I didn’t grow up going to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. I cut my teeth as a baseball fan at the concrete monolith known as Riverfront Stadium.
I attended my first big league game there in 1975 when the Reds hosted the Astros. Over the years there were lots of memories, some shenanigans and a beer or two (OK, more than two.)
Riverfront Stadium was where I first saw my favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in person. I stood just a few feet from Steve Carlton while he warmed up in the bullpen and it was absolutely amazing to be that close to a guy I regularly watched on TV. Over the years I saw some great moments in Reds/Phillies history in that ballpark. It didn’t have charisma, charm or beauty; in fact is was kinda soulless. Damn, I miss that place.
Riverfront Stadium didn't have charisma, charm or beauty. Damn, I miss that place Click To Tweet“Straight A” Tickets
The Reds had a program where students getting good grades were able to get free tickets to certain games. On the surface, it was a very nice goodwill gesture. Reward the youngsters for their hard work in the classroom! In reality, it was a great way for the Reds to sell tickets to games against crappy teams that didn’t draw well.
You see, earning good grades didn’t get you tickets to a Reds/Dodgers game in September; it got you tickets to a Reds/Padres game in June. On a Tuesday. In the upper deck. I got Straight A tickets a few times, though I’m not sure how, and also tagged along with friends who were more studious than myself. It was a win/win. At least for me and my friends because we didn’t have to pay for the extra tickets the Reds made it so easy to order.
The Coveted Blue Seats
The best seats in the house were the Blue Seats. They were field level and you had to go through a huge tunnel to get to them. My friends and I would scout out the tunnel, hoping to sneak down but there was always an usher checking tickets. Sometimes we could sneak past with a large group but those occasions were rare. As we got older, taller and more daring/stupid we came up with a devious plan.
The Green Seats butted up against the Blue Seats and were accessible to anyone with a ticket anywhere in the ballpark. My friends and I would find an aisle with no usher and casually walk down towards the field. Then we would leap over the railing into the Blue Seats and run down the aisle and under the stands. I remember being yelled at a few times but it didn’t matter. It was the baseball equivalent of yelling, “Stop, thief!” We would scurry down and resurface in another part of the Blue Seats and enjoy the rest of the game feeling like real outlaws.
The World Series
It was also at Riverfront Stadium that I saw my first and only World Series game in person. Game Two of the 1990 Fall Classic pitted the Reds against the Oakland A’s and we had seats in the upper rows of left field. One of the “features” of Riverfront was that the upper decks had so many seats that the further you went up, the less of the field you could see. You also couldn’t see the scoreboard.
Being a Riverfront veteran by this time I devised a plan. I had a portable black and white television that ran on batteries. I figured I would bring it with me so me and my buddy could see the entire field and watch replays when necessary. The only problem was the tiny television required nine D-Cell batteries. I was a senior in college and nine D-Cells represented a pretty serious investment so I skimped and bought Rayovacs because they were the cheapest ones I could find.
Turned out not to be a wise choice as they died in about the 7th inning and the game went into extras. But not all was lost as I got to see Billy Bates dash home on Joe Oliver‘s double down the line to give the Reds a 2-0 lead in the series. Unfortunately it’s also the last time the Reds won a World Series game at home.
Memories Galore
My trips to Riverfront included bearing witness to Tony Perez becoming the oldest player to hit a Grand Slam, when he hit one against the Phillies in 1985. I was there when Robby Thompson set a major league record by being thrown out stealing four times in one game. I saw Larry Bowa hit an inside the park homer and I saw Eric Davis, Barry Larkin and Terry Francona hit Opening Day dingers against the Expos in 1987.
By 1995, I was living in Clearwater, Fl, some 938 miles away from Riverfront Stadium, when I got engaged. My wife and I went back to Ohio in July of 1996 to get married and my best man asked me what I wanted to do for my bachelor party. Shunning tradition, I replied that I lived in Florida where there was a strip club approximately every 137 yards but that we didn’t have Major League Baseball. So it was settled. My bachelor party was a Reds/Pirates game at good old Riverfront Stadium.
I didn’t grow up going to Wrigley Field or Fenway Park. I cut my teeth as a baseball fan at the concrete monolith known as Riverfront Stadium. And that’s just fine with me.
As someone who grew up in the Atlanta area, I feel the same way about the old Atlanta Stadium. I saw my first Braves/MLB game there in 1966, the Braves’ first year in Atlanta. I was an 8-year-old kid, so to me the Taj Mahal had nothing on Atlanta Stadium.
I completely understand. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinnati and St Louis. Same ballpark. But there’s nothing like your first one.
Great article. Brought back a lot of good memories. The thing that was important back then wasn’t the amenities and comfort of the stadium, but the great show on the turf.
Thanks, Doug and I agree. Luxury suites weren’t a thing so we didn’t know what we were missing. We just wanted to see good baseball and there was plenty of that at Riverfront.
Good memories. I had a few nice ones, too. I was there in ’70 when Bench hit 3 HR against Steve Carlton, who was still a Cardinal. I saw Hal King pinch hit a 2 out bottom of the 9th walkoff HR against the Dodger’s Don Sutton in ’73, which began a streak of hot play where the Reds overcame an 11-game Dodger lead to win the NL West. In 2006 in GABP, I watched the Reds overcome an Indians’ 7- 0 lead in the seventh, finally winning 9- 8 on Adam Dunn’s walk off two-out grand slam.
Thanks, Fred! We need to have a big get together where everyone tells their stories and then turn it into a book. So many memories, including some that probably shouldn’t be aired in public!
Agreed Riverfront was a dump but I saw a lot of great baseball there. Occasionally had blue seat tickets but mostly green or red. My buddy’s and I would save our blue seat ticket stubs, wave them at an usher and sneak into empty blue seats after two or three innings. It always worked!
Thanks!
Lots of good memories there.
Good memories!
But it was our dump and we loved it!
We saw lots of Hall of Famers there.
I was there for Pete’s epic 4,192 game on Sept. 11, 1985. I was only 3 yrs old at the time but I can remember seeing the hit like it was yesterday.
That’s great! Wish I could have been there.
As a Giants fan kind of remind me of Candlestick Park which by the way the Reds and Giants where in the National League West when Eric Davis used to kill the Giants back in the day either at Candlestick Park or Riverfront Stadium.
E.D. was so good for that brief window. It’s a shame he couldn’t stay healthy.