I will try for No. 50 again Thursday when the Reds host the Cardinals at 4:10 p.m. at Great American Ball Park. Temperatures are not expected to reach as high as 50 degrees. No wonder it’s April Fool’s Day.
I attended my first Opening Day on April 5, 1971 at Riverfront Stadium, which was also the first opener in the stadium that opened in June 1970. The Reds lost to the Atlanta Braves 7-4 before 51,702 fans. I was 10 years old, and my mother, a huge Reds fan, allowed me to skip school every year to attend Opening Day.
Thanks, Mom.
When you’ve attended nearly five decades of Opening Days and watched games at Riverfront Stadium, Cinergy Field and Great American, you’ve sat through every imaginable weather Mother Nature can pitch. Bitter rain, sleet and even snow followed the next season by bright sun and blue skies.
Welcome to spring in Ohio.
Bring your parka and your sunscreen.
This year there will be no Findlay Market Parade, typically a ceremony that kicks off the spring holiday in Cincinnati known as Opening Day.
The Block Party also has been cancelled. Thousands of Reds fans usually gathered outside the stadium, ate, drank, listened to live music and then tried to get into the ball park before the first pitch. Those without a ticket watched the game either on the large screen TV near the Reds Hall of Fame or at one of the local bars.
Regardless of Thursday’s weather and outcome, Opening Day 2021 will be remembered as the first opener when fans were allowed to attend during the coronavirus pandemic. Only Reds personnel, media and later cardboard cutouts of fans were permitted in the stadium last season.
Since Gov. Mike DeWine is allowing 30 percent capacity for professional baseball games in the state, the capacity at Great American will be about 12,000 fans.
Fans will be grouped together in what the Reds are calling “pods” of two, four or six seats, and there will six feet of distance between those pods. Designated seats will be tied down so they can’t be used, according to the Reds.
There will be signage throughout the stadium reminding fans the expected safety protocols such as wearing a mask when not eating or drinking and following social distancing guidelines. All sales inside the stadium will be cashless and there will be no vendors in the aisles.
Welcome to Baseball 2021.
At least it’s back.
McCrabb’s 5 most memorable Reds Opening Days
No. 1: April 4, 1974: Hank Aaron, the hall of fame Atlanta Braves outfielder, hit homer No. 714 off Jack Billingham, tying him with Babe Ruth for the all-time MLB record at the time. The Reds won 7-6 when Pete Rose scored on a wild pitch in the 11th inning.
No. 2: April 1, 1996: The Reds were playing the Montreal Expos when John McSherry, the homeplate umpire, called timeout after seven pitches, spoke briefly to Reds catcher Eddie Taubensee and walked slowly toward the Reds’ dugout. Moments after signaling for the second base umpire to come in and replace him, McSherry stumbled forward and collapsed. Resuscitative efforts began and he was taken to University Cincinnati where he was pronounced dead on arrival. He was 51.
No. 3: April 8, 1985: Pete Rose’s first Opening Day as Reds player/manager. Rose had three hits and drove in three runs as the Reds beat the Expos 4-1 before 52,971 fans. On Sept. 11, Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hit record. Rose is the last person to serve as a player-manager in MLB.
No. 4: April 8, 1991: We knew this would be special since it was the first game since the Reds swept the Oakland A’s in the 1990 World Series, the team’s fifth title. Tom Browning started against the Houston Astros, Barry Larkin homered and the Reds won 6-2. This was the ninth consecutive Opening Day win for the Reds.
No. 5: April 4, 2005: Third baseman Joe Randa, acquired in the offseason, smashed a walk-off homer in the ninth inning as the Reds rallied to beat the New York Mets. It was the first time in the history of the Reds that they’d won an Opening Day game on a walk-off homer
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