Made only my second trip ever to GABP Thursday afternoon, as we took our basketball players who worked this week’s Summer Youth Camp to the game.

I was lucky to have a parking pass, but arriving just at game time caused a lot of delay, waiting to get in line to get into the garage, (Central Bridge/Pete Rose Entrance) and then finally getting into the garage and then finding the ball park.  The major culprit was that we no longer use a paper ticket, but have bar codes on our phones, which obviously aren’t very efficient, as it seemed each car took 2 or 3 minutes, including my own, to scan.  Ditto for entrance to the ballpark as for paperless ticketing, BUT was much more efficient since the game had already started.

Our seats were in the sun (132-W) but there was a breeze.  We have no vendors working the crowd, and this 75 year old wasn’t about to get up and fight the crowd to get a hot dog or a beverage.  I had mapped it out to attend the game, have dinner at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, and tour the Levy before heading home, so it was no big deal.  Is this another cost-saving maneuver, or a workforce shortage issue???  I notice on TV that other stadiums have vendors.

Being only the second time I’ve been there, I was overwhelmed by the size of the place.  In my mind I was thinking Crosley Field on steroids, but it is huge compared to old Crosley.  Who do they think are going to ever sit in all of those seats???  Inside and surrounding the stadium is really first class.  I enjoyed seeing the sculptures of our former greats, and took interest in an area loaded with kids who were playing their own game.  Plenty of concessions, once you get out of your seat and climb up to the plaza level, about three times the distance of our old “blue seats” at Riverfront that had concessions on each of the four levels.  I was surprised to see that we still tolerate pan handlers and others beating on pickle buckets, playing musical instruments, or just plain sticking their hands out.   These may be higher class bums, BUT it is one of the things that really detracted from your trip to Riverfront.  The bottom line is that we have a major league facility and a bunch of incompetents playing there, masquerading as Cincinnati Reds.

Unfortunately, there was little interaction between the crowd of 21,000 and the teams playing the game on the field.  Watching our basketball players watching this poor excuse of a baseball team, I really feel awful that they are being so short-changed and the overall crowd cheated by this inferior product who was 23 games under .500 at the time.  The crowd seemed to be much more engaged in their own social interaction than they were immersed in the game being played.  Most of the crowd had departed the sun-bathed field seats by the 7^th inning. 

Sadly, my early season assessment of Hunter Green is coming to fruition – another wasted first round draft choice.  Depending on a 100mph fast ball is not going to cut it for him long-term.  Too bad!  He’s  an articulate, clean cut, well groomed young man who checks all of the high class people qualifications.  He gave up three home runs in six innings to a good team.  Maybe he can beat the Cubs or Pirates, but becoming the Don Gullett, that I had hoped for him isn’t going to happen.  In the seventh inning somebody named Hoffman was serving up batting practice for the Dodgers and quickly it was 8-1.  My fear was that being 8-1 Bell would just leave him out there for the duration as I stewed in my own juices.  I was wrong, he sent someone else out there – Cessa – who was equally futile.  There were 29 hits in this game that saw 15 runs score, another lousy exhibition of major league baseball.  Our bullpen is atrocious.  It is no wonder that our few capable starters want to be from Cincinnati.  Castillo should insist that Mahle be his reliever and Mahle should do the same insisting on Castillo, maybe then those two guys would get a win or two.  Why do you/we tolerate this charade of a baseball team in this once proud city???  We are suckers.

By attending in person, I realize how much more I actually get out of watching the Reds games on TV, albeit having to listen to John Sadek.  Not following the ball off of the bat well, and the distance between myself and home plate is not conducive to my enjoyment of the game.  This was my first time ever sitting behind “the screen.”  It is way overdone, too high and too far extended.  In this powder puff era, I’m not surprised that we now sit behind a screen, but, run it from home to 1^st and 3^rd base and cut the height down about 50%.  While it doesn’t seem to detract from your viewing the game,

I'll bet that if they would show you the view with or without it, there would be a distinct difference.

