 |  |  |  |  |  |
Cinergy Field, located on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, opened in 1970, and is part of
the generation of round "cookie cutter" stadiums that were typical of that era. Once also home to the
Cincinnati Bengals, the stadium is now home only to the Reds, since the Bengals have since departed to the
new Paul Brown Stadium, which is right next door. In fact, this stadium's days are numbered as well, since
the team will be moving to their own new venue - "The Great American Ballpark", now under construction
immediately behind the outfield fence. In fact, a portion of the ballpark was demolished to provide the space
necessary to build the new venue.
On our second visit, we could see that the massive reconstruction of the downtown arterials separating the
venue from the downtown core was completed, and the construction of the two new stadiums and new
waterfront development and parkland will mean that Cinergy Field will soon be demolished. The massive
rebirth of the Cincinnati waterfront is taking shape nicely, and once the new sports venues and adjoining
parkland are finished, this should be a really nice place to come and visit.
Getting to the venue
By traveling along I-71, getting to Cinergy Field is not difficult - there is ample surface parking and downtown
parking, with $5 being the norm for most ramps, and numerous pedestrian bridges take you from the
downtown core to the ballpark.
Inside the ballpark - seating bowl and concourses
The stadium itself is typical of its peers in Pittsburgh (Three Rivers, since demolished) and Philadelphia,
and there is little special about this stadium. The astroturf has been replaced by grass this past year, and
that is a plus. The scoreboard is average, a massively huge dot matrix board and a single jumbotron,
hanging high above right field. Interesting as well is the multi-colored seating bowl - blue , green, yellow and
red seating from bottom to top.
This is a four level and four concourse building - each lower concourse is pretty narrow and dank, after all,
this is a 70's era building. The top concourse is open air, and that is where you will find the best views of the
Cincinnati and Covington, KY skylines, along with a great view of the Ohio River. The second level (green)
concourse has a view of the field throughout.
Concessions
When in Cincinnati, you gotta try the chili! Here they throw the chili and cheddar cheese on top of the 'dog, but
you have to search far and wide to find this. So we settled on the standard hot dogs and pop corn! Different
flavors of brats are pretty easy to find here. Hey Reds! Bring out the chili at the new ballpark!!! There is also a
microbrew called JM Malthaus offering the local suds. No main team store here, but souvenir kiosks are
scattered throughout the stadium.
Banners/retired numbers
Cincinnati's baseball tradition goes back to 1869, but the signature moment of this franchise's history in
recent memory is the "Big Red Machine" which won World Series titles in the 70s. Retired numbers hanging
next to the left field foul pole include Joe Morgan, Fred Hutchinson, Johnny Bench, Ted Kluszewski and Frank
Robinson, and on the weekend of our first visit they added the name and number of Tony Perez to this
esteemed list. On the right field railing are the Reds' five World Series banners, presented on signs so tiny
you need powerful binoculars and a good squinting prowess to view them properly.
Home runs - Hits - Foul Balls
Home run - Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds slugger who hit two of them, actually, in a losing cause against the
San Francisco Giants. We've seen the Giants several times on our journey, and AGAIN, Barry Bonds did NOT
hit a home run while watching him in person!
Foul ball - to the sphincter police disguised as ushers. Ancient relics who were trained in their tasks at
Crosley Field, these codgers will tip their cap and smile ONLY if you oblige them with a couple of dollars in
exchange for a swipe of your seat with their mangy dirty cloth. The other crummy tradition here is that they bar
access to the blue and yellow levels without a ticket, as if there were something special or some sort of
premium amenities there. The buzz we heard is that Reds game day staff are not the nicest people, and
pretty much reflective of the team's corporate philosophy, and that brings us to...
And one more Foul Ball! -- again to Reds management. Their new ballpark opens in less than a year, so you
would think there would be displays, information booths and personnel promoting season ticket sales and
answering questions for the fans. Yet nothing... nada... Uh..oh. Maybe it's because the Reds are a candidate
for contraction too (KIDDING!)
Summary
Nice city.. OK ballpark... nice downtown setting, but quite frankly, we are looking really forward to seeing the
Reds in their new digs. The Great American Ballpark opens in spring of 2003 and we will be back! Think the
Reds will issue us some credentials so we can shoot photos and video for this website and the media
outlets we represent? We will give it the old college try.
RATING (1-5 stars): 2 STARS
the generation of round "cookie cutter" stadiums that were typical of that era. Once also home to the
Cincinnati Bengals, the stadium is now home only to the Reds, since the Bengals have since departed to the
new Paul Brown Stadium, which is right next door. In fact, this stadium's days are numbered as well, since
the team will be moving to their own new venue - "The Great American Ballpark", now under construction
immediately behind the outfield fence. In fact, a portion of the ballpark was demolished to provide the space
necessary to build the new venue.
