Seeing Red - An Evening at Great American Ballpark

Cincinnati Reds

Great American Ballpark

Philadelphia Phillies @ Cincinnati Reds

Date of Game: Monday, June 28, 2021

Time of Game: 6:40PM, EST

Final score: Phillies - 4, Reds - 12

Section123, Row A, Seat 1

I can understand the appeal of the Great American Ballpark, it’s very cheery and has a wonderful location. It is right off the Ohio River and close to the John A. Roebling Suspension bridge. The bridge connects the states of Ohio and Kentucky. It is so close in fact, I suspect you could park in Kentucky, walk over the bridge and head to a baseball game. Although I did walk onto the bridge to take some photos, I didn’t walk completely across it.

For this trip we stayed at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza on 5th Street. It is less than a mile from the ballpark and a block away from Cincinnati streetcar, The Connector. While we were visiting, the streetcar was free to all passengers. The streetcar goes to different neighborhoods and happens to have a stop not far from the ballpark. I am happy that I considered this travel alternative because it was hot, humid, and rainy on game day and I would have been unhappy walking. In the early evening it was still in the upper 80’s.

Although the hotel was close, we left early for the game, approximately 90 minutes before first pitch. I had purchased an unofficial Cincinnati Reds t-shirt earlier in the day. I don’t know if it made me look more like a tourist, but I was happy to look like a Reds fan! Because we were still in the pandemic, I was anxious that the streetcar schedule or routes might have changed. My concerns were unwarranted. Everything worked out fine and we hopped off at the correct stop and were near the stadium.

Our seats were in section 123, and they were purchased a few weeks earlier via the StubHub app. These tickets sat us behind the home plate backstop. Since it was an evening game and it was kind of rainy, we didn’t have much sun. Aside from being a bit muggy, it was a decent night to be at a game.

We settled in our seats; the stands were quiet. I wonder if it was because it was a Monday or because it was rainy. Maybe a little of both! We watched the first 4 innings. The Phillies pulled ahead by two runs, so at the top of the 5th, we went headed to the concession area to grab a late dinner.

Most of the time when we eat at a ballpark, we have hotdogs and ice cream so at least we didn’t need to spend time discussing what to get. We just looked for a stand that advertised ice cream in a souvenir helmet and that’s where we stopped. The set up for obtaining food and beverages at this ballpark was different than I am accustomed to. There were refrigerators where you can grab your canned or bottled beverage and bring it to the cashier. There were two options for hot dogs, a special that was kielbasa and a regular hot dog. I had a regular, my partner tried the kielbasa one. They both were a bit more expensive than I’d have expected. We also purchased our helmet ice cream so that we didn’t need to stand in a line a second time. All toppings were at a self-service counter, which seemed a little unusual considering the pandemic guidelines. We grabbed sprinkles and chose a table near to one of the big screens so that we could continue to watch the game. The ice cream and hot dogs were not as enjoyable as I’d had at other stadiums, but lots of things were a little weird during the pandemic, so I will chalk it up to that.  But we did get our Reds helmets!

We returned to our seats to watch the remainder of the game, and boy, that was great timing! In the bottom of the 7th inning, Cincinnati surpassed the Phillies with a grand slam home run! Cincinnati continued the action in the 8th too and won the game. After the game we headed back to the streetcar with the rest of the crowd and made our way back to the hotel.

I would definitely return to Cincinnati to see another game in Cincinnati. Like maybe spend the weekend.  While I can’t comment about driving to the game and parking, it was very easy to get to the stadium by public transportation. The stadium is in a very scenic area near a park on the riverfront. There are restaurants nearby and the park on the riverfront had places to look at along the walkway.  I’d also love to investigate whether there is parking on the Kentucky side of the A. Roebling Suspension bridge that can be used as unofficial/official ballpark parking.

Some information, such as baseball game information and directions were sought by using ChatGPT.

Written October 23, 2023

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