of seat number one, and cut diagonally to make contact with the bottom part of seat number two. The "41" is where I picked up my 41st lifetime ball.
I even think I looked a little foolish at how frantic I was. Not a single person cared about grabbing the ball, including the teenage hillbilly couple that were sitting in the yellow circle seats as this was happening.
I couldn't have predicted that; I can't tell the future of where a ball is going to be hit. However, I knew to go where the fewest people were, and also made sure I was in an area that had a decent amount of opportunities. Luck or skill?
Regardless, I was on the board. This is when the real fun started. Now I could try new things and not be forced to play it safe.
The first thing I did was to go check the space between the seats and foul pole in right. It was the perfect opportunity for a Glove Trick. But no, no, no, say the Reds.
"Ohhhhhh, you got me there. I see how it is Cincinnati", I said loud enough for people to notice that I was talking to myself. At this point, I realized how crazy I seemed by running around the way I was. But I really didn't care. I was having the time of my life Ballhawking and seeing the stadium the way I wanted to. To me, every other person in the park was simply an obstacle I had to get around. It was like me versus the world. That's why I love going to new stadiums and exploring.
I picked up a spot in more straight away right field. I was high up, and there were still lots of people, but I felt it was more likely for someone to pull it a little more rather than make perfect contact and send it to where I was before in right center.
Nothing happened. By now I was bored and saw a few balls hit to left, so I ventured over to that side.
Overall, it was pretty easy to get to. Just go up a ramp that's behind and under the batter's eye that spits you out on the concourse right behind the seats. From section to section, I thought it was a pretty long run. But then again, anything more than eight seconds would probably count as long for me.
The batter's eye was pretty large, but it could be worse, like it is behind the scoreboard in Milwaukee.
This was an interesting space. It was very long and had plenty of field exposure, but was very small depth wise. I count 11 rows of seats that are exposed and don't have an overhang. That doesn't give me a whole bunch of options as it is, but it was extra challenging when everyone else squeezed into those few rows as well.
The most interesting thing I did was ask Kyuji Fujikawa for a ball in Japanese. Believe it or not, another fan beat me to it. When he picked up the first ball I saw him get, I heard someone yelling from the upper level bleachers in what had to be Japanese. I thought Fuji was too far away to ask, so I waited for the next one. He didn't hear me, but a few fans looked at me with a "Are you serious?" expression. It would have been great to get one from him and see their faces then.
I was hoping to get to this pack of relief pitchers somehow. Carlos Marmol was in there, and I recall him being pretty generous with balls.
As you can see, the front row was absolutely packed no matter where I went. There was nothing I could do about it. People had their spots, so I had to make due. I was not having fun with that.
I noticed another guy with a glove that seemed to know what he was doing.
I didn't recognize him at all. Not like I know what the GABP regulars look like, but seeing that was very interesting.
Glove Trick before I leave for right field again?
Nope. Oh well.
Hey, look at the very next picture I took!
I bring you back to the un-editied diagram of my first ball:
I was WAYYYYYY too far away to get this one. It really shouldn't have happened.
I was in the third or fourth row, and it had to be 15 seats out of frame to the left. This ball was getting back towards us pretty fast, and I knew someone would have a chance for it. Not in my position, though. It wasn't even worth chasing. For some reason, Dad's wise words popped into my head: "Just get as close as you can, and anything could happen!"
I drifted over into to the aisle you see above. I don't quite remember the path it took, but it ended up in the last row on the right. There were a lot more people going for it than were for my first one, but everyone was still so slow and nonchalant. In the time it was bouncing around in the seats, I got past the last few seats, out into the aisle, up four stairs, and into that last row. I got my hands on it up there. I got a 'Nice snag, Buddy" from the guy who had it hit off his hands. Cincinnati-ans are so nice!
This sucker somehow managed to get stuck inside the loop on the arm rest between two seats. I had both hands on it and tried to get it out of there any way I could. Pulling backward and pushing forward didn't get the job done. It was just stuck.
I held onto it for a while and made sure everyone around me saw that I had possession of it. I took both my hands off to let it drop to my feet, where I picked it up. Today was turning out to not be so bad.
It took me a while to get the name of this guy:
Until I recognized his throwing motion and the fact he wears glasses all the time. Kevin Gregg!
