Great American Ballpark

As you may be able to see from this photo, it was raining as we entered the stadium. We decided to forgo our ticketed seats that were exposed to the elements to sit up in a higher section because it was under cover. There were touchy moments, but the game never delayed and eventually the sun came out and we moved down to our real seats. It's sort of amazing the difference between one section level in how good the view is. Plus since it was a noon weekday game in the rain between the NL West last-place team and the second-to-last team in the Central, we pretty much could have sat wherever we wanted. Our seats were situated so that The Gap, this 35-foot gap between 3rd and home, was to our backs.

Our opinions on this ballpark was that it was a'iight. It opened 6 years ago but sort of seems much older than that, not in a good way. It has some fun features.
The Power Stacks - it was a bit disappointing because supposedly when a Reds pitcher strikes out a batter smoke is supposed to come out of the stacks, which are a nod to the steamboats that used to travel the Ohio River behind it. But there were actually quite a few strikeouts - one inning even three in a row! and no smoke. So we were hoping (but not feeling it was likely) that there would be a Reds homerun so we could see the other thing the Power Stacks are supposed to do - shoot out fireworks. But that did happen! Adam Rosales hit a 3-run homer in the 9th, a bit late, with two outs left. Wasn't enough to beat the Padres - really - and they lost 7-4. I was kind of hoping to catch a glimpse of Dusty Baker but I didn't. I did have another former Cub sighting, however:



Oh, we did get to see fireworks and finally smoke emitted from the stacks, as you can see in the photo.

I know I always mention the out of town scoreboards but since I'm almost never seeing a Cubs game, I want to see what's going on with their game. Same with Kris and her Nationals, though she actually gets to see them more than I get to see my team. This one was pretty good:



Their league standings setup was cool, though the Cards were AGAIN in an unfortunate position (darn you, Pujols!!) though if we were there tomorrow, we would find that situation remedied.



Cueto was pitching and didn't do so well. Something like 6 earned runs. I like this shot of Joey Votto, who I was just trying to photograph batting but accidentally got a better shot just after he doubled.

When he turned up, I was reminded how annoyed I get whenever I see LaYnce Nix or his brother JaYson, who plays for the White Sox.

Think that's all except for our self-portrait. We have enjoyed our time in Cincinnati, on to Cleveland tomorrow.