2016 Reds Opening Day

I've always wanted to go to Opening Day. It's been on my bucket list for years. Each year I register with the Reds to enter a lottery to purchase tickets because it's not practical for me to purchase season tickets or one of their other ticket packages when I live more than three hours from the ballpark. Luckily, my in-laws had a couple of tickets that they had purchased a while ago since my mother-in-law is a Rosie Red member but she had made other commitments and forgot about the day of the game. They were gracious enough to offer me a ticket and I can't thank them enough for the opportunity to attend my first Opening Day game.

Each year the city of Cincinnati has the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. I had no desire to see the parade since I knew it would last around 2 hours and we would be pushing it to make it into the ballpark before the first pitch. I did see one of the concerts and the block party that was going on just outside the stadium.

Once you made it through the crown there was another line of people waiting to get into the park. Gates opened at 2:10 and it took us roughly around 10 minutes to get into the park.

We were able to make our way around the park without any problems since a lot of fans were still outside the stadium enjoying the parade and concerts. We were able to catch the Phillies batting practice, something I hadn't done at a game since days of Riverfront.

And here's my first selfie on the blog. Many thanks again to my in-laws for the ticket. My father-in-law was gracious enough to attend the game with me.

I am thankful that we decided to get into the park early because the lines only got worse as it got closer to game time. Here's a view looking down from the ballpark to Crosley Terrace that sits at the main entrance of Great American Ballpark.

While a lot of people only wore jerseys and t shirts, the scoreboard said the temperature was a brisk 55 degrees. Being originally from Cincinnati I knew that it can get cold when the wind is coming off the banks of the river. I'm glad I brought a jacket because by the time we left the game the temperature had dropped to 40 degrees.

I wasn't use to the elaborate player introductions of Opening Day. Normally the announcers race through the rosters but it was great seeing the coaches, bench players and starters honored. What EVERYONE found odd during the intros was the fact that Joey Votto didn't come out of the dugout when his name was announced. Apparently Bryan Price had no clue where Votto was and I his absence miffed some of the fans. The national anthem was spectacular with the giant American flag unfurled in the outfield by members of Cincinnati's Fire Department.  

It was icing on the cake that I was able to witness a win on Opening Day. I'm glad I can finally mark that off my bucket list.

And I have a nice souvenir to add to my Reds collection.