I don’t usually drink beer at 9 am on a Thursday. I do not think my employer would like that. But for Reds Opening Day I made an exception to the rule. Now I have never been to an opening day before, so you can imagine my excitement as I made the short drive up for Louisville. When researching what to do and where to be, it became overwhelming trying to determine the ideal location. To me it seemed as if the stars must align to see everything you want. The more I thought on it, the more I realized that it's not about being on the corner of this street or the top of that building. It's simpler than that. It’s just about being there amongst the crowd of optimistic Reds fans. We just walked the streets and took it all in.
My friend Adam joined me, as he was an Opening Day “virgin” as well. We started our marathon of a day at Rhinegeist Brewery. I cannot pinpoint exactly why, but the 9 am beer on the first day of baseball seemed a little colder than any other time. Slightly better. And, well, slightly more expensive. Watching the parade set up from the rooftop of the brewery, as fans cheered and high fived strangers, was cool. From there we wandered the streets with no real direction. It did not seem to matter where we were going, just happy to be there.
We finally got to the stadium after walking what felt like 6 miles. I had goetta for the first time. Both my Opening Day and my goetta virginity, gone. A goetta dog more specifically (I hope that still counts). LaRosa’s slice, of course. Final Food Stats for the day: 2 slices of pizza, goetta dog, Skyline cheese coney, peanuts, post-game wings. (Yes, I regret eating this much.) You could really start to feel the energy as the sun came out and there was that first sweat of the season. Baseball was back.
Entering the gates an hour and a half early was completely unnecessary, but I could not wait to see the field… or to eat a Skyline cheese coney. Our seats were down the left field line. Section 108. Skyline, peanuts, beer, sun shining down. It was everything I thought it would be, and more. Oh, and the game had yet to begin. Castillo came out wheeling and dealing. All the critics who were not happy with him starting Opening Day were immediately silenced. The Reds came to the plate and Votto launched a deep double. Yes, Votto hit a double (he does more than walk). Iglesias getting the first RBI of the year and Pereza hitting the first home run is something we all predicted, right?
Then we had Derek Dietrich. This moment felt like it was too good to be true. The Ohio native came on to pinch hit with runners on second and third. All tied up, and on the 2-1 pitch he delivered both a home run along with a new found hope the Reds have been lacking. The vibe of the crowd. The excitement and enthusiasm he showed. The curtain call. For the first time in a long time, both a Reds team and their fans felt like winners.
Bottom nine, 2 out, bases loaded. It was a playoff atmosphere. Everyone was standing anxiously as Corey Dickerson fouled off pitch after pitch, a sigh of relief masked by a gulp of “here we go”. Finally, a ground out to second, “and this one belongs to the Reds.”
1—0. A winning record. A winning Mentality. A winning team.
I have been to dozens of Reds baseball games. I was even at the gutting loss to the Phillies in ‘10 that knocked us out of the playoffs. What I experienced yesterday was second to none. It’s simply game one of 162 on paper, sure. But seeing the field again. The smells. The sights. The strategy discussion. You cannot top that after a long cold winter. This team might not be the Red Sox or the Yankees, but what I saw yesterday is a team that’s confident and a team that’s fun. Opening Day was a blast, and I can’t wait to go year after year. One game in the books, one win. Sign me up for 161 more.
-Clay Snowden @Clay_Reds