7. Great American Ball Park
Cinergy Field / Riverfront was torn down to make way for Great American Ball Park, which opened in 2003. I've been there once, on Saturday, May 8, 2004; I believe but do not recall for certain that Mike & I visited dmw7 or something like that.
My general impression of the park was that it was a massively wasted opportunity. The Metrodome and U.S. Cellular Field were at least terrible because the builders didn't know any better, with the Metrodome being a 1970s multi-purpose park with a roof and the latter being the very last park built before the retro fad kicked off. Great American really has no excuse; it opened more than ten years after Camden Yards kicked off the retro craze, but it seems to have learned very little from it. Or perhaps more accurately, it copied them but didn't do a great job of it. Oh, there are things that are unique to this park, like the steamboat smokestacks in the outfield framing the view of the muddy Ohio river, or the statues of Reds greats outside the main entrance, but mostly it feels generic, like somebody took a checklist of "things a new stadium should have" and marked them off one at a time instead of trying to truly identify what would be great in the new park. I mean, it's not a terrible park by any means, but it's very, very average. I haven't been back.
The one game I attended was not particularly eventful. I sat in the upper deck along the first base line. I remember having to turn my body at an awkward angle to see the game, but nothing I can find on the internet confirms that, and it certainly would have been a weird design choice for a modern ballpark, so who knows if that's true or not. The Griffey/Larkin Reds beat the Barry Bonds Giants 5-3 with Griffey going yard twice. However, what does stand out in my memory is the dolls.
Most parents of young girls have heard of the American Girl dolls. Heck my sister even read the books way back in the day. Well, on the day I went to Great American Ball Park the Reds did a giveaway where the first "X" people who attended and brought their American Girl doll to the ballpark got a vintage 1880s Reds baseball uniform outfit for their doll. So there we are sitting in this ballpark with thousands of girls holding these dolls on their laps. I'm not going to lie, that was kind of creepy.
In any event, it is probably ridiculous to rate Great American as being less good than Riverfront, but at least Riverfront had some real character that it had earned through experience, and was the home to some history. If you don't like it, you can go visit all these parks yourself and write your own ratings :-)
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
2 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
3 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
4 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
5 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
6Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
7 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041
My general impression of the park was that it was a massively wasted opportunity. The Metrodome and U.S. Cellular Field were at least terrible because the builders didn't know any better, with the Metrodome being a 1970s multi-purpose park with a roof and the latter being the very last park built before the retro fad kicked off. Great American really has no excuse; it opened more than ten years after Camden Yards kicked off the retro craze, but it seems to have learned very little from it. Or perhaps more accurately, it copied them but didn't do a great job of it. Oh, there are things that are unique to this park, like the steamboat smokestacks in the outfield framing the view of the muddy Ohio river, or the statues of Reds greats outside the main entrance, but mostly it feels generic, like somebody took a checklist of "things a new stadium should have" and marked them off one at a time instead of trying to truly identify what would be great in the new park. I mean, it's not a terrible park by any means, but it's very, very average. I haven't been back.
The one game I attended was not particularly eventful. I sat in the upper deck along the first base line. I remember having to turn my body at an awkward angle to see the game, but nothing I can find on the internet confirms that, and it certainly would have been a weird design choice for a modern ballpark, so who knows if that's true or not. The Griffey/Larkin Reds beat the Barry Bonds Giants 5-3 with Griffey going yard twice. However, what does stand out in my memory is the dolls.
Most parents of young girls have heard of the American Girl dolls. Heck my sister even read the books way back in the day. Well, on the day I went to Great American Ball Park the Reds did a giveaway where the first "X" people who attended and brought their American Girl doll to the ballpark got a vintage 1880s Reds baseball uniform outfit for their doll. So there we are sitting in this ballpark with thousands of girls holding these dolls on their laps. I'm not going to lie, that was kind of creepy.
In any event, it is probably ridiculous to rate Great American as being less good than Riverfront, but at least Riverfront had some real character that it had earned through experience, and was the home to some history. If you don't like it, you can go visit all these parks yourself and write your own ratings :-)
Park Rankings
RankParkTeamFirst Visit# Visits
1 Wrigley FieldChicago CubsApril 23, 20042
2 Jacobs FieldCleveland IndiansApril 17, 199963
3 Miller ParkMilwaukee BrewersApril 24, 20041
4 Cinergy FieldCincinnati RedsAugust 8, 19984
5 The MetrodomeMinnesota TwinsJune 22, 19923
6Great American Ball ParkCincinnati RedsMay 9, 20041
7 U.S. Cellular FieldChicago White SoxApril 25, 20041