Last week, I had the chance to visit Great American Ball Park for the first time since 2013. (I realize that’s nothing unusual for most of you, but for yours truly, the commute from Los Angeles is a real pain.) Prior to that year, when I caught two of the Reds’ season-ending losses en route to their Wild Card defeat in Pittsburgh, I’d seen just one game at GABP – a 2004 midsummer drubbing by the Cardinals that, according to Baseball Reference, featured multiple Cincinnati players of whom I have absolutely no memory (Tim Hummel, anyone?).
As much as I enjoy watching the Reds play in person, it’s hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars to fly across the country just for baseball, so most years, I see the team five or six times – first during my annual pilgrimage to Spring Training, and then again when they visit the Dodgers.