Great American Ball Park is the home of the Cincinnati Reds, a
member of Major League Baseball's National League. The ballpark, located
in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio on the Ohio River, is the fourth home of
baseball's oldest professional team.
Left
Field - 328 ft
Left-Center - 379 ft
Center Field - 404 ft
Right-Center - 370 ft
Right Field - 325 ft
Backstop - 55 ft
The downtown park opened on March 28, 2003 for an exhibition game with
the Cleveland Indians. Great American Ball Park hosted its first regular
season game on Opening Day, March 31, 2003 as the Pittsburgh Pirates
defeated the Reds, 10-1.
During construction, the new stadium was "wedged" into the
space between multi-purpose Cinergy
Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium, which opened in 1970) and U.S.
Bank Arena. Cinergy Field was demolished after the 2002 major league
season, and the ballpark is part of an almost entirely revised downtown
riverfront, along with Paul Brown Stadium (home of the NFL's Cincinnati
Bengals, which opened in 2000) and the National Underground Railroad
Freedom Center (opened in 2004).
Fly
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Features
A 35 foot (11 m) wide break in the stands between home plate and
third base -- known as "The Gap" -- is bridged by the
concourse on each level (see photo). Aligned with Sycamore Street, it
provides views into the stadium from downtown and out to the skyline
from within the park.
In right center field, two riverboat-inspired smoke stacks flash
lights, emit smoke and launch fireworks to incite or respond to the
home team's efforts.
The 50 by 20 foot (15 by 6 m) "Spirit of Baseball"
limestone relief carving near the main entrance shows baseball figures
of a boy and a man, along with the Cincinnati riverfront.
Mosaics depicting the 1869 Red Stockings, baseball's first pro team,
and the 1975 Big Red Machine club that won the first of two
consecutive World Series are just inside the main entrance.
Panoramas of downtown Cincinnati, Mt. Adams, the Ohio River and
Northern Kentucky are visible from most of the park (see photo below).
At 217 feet, 9 inches (66 m) wide, the scoreboard is the third
largest in the Major Leagues (after Colorado and Detroit).
Four statues -- Joe Nuxhall, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, and
Frank Robinson -- representing the Crosley
Field era decorate Crosley Terrace, in front of the main entrance.
A three-piece mural on the back of the scoreboard in left-field
pictures the bat and ball from Pete Rose's 4,192nd hit. (Which at the
time were thought to have broken Ty Cobb's hit record. In reality, he
broke the record days earlier in Wrigley
Field.)
The trademark radio sign-off phrase of long-time announcer Joe
Nuxhall, "Rounding third and heading for home...",
appears on the north side of the stadium, on the back of the third
base stands.
The park is considerably smaller than other parks in MLB, making it
a haven for home runs. (For this reason, the stadium is sometimes
jokingly called "Great American Smallpark.") It has been
compared to the likes of Colorado's Coors
Field, which bears a mile high altitude.
Great American Ball Park!
The view from
"The Gap" in Great American Ball
Park, Cincinnati, 2004.
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