I got up and toured the facility after the 7^th inning and then eventually found my vehicle and had no problem exiting the garage and being on the Central Bridge heading to the Hofbrauhaus in short order where my dinner bill was $40, and I then drug myself over to the levy to purchase some Carmel Corn and take in a view of the river.  I was SHOCKED at how deserted (people and venues) the levy is.  Not good.  That used to be a happening place, but it is seemingly dying a slow death. 

In a day that started with our final day of camp at 8:30am, I returned home at 7pm to strip to my shorts and dive spread-eagle on the bed for a two hour nap, before creating a Camps Champs page on our website that I knew our campers would be anxiously anticipating in the morning.

Overall, I thank our head coach for making this trip possible.  It was an exhausting day, but I’m glad that I had the chance to experience it.  The Cincinnati Reds have some major issues, but we all know that.  Maybe with our being the 38^th largest media market in the country has finally caught up with us, and that we are incapable of fielding a competitive baseball team.  Too bad!  I’ll count my blessings that I lived through and witnessed a golden era of Cincinnati Reds and Major League baseball.  Right now a night/day at the Reds game is nothing more than a gathering spot for your social see and be seen outing, that has nothing at all to do with the game of baseball.  

                

  

On 6/25/2022 at 9:51 PM, Mustang said:

 

Our seats were in the sun (132-W) but there was a breeze.  We have no vendors working the crowd, and this 75 year old wasn’t about to get up and fight the crowd to get a hot dog or a beverage.  I had mapped it out to attend the game, have dinner at the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, and tour the Levy before heading home, so it was no big deal.  Is this another cost-saving maneuver, or a workforce shortage issue???  I notice on TV that other stadiums have vendors.

Regarding the bolded, it's definitely not because there is a vendor shortage.  We've been told that we are no allowed in the seats and unofficially it seems that decision is coming from the Reds Frontt Office, not the company that I work for, Delaware North.  Why are we not allowed in the seats?  I have zero idea.  I hear complaints every game that I work from fans on this topic.

Seems totally counterproductive.  With the logistics of GABP you are more than a few steps away from rest rooms/concession stands, as they were at Riverfront.  It is actually quite a hike.    Picture Riverfront with the blue and green seats combined with the only concession options at the top of the green section and that is what you have at GABP.  As a result of no vendors, I spent zero dollars on concessions.  On the way in, I would have grabbed a pizza slice and a Coke, but the game had started and the LaRosa's lines were 10-12 deep.  Had a vendor come by offering coke or lemonade, I would have made a purchase.  Had I asked, I'm sure one of our players would have been happy to get me something, but, planning on dinner after the game, I simply waited until then.

Another case of customer service suffering in the name of corporate profit, greed, and board room philosophy.

2 hours ago, Mustang said:

Seems totally counterproductive.  With the logistics of GABP you are more than a few steps away from rest rooms/concession stands, as they were at Riverfront.  It is actually quite a hike.    Picture Riverfront with the blue and green seats combined with the only concession options at the top of the green section and that is what you have at GABP.  As a result of no vendors, I spent zero dollars on concessions.  On the way in, I would have grabbed a pizza slice and a Coke, but the game had started and the LaRosa's lines were 10-12 deep.  Had a vendor come by offering coke or lemonade, I would have made a purchase.  Had I asked, I'm sure one of our players would have been happy to get me something, but, planning on dinner after the game, I simply waited until then.

Another case of customer service suffering in the name of corporate profit, greed, and board room philosophy.

It really doesn't make any sense at all and I haven't been given any more of an explanation other than "The top brass of the Reds don't want vendors in the seats".  That doesn't mean that's true, but I'm inclined to believe it.  We got told last year to quit telling to email the Reds when they complained to us about it.  So I'm not really sure its going to change and I know there is vending at many, if not all of other ballparks in the US.

The Cincinnati Reds pride themselves on doing things the "Reds Way", which in short, that means that they provide the fans with the best possible experience (outside of maybe what's happening on the field.  So to me, the whole no vendors in the seats is the complete opposite of what is preached as the Reds Way.

