“It’s Here! It’s Real! It’s Grand!
-Cincinnati Enquirer, 7/1/70 on the opening of Riverfront Stadium
Thirty-two years later, Riverfront Stadium was an eyesore; A reminder of the “cookie cutter” multi-purpose stadium trend of the 1970s. But in between being “Grand” and being “oft-mailgned,” as the Enquirer called it the day after it closed for good in 2002, Riverfront Stadium hosted some great baseball and great moments.
Photographer Bob Busser shared some of his favorite images of the ballpark with me in Part II of Ballpark Ghosts.
The ballpark hosted 26 post season games, including World Series action in 1970, ’72, ’75, ’76 and 1990. It saw Tony Perez become the oldest player to hit a grand slam and Pete Rose break the all-time hits record on September 11th, 1985. It also hosted my bachelor party in the summer of 1996.
It’s gone now, replaced by Great American Ballpark, but the memories of the great plays, great players and great times remain.
About Bob Busser: Bob Busser is a professional photographer who has been capturing images on stadiums and arenas for more than 40 years. You can find Bob’s photographs of ballparks old and new at www.ballparks.smugmug.com. He is also the administrator of the Ballparks, Stadiums and Arenas of the past and present Facebook group and can be found on Twitter @BobBusser.
