Because my wife is pretty cool, we spent our spring vacation touring baseball stadiums. It's always been my dream to see all 30 major league stadiums and as many MiLB stadiums as possible. I'm still far from accomplishing that goal (7 MLB, 3 MiLB), but I'm working on it. This last week we were able to catch the Reds' 3rd game of the season, our hometown Indianapolis Indians play at Columbus, and Dayton's record-setting 986th consecutive home sellout, hosting Detroit's A-ball affiliate. And because posting photos is fun, I figured I'd include a few here.
Arrived at the ballpark 90 minutes early for what ended up being almost a 4 hour delay. There couldn't have been more than 100 fans there when we arrived. Strange feeling when you have the stadium almost to yourself. We thought ahead and brought a deck of cards, which the Fox Sports camera crew thought was hilarious. I almost talked them into a couple hands of poker, but they're busy people, even when no baseball is being played.
Homer got the start and had seen better days. 42 balls and 4 extra base hits through 4.1 IP got him pulled early. Peralta took him deep to the section we were sitting in. Disappointing, but my wife enjoyed seeing herself on TV when we watched the replay at home.
Barnhart saw his first major league start with mixed results. He threw an absolute laser to Frazier to catch a stealing Jon Jay, but he also bobbled more pitches than any catcher I've ever seen. In retrospect, he probably deserves a break, as a large portion of those bobbles were due to a very wild Bailey. He's already back in Louisville, but at least he can claim he's one of only four MLB catchers with a 100 CS% this year.
A small crowd for a cold, rain-delayed game.
Bruce unleashed the first Reds HR of the season, and Frazier immediately followed with this one of his own, an absolute bomb to left. As of the writing of this post, Frazier's HR is tied for the 3rd longest HR of the short 2014 season.
Old Billy doesn't seem too pleased with Young Billy. But Young Billy did finally reach base via walk, his first time on base after 12 failed attempts to start the season. No official steal attempt, through he did run once on a Phillips foul ball.
First time to Dayton's Fifth Third Field. Great atmosphere. I didn't know until this trip that the Dragons own the home sellout record for all American professional sports. It's clear the city loves baseball, and I only wish I lived closer to Dayton to experience this excitement more often.
Ismael Guillon looked great in his first start and win of the season. 6 innings, 6:1 K:BB ratio, only 4 base runners, and he ousted one of those with a great pick-off at 1st.
Jeff Gelalich in RF.
Tanner Rahier at 3B, responsible for 2 of the Dragons' 3 RBIs on the night.
What was supposed to be an action shot of Phil Ervin turned out to be just a really good photo of hitting coach Luis Bolivar's back. The jerk didn't move all game. Inconsiderate.
Not pertaining to the Reds organization, but here's a shot of Columbus's Huntington Park (Cleveland's AAA affiliate). Gorgeous park. Built in 2009. Easily the coldest game I've ever attended. The wind chill dropped to the 20's by the end of the game (scaring away 99% of the crowd as you can see), but a pleasant experience nevertheless.