I do wonder how much income is lost from the lack of impulse buys in the seats.

56 minutes ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

It really doesn't make any sense at all and I haven't been given any more of an explanation other than "The top brass of the Reds don't want vendors in the seats".  That doesn't mean that's true, but I'm inclined to believe it.  We got told last year to quit telling to email the Reds when they complained to us about it.  So I'm not really sure its going to change and I know there is vending at many, if not all of other ballparks in the US.

The Cincinnati Reds pride themselves on doing things the "Reds Way", which in short, that means that they provide the fans with the best possible experience (outside of maybe what's happening on the field.  So to me, the whole no vendors in the seats is the complete opposite of what is preached as the Reds Way.

I do wonder how much income is lost from the lack of impulse buys in the seats.

Seems to me you'd want people in the seats.   If they walk up to a concession stand, they are closer to the exit gates than the field.  But this ownership group has done nothing right, so I guess no one should be shocked.

22 hours ago, The Raven said:

Seems to me you'd want people in the seats.   If they walk up to a concession stand, they are closer to the exit gates than the field.  But this ownership group has done nothing right, so I guess no one should be shocked.

I will also add this.  I LOVE baseball.  I am trying to pass a little of that love onto my daughters, particularly my youngest, who shows more interest than the older ones.   She will sit and pay attention and ask questions.  But when we get up to go to the stands for a coke and some popcorn, her attention is diverted and she wants to do other things (like any normal kid.).  By simply having a person walk down the aisle with a coke or some popcorn (or cotton candy or whenever) you keep a kid in the seat enjoying the game.  You make the next generation of interested and invested fan.  Don't do the stupid stuff you do and then wonder why you lose the next generation of fan.

I noticed a month or so ago that they are still completely cashless. You can only pay with a credit card. Be kind of difficult for a vendor to walk up and down with a credit card reader.

4 hours ago, PP1 said:

I noticed a month or so ago that they are still completely cashless. You can only pay with a credit card. Be kind of difficult for a vendor to walk up and down with a credit card reader.

The split the pot crew there has or had been doing it for quite a while.

 

2 hours ago, The Raven said:

The split the pot crew there has or had been doing it for quite a while.

 

So if I buy a split the pot ticket, I have to use a credit card?

1 minute ago, 4 Quarters said:

So if I buy a split the pot ticket, I have to use a credit card?

Last time I noticed it, it was cash or card.   But they had the ability to swipe a card.  This day and age it's not a cumbersome machine.   Can fit in the palm of your hand.  Or you can use the cube thins on an iPad or tablet.

9 hours ago, 4 Quarters said:

So if I buy a split the pot ticket, I have to use a credit card?

From what I hear, if you live in Ky, you cannot even buy a split the pot ticket.

16 hours ago, PP1 said:

I noticed a month or so ago that they are still completely cashless. You can only pay with a credit card. Be kind of difficult for a vendor to walk up and down with a credit card reader.

Bengals and FC Cincy are completely cashless as well and vendors have no problem doing it there and selling way more beer than we do at GABP.  It would be more of a pain at GABP though, but that's simply because of the POS (Point of Sale) devices that we currently use there.

For those that hate being completely cashless, they do have reverse ATMs in the stadium, which means you put cash in and they basically give you a debit card to use within GABP.  I'm sure they'll hope you'll forget about a few bucks on it.  I'd imagine the amount would still on and carry over at least until the end of the season, not sure about the next season.

I have no insider information, but I highly doubt they ever return to cash.  They wanted to be cashless long before COVID.

21 minutes ago, PP1 said:

From what I hear, if you live in Ky, you cannot even buy a split the pot ticket.

I don't believe that's accurate.

3 hours ago, PP1 said:

From what I hear, if you live in Ky, you cannot even buy a split the pot ticket.

There's no way they are checking ID for that. 

3 hours ago, MJAlltheWay24 said:

I don't believe that's accurate.

I believe it checks your location and won't let you if you are physically in Kentucky, but you can certainly buy it when you cross the river and are in Ohio/at the stadium.