Cincinnati, OH

Memorable Moments:

• April 4, 2003: Sammy Sosa career homerun number 500.

The nice thing about this park is that it embraces history, but appropriately so. Although much of the exterior of this park (pictured below) is made of brick and steel, it looks classy, not forcing itself to look old. In fact, the base work matches the Roebling Bridge that crosses the Ohio River. Not that looking old is necessarily a bad thing. Baltimore does this wonderfully.

This park can be divided into two sections, the field and the concourses. The field isn't anything special. The view of the Ohio River is nice, but the seating bowl could be from any of the new parks, such as Jacobs Field or SBC Park. Now on the other hand, the concourses are great. There is plenty of room to mill about and watch the game or admire the river. There are lots of things for kids to do as well. Plus the concession stands are well spread out so you are not right on top of people or trying to squeeze by a long line.

Some historical highlights include a replica of the old Longines clock that was on the Crosley Field scoreboard sits atop this scoreboard. Also the light towers here are supposed to resemble those of Crosley Field. Twin smoke stacks out in centerfield serve as a reminder of how important the river was in Cincinnati's development. One entrance way is called Crosley Terrace (pictured below). This landscaped area is supposed to resemble a playing field and is set at the same grade as Crosley Field's terraced outfield was. There are bronze statues of great Reds players including Ted Kluszewski, Ernie Lombardi, Joe Nuxhall, and Frank Robinson.

Reds retired numbers are (in numerical order and the years they were retired):

• 1 Fred Hutchinson (1965)
• 5 Johnny Bench (1984)
• 8 Joe Morgan (1998)
• 10 Sparky Anderson (2005)
• 11 Barry Larkin (2011)
• 13 Dave Concepcion (2007)
• 14 Pete Rose (2016)
• 18 Ted Kluszewski (1998)
• 20 Frank Robinson (1998)
• 24 Tony Perez (2000)

© 2003-17 Paul Healey.