A Ballpark for Great Americans

Our first trip to GABP was a blast.

It was dog night at the ballpark, but our sweet boys were sequestered at home. The lone time we took Gus the Westie to Nats Park, it did not go well. He was hot, didn’t appreciate being so thoroughly leashed, and the noises? Not a fan! So there was no chance he was going to make it to tonight’s game. Rusty, my dog, well, we’re going to have to get that ball of energy trained if he’s going to ever make it to the Newtown dog park/bar or anywhere other than our backyard.

Gus at Nats Park in 2016. He has his own Instagram.

The real purpose of tonight’s game was twofold: try out the ballpark and watch the Cardinals play the Reds. I’ve already laid out my sports hierarchy, so if you haven’t read up on that, please do. Of my teams, my Cleveland Guardians seem to be doing the best, with the Reds and Cardinals, well…

A benefit of it being Bark at the Park was all the freebies (thanks, Purina!) and also to get to know some of the local vendors and obedience trainers. Sorry Rusty, but I think obedience training is in your future. Even if we don’t win the contest, there’s a coupon, and I don’t make the rules.

An attendant at the Reds Authentics store told me the ballpark was a little short staffed tonight, and I don’t know why that was, but a lot of vendors were closed. We were pleased to see the “Swift Party Barn” (hello family reunion?), as Swift Meats (part of conglomerate JBS) sponsors the barn, a stand, and a billboard ad. Which obviously I have to support as a Swift. Like with “cousin Taylor”, I understand we share an ancestor with Gus Swift, but aren’t directly related.

As previously mentioned, I’d been to Riverfront as a kid when Marge Schott let people smoke in the seats, but never GABP. I left thoroughly impressed.

Check out this slide for the kids:

The kids area was expansive and pretty darn cool, and not just the part for toddlers and six and seven year olds. All ages. The wiffle ball park was packed. Perhaps next year, after I get the kids into wiffle ball.

The Cards struck first… and that was it. I was happy to miss the Trump/Elon “live on X” shit show, but the rest of the game belonged to the Reds. Oh well. As one of the twins put it: “since we like both teams, we win no matter what.”

The riverboat themes throughout, the views, all top notch. Debated going for the all you can eat pass, a good deal, but we opted to let the girls pick what they wanted. One wanted a hotdog, and the other wanted Skyline, until I informed her: no pasta. So we went with LaRosa’s, which is fine pizza and all, but not exactly the baseball fare I had in mind. I grew up with “The Weiner The World Awaited” but prefer all beef hot dogs¹, which I know the park has, but no offense to Kahn’s: not my first choice.

Unlike a lot of other ballparks, it was nice to be able to bring in a soft cooler with waters and peanuts and not get hassled one bit. Security not feeling like I was going into a federal building was also a blessing. I’ve done that too many times.

One thing I thought was interesting was that the 50/50 raffle was for the entire home stand, and not just for this game. Makes sense, I guess. And for $10, you can spin a wheel and win old game day promotions, mainly bobble heads and replicas of Crosley Field. The twins wanted more bobbleheads. Maybe next time. Apparently I have to stop into a Toyota dealership to enter into the home run raffle to win a pickup truck.

The staff at the Authentics store, as nearly all do in my experience, knew what they were talking about. I picked up a team-issued Father’s Day hat for $30. Other things, like jerseys, will come in due time. A number of neighbors have seats from Riverfront, which makes me jealous that due to my age, I never got one from Municipal.

It was a really nice set up, but no balls from the day’s game due to staffing issues previously mentioned. Didn’t catch any either (I’m a bit of a magnet but not above buying them.)

And can we talk about how awesome the parking situation is? It was insanely good, and affordable. I probably would have paid $75+ for that great of parking at Nats Park.

Getting into our garage and out of the garage after the game—and we stayed until the very end (a pleasant surprise from the twins)—took about 10 minutes… total. We were home before 10 p.m., but that was more a function of traffic and parking flow in my mind than rule changes.

Rob Manfred still sucks and so do his rule changes and I am glad that man is retiring.

1. I think it’s a Shaker thing?