He completely ignored me for the entire time I targeted him. The only one he threw up was to a group of people on the patio waaaayyyy above the field on top of the batters eye. Besides that, he was being super lame.
Now just some general scenery pictures:
Zoom check!
I eventually made my way into the very corner of the smallest section in right center next to the hitter's backdrop.
There was a sign that said "No fans over this railing". Did that include my glove that's attached to a string? After thinking about that, I realized there was virtually no chance for one to land there AND be within reach. Any ball to hit the turf (not grass, actually) would just pop back to the field.
I was soon trapped in my corner by a man and his two young boys, who were around seven years old if I had to guess. Because of them and the people behind me, I was totally boxed in. There would be no moving around until I was certain I wanted to not come back. The man was trying the get a ball for his kids, just like any good father would do.
I'll give him an A for effort, but some of the things he was doing to achieve his goal were ridiculous. He insisted James Russell was Jeff Samardzija, called out players by their numbers, and even made whoo-ing sounds that rival that of a chimpanzee. I'm completely serious. It was the poorest display of trying to get a ball that I've ever seen; not even a single 'please' was mentioned. The funniest part is that this poor guy probably thought he was doing a good job.
It took me two times of asking David DeJesus nicely for him to hear me. He threw the next couple he got back towards the infield, but the next time he turned to look at me, I had my glove up and was ready for it.
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| That's DeJesus mid stride on the right. |
Three was more than a decent haul for this particular day. I was satisfied, but not stopping. Since I had nothing to lose, I tried left field again, which was now insanely crowded in the small area it provides.
I pulled out my phone to check the time- 3:14 PM. Huh?! It took me longer than it should have to remember the start time. That's much too early to be inside for a night game, but a day game should be in the 5th inning by now. That threw me for quite a loop for a second.
I stayed in this row for just a few minutes. I was shocked to find so much open space. It had to be the most open row out of all the outfield sections.
Just look at the people in the rows around mine. They're doing nothing wrong besides getting in my way. I was doing the same thing since there was nowhere else to go. Everyone wants to catch a ball, and they're trying to give themselves the best chance they can. That's perfectly fine in my mind. But it's still SO DAMN FRUSTRATING.
It just wasn't working. I really had only one other option- the Cubs dugout.
From afar, it looked like there was a similar policy to the one at Wrigley. You're not allowed to be right behind the dugout at any time unless you have a ticket there. Being decked out in Cubs stuff, I had no worries about being scolded since I could always lie through my teeth and say I had no idea.
Instead of going through the concourse, I slithered by while walking in the low rows of the foul line sections. I was watching the ushers from the corner of my eye, but never turned my head to look directly at them. I moved quickly and acted like I belonged.
Lo and behold, they left me alone. I just grabbed a seat in the second row and snapped a couple more pictures. A few families asked me to take pictures of them, so that probably kept the ushers away, seeing as how I wasn't causing trouble.
The Cubs finished, all the players left the field.....
And I got none of the balls in that basket. I've never had even a little success behind the dugout in any situation. Just not my cup of tea.
With that miss, the hard part of the day was over. It was time to settle in for the game. Before I left, I took a panoramic from the last row of the infield seats (you can click to make it larger):
Now I had to find Dad. I hadn't seen him since 2:12, and it was now past 3:30. I decided to text him when I made it to the seats in the left field bleachers.
On the way over there, I saw the setup for the pre-game show for FSOhio.
I don't care enough to find out if one of those guys is a Reds legend, or they're just two broadcasters. The amount of people standing around makes me think it's the former.
On my way down the left field line, before I could even tell Dad where I was, I ran into him right before the stairs leading up to the seats. We stopped walking and got a view of the field so I could give him a shorter and more direct version of what you just read above about where my balls came from.
A fairly good view for $12 a ticket, if I do say so myself:
I had my scorecard ready to go. Just like most other parks, I was disappointed with it. How hard is it to give me a thicker than normal piece of paper instead of making me buy an entire magazine?
Homer Bailey's first pitch to DeJesus:
On the other side, former Red Travis Wood took the mound for the Cubs.
The distance from the field was a little odd. We were high up, yet I still felt like I was right on top of Alfonz.
