Marge Schott, owner of Cincinnati Reds, gives Pete Rose a lucky kiss on the opening day in 1989. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE
Everyone loves a parade. The opening parade to celebrate Cincinnati baseball took place on the Findlay Market Opening Day website in 1890. This parade consisted of three streetcars – one for the Reds, one for the visiting Chicago Colts team, and the third for a marching band.
Findlay Market made its debut in the opening day parade in 1920. The festivities picked up pace over the years and in 1970 it was broadcast live on local television.
The owner of the Reds, Marge Schott, bought the team in 1984 and used their connections to include animals from the Cincinnati Zoo. An elephant used its trunk to present Sparky Anderson with the honorary “first place” in 1996.
Pete Rose is photographed with his family making his Major League debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 1963. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE
Rest for the big game. The night before Pete Rose made his Major League debut in 1963, a psychologist ordered him to stay the night in a hotel to fend off a possible nerve failure.
Rose, who is from Cincinnati, was reportedly directed by practical psychologist Fred Hutchinson to stay with the rest of the team at the Hilton Hotel in the Netherlands. Before going there, he made a quick visit to his family and brought a load of laundry.
PHOTOS: Best photos from eight years of Reds Opening Day
“I was nervous only once. That was about an hour before the game when they took my picture with mom and dad and my little brother David, ”Rose told the Dayton Daily News after the game kicked off the next day. “This is the only time I’ve thought a lot about playing in the big league in front of my people and my friends. Then it subsided and I was fine. “
Atlanta’s Hank Aaron celebrated the 714th home run of his life in the Major League in 1974 in the 1974 opening game at Riverfront Stadium and linked it with Babe Ruth’s career record. DAYTON DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE
A record breaker. Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves scored the 714th home game of his career in the Major League in the 1974 opening game at Riverfront Stadium and linked it to Babe Ruth’s career record.
“Henry, this is for the day and congratulations if you get it,” whispered Cincinnati catcher Johnny Bench as Aaron stood in the batter box, the Dayton Daily News reported.
More than 52,000 spectators, including Vice President Gerald Ford, watched: “Aaron flashed those incredibly quick wrists and the story was in the air. The cowhide-covered baseball screamed on a line above the dark gray wall in the center left … “
A brand new home. The 2003 opening game was played in a new stadium – the Great American Ball Park.
The $ 289 million stadium was the first natural grass facility actually grown on synthetic carpet. The ingenuity was developed to make the playing surface more resistant to adverse weather conditions and the gradual wear and tear of major league baseball.
The baseball field opened to a crowd of fans who wanted to take one of 42,263 seats and watch the Reds play the pirates.
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