Another major league baseball season is upon us and I couldn't be happier! Being that I haven't been to opening day at our wonderful Great American Ball Park for years, I was super excited for this game. We found out that my dad (who is in a season ticket group) got selected to choose this set of 4 opening day tickets and he jumped on the chance! Unfortunately, he had to watch the game from the hospital but if he could have been there he would have been without a doubt! There is just something special about the atmosphere on opening day at GABP. The crowd is on fire, everyone is waving their rally towels, and people are cheering for each strike thrown. Cincinnati fans are always fired up at each game, but nothing like the electricity that runs through Great American Ball Park during the season opener.
My morning began at an early (well for me anyway) 9:30am. I got ready then headed out to give the car a little more pizazz! Of course it rained the night before so I spent about 10 minutes drying off the windows the best I could so my masterpiece wouldn't just drip away. It ended up turning out really well and the sun came out before I had to leave. We even got a few honks on the way down- Delilah thought it was hilarious!
I scooped up Delilah (10) who is Jerome's cousin from her grandma's house and our next stop was to meet Jerome at work. Every year there is a huge 2 hour opening day parade that I would've loved to attend. Unfortunately, Jerome had work until noon so we had to miss the parade. Just more reason to go next year though, right?! Once we had everyone ready to go we headed to 5 Guys Burger and Fries to fill our growling bellies. YUM!
Next up was heading downtown but we had to make a pit stop first. Jerome recently got accepted into the Early Childhood Education undergraduate program at UC and needed to drop off a paper. After that we headed for Newport to park for the game. Jerome had the idea of parking there and walking across the bridge to avoid all of the closed roads and traffic from the parade. It worked out perfectly and Lilah was so excited to walk across even though she is very afraid of heights. The walk took about 15 minutes and there were tons of steps- we got in a great workout though!
Next up was finally arriving at the game! We got there around 3:00 and the game started at 4:10. If you grew up in my family you would be used to getting to games early. My dad loves getting there 1-2 hours early to watch batting practice and to be settled and in our seats by game time. I used to think this was silly and a waste of time but I really enjoy it now! Our seats were great, we had never sat there before! It was actually a small section right above the press boxes that was only about 7 rows wide. Our row had less than 10 seats in it and we were in the 1st row! It was so cool and luckily we have those seats for the entire season!
We dressed in layers because there was only a high of 45 degrees but once we got to our seats we were burning up. I actually stripped down to my Heisey t-shirt for awhile! As soon as the sun went behind a cloud though we were cuddling up in our blanket.
There ended up being over 43,000 fans there! Standing room only tickets were even up to $60, crazy! I have never seen the ball park so full. You could just feel the excitement!
Of course since it was April 1st (April Fools' Day) GABP couldn't get away without pulling a prank. This flashed up on the jumbotron during the 1st inning. Luckily, it didn't fool me and I called it as soon as I saw it! It was pretty funny though!
They gave us these rally towels on the way in. I don't think I stopped waving mine the entire game! It was cool seeing so many fans waving theirs when the game got tough!
Here is Todd Frazier right before the first hit of the season! Ludwick actually dislocated his right shoulder early in the game stealing 3rd base (he even had surgery today) which meant Heisey got to come in. Heisey has been my favorite player for a few seasons now so this made my day! With that being said, I hate that Ludwick got hurt, he's a great player. Hopefully this opportunity lets Heisey shine though!
This is Lilah (sporting Jerome's hat of course) and her new Brandon Phillips jersey. Jerome took her to the gift shop before the game and this is what they came back with! She was so excited and says he's her favorite player because he's the cutest.
We eventually had to bundle up when it got dark. Thankfully I through this hat and some gloves in the car right before I left the house- they sure came in handy! Not to mention the Reds tie blanket I made Saturday for the game. I even got on the jumbotron late in the game wearing this hat and waving my towel! It made for the perfect opening day experience.
Overall, it was a wonderful day that I wouldn't trade for the world. The Reds ended up losing to the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 after 13 whole innings. We braved the elements for the entire game then made the trek back to the car. It was a long and tiring day but I would do it again in a heartbeat for my Cincinnati Reds!
As I am typing this we are watching the opening night game and are winning 4-0 in the top of the 5th inning! Come on Redlegs!
Love, Lacey
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