Now for some player closeups:
As a scorekeeper, I can thoroughly appreciate what's going on in this next picture:
The middle video board has the lineup and keeps track of the happenings of the current inning! It's so practical! You can also see the outside boards had team information, but when the Reds were batting, they were filled with the hitter's stats.
That entire side of the field was very picturesque.
It's easy to see they went with the riverboat theme. The Ohio River ran right beyond the right field seats, with Kentucky right across the way. But when have you ever seen a riverboat shoot flames out of it's stacks?
They shot those out three times after every Cubs strikeout. It scared the crap out of me and Dad the first time, and we eagerly looked and laughed for every one following. It just seems like the cost of the fuel would add up and turn out to not be worth it. They went off 33 times in this game alone!
After three innings, where the Cubs built a 2-0 lead, it was time for some exploring. I had barley seen anything on the infield part of the stadium at this point.
We went back around to the right field to the foul pole first:
It was an odd weather day. I was fine in jeans, but could have made it in shorts. And the clouds were just thin enough to make it look half sunny. Anything besides rain would have been better than this hodgepodge.
Instead of the concourse with a view of the field, we went to look at a walkway that was seemingly out of the stadium. It ended up going all the way around to the home plate entrance, connecting the dots from the questions I had about what exactly was beyond that small area in the front of the park.
It really wasn't much more than an open air walking area with a few bathrooms and food stands. There was plenty of space and places to sit and eat, along with a jungle gym and that kid's field on the left.
One thing I saw on three separate baseball blogs over the past year was Skyline Chili. If you went to Ohio, you HAD to eat at Skyline.
We wouldn't be eating it at the game, but they had restaurants in every town down here. We would surely stop at one before we left on Monday.
I just don't get it. You couldn't go anywhere in this city without seeing or hearing an ad for Skyline or one of it's lesser competitors. Why is southwest Ohio so obsessed with chili?!
We watched the Cubs bat in the 6th from this spot:
I managed to pick up a hot date, too:
The Reds managed to get a run on a Todd Frazier sac fly in the 4th, but the Cubs were still ahead.
There was a fresh fruit and sushi grocery store behind home plate:
And here's a general picture of what the covered concourse looked like:
Kind of looks like something you would see while waiting in line for a ride at Six Flags, am I right?
I have no idea what this mural was made for, but it looked cool and the guys in it were really old:
I was correct in my earlier assumption that there would be lots of historical stuff.
As we watched the game down the third base line, an usher saw our apparel and asked us if it was our first time at the park. When we said yes, he told us we could get a "First Game" certificate from the fan relations booth right behind us. We walked over there thinking I would get my name on a piece of paper and it would be kind of cool. I wasn't dying to have one, but it may be an interesting memento to bring home.
When we got there, the line had about 10 families in front of us. After waiting for five minutes, we didn't move at all. Not to mention, I was 21, and getting the same thing as infants in strollers. I realized how silly and not worth my time it was.
Then I had a stroke of genius.
I handed a lady one of the business cards I had on me, and even though she was a little confused, she obliged. Having BaseBlog on there is infinitely times better than my name. Plus, it's just as old as the infants in strollers. Perfect!
During our walk, the Reds scored four runs in the 6th inning to take a 5-2 lead. I guess we timed it right to not only walk during the longest part of the game, but also the part we could care less to miss.
The Cubs didn't have much luck when we got back to our seats. They put up goose eggs in the 7th and 8th, and had to face Aroldis Chapman in the 9th.
I watched the radar gun for every pitch. He hit 101 twice. He mainly stayed around 98 though. Guess he decided to work with the off-speed stuff today.
The Cubs inigmic offense was no match, and the Reds came out with the 5-2 win.
The game went three hours and twenty two minutes. That is definitely not what I needed after rushing to get everywhere for the past 14 hours.
Here's me and my three balls for the day:
As soon as we were done here, we drove 25 minutes to our hotel in Sharonville, flipped on the TV, and watched the Hawks kick some Detroit ass.
STATS
- 3 balls at this game
- 11 balls total this season
- 11 consecutive games with a ball
- 43 lifetime balls
- Time spent at game: 6 hours, 13 minutes
- Total time spent at games: 40 hours, 13 minutes
- 3 balls X 40,909 = 122,727 Competition Factor
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