On our second visit, we could see that the massive reconstruction of the downtown arterials separating the
venue from the downtown core was completed, and the construction of the two new stadiums and new
waterfront development and parkland will mean that Cinergy Field will soon be demolished. The massive
rebirth of the Cincinnati waterfront is taking shape nicely, and once the new sports venues and adjoining
parkland are finished, this should be a really nice place to come and visit.
Getting to the venue
By traveling along I-71, getting to Cinergy Field is not difficult - there is ample surface parking and downtown
parking, with $5 being the norm for most ramps, and numerous pedestrian bridges take you from the
downtown core to the ballpark.
Inside the ballpark - seating bowl and concourses
The stadium itself is typical of its peers in Pittsburgh (Three Rivers, since demolished) and Philadelphia,
and there is little special about this stadium. The astroturf has been replaced by grass this past year, and
that is a plus. The scoreboard is average, a massively huge dot matrix board and a single jumbotron,
hanging high above right field. Interesting as well is the multi-colored seating bowl - blue , green, yellow and
red seating from bottom to top.
This is a four level and four concourse building - each lower concourse is pretty narrow and dank, after all,
this is a 70's era building. The top concourse is open air, and that is where you will find the best views of the
Cincinnati and Covington, KY skylines, along with a great view of the Ohio River. The second level (green)
concourse has a view of the field throughout.
Concessions
When in Cincinnati, you gotta try the chili! Here they throw the chili and cheddar cheese on top of the 'dog, but
you have to search far and wide to find this. So we settled on the standard hot dogs and pop corn! Different
flavors of brats are pretty easy to find here. Hey Reds! Bring out the chili at the new ballpark!!! There is also a
microbrew called JM Malthaus offering the local suds. No main team store here, but souvenir kiosks are
scattered throughout the stadium.
Banners/retired numbers
Cincinnati's baseball tradition goes back to 1869, but the signature moment of this franchise's history in
recent memory is the "Big Red Machine" which won World Series titles in the 70s. Retired numbers hanging
next to the left field foul pole include Joe Morgan, Fred Hutchinson, Johnny Bench, Ted Kluszewski and Frank
Robinson, and on the weekend of our first visit they added the name and number of Tony Perez to this
esteemed list. On the right field railing are the Reds' five World Series banners, presented on signs so tiny
you need powerful binoculars and a good squinting prowess to view them properly.
Home runs - Hits - Foul Balls
Home run - Adam Dunn, Cincinnati Reds slugger who hit two of them, actually, in a losing cause against the
San Francisco Giants. We've seen the Giants several times on our journey, and AGAIN, Barry Bonds did NOT
hit a home run while watching him in person!
Foul ball - to the sphincter police disguised as ushers. Ancient relics who were trained in their tasks at
Crosley Field, these codgers will tip their cap and smile ONLY if you oblige them with a couple of dollars in
exchange for a swipe of your seat with their mangy dirty cloth. The other crummy tradition here is that they bar
access to the blue and yellow levels without a ticket, as if there were something special or some sort of
premium amenities there. The buzz we heard is that Reds game day staff are not the nicest people, and
pretty much reflective of the team's corporate philosophy, and that brings us to...
And one more Foul Ball! -- again to Reds management. Their new ballpark opens in less than a year, so you
would think there would be displays, information booths and personnel promoting season ticket sales and
answering questions for the fans. Yet nothing... nada... Uh..oh. Maybe it's because the Reds are a candidate
for contraction too (KIDDING!)
Summary
Nice city.. OK ballpark... nice downtown setting, but quite frankly, we are looking really forward to seeing the
Reds in their new digs. The Great American Ballpark opens in spring of 2003 and we will be back! Think the
Reds will issue us some credentials so we can shoot photos and video for this website and the media
outlets we represent? We will give it the old college try.
RATING (1-5 stars): 2 STARS
| Cinergy Field |
#42
Cinergy
Field
Cincinnati,
Ohio
May 28,
2000
Florida
Marlins
at
Cincinnati
Reds
Return visit
April 28,
2002
San
Francisco
Giants
at
Cincinnati
Reds
Cinergy
Field
Cincinnati,
Ohio
May 28,
2000
Florida
Marlins
at
Cincinnati
Reds
Return visit
April 28,
2002
San
Francisco
Giants
at
Cincinnati
Reds
