Opening Day is easily the most underrated day of the year, especially in Cincinnati. It baffles me how this has not become a national holiday yet. It brings much more than just a baseball game to the table. People from all over come to celebrate the start of a new season. This day is filled with nothing but unforgettable memories with fans not only from Cincinnati, but other cities and states as well.

I was fortunate enough to attend my first Reds opening day April 3^rd against the Philadelphia Phillies. What an unbelievable experience I was able to share with my friends and family. I got down there close to 11 and the streets and bars were already filling up. The banks of Cincinnati looked like a sea of Red. Fans were singing and dancing to the band on the sidewalks and in the streets. Waiters and venders are moving frantically to keep their customers happy. Plenty of people don’t even walk into the ballpark for the game but stay downtown because the atmosphere is that electric.

After a couple hours of singing and dancing and having a good time out in the streets of Cincinnati, fans start filing into Great American Ball Park to cheer on the Redlegs. As you walk in, you can start to hear the Rick Flair “Wooos” pick up right where they left off last year.  Kids with their baseball gloves are scattered around hoping they are the lucky one that leaves the game with a foul ball. Drunk fans stumble in looking for a beer vender. Phillies fans hesitantly walk in hoping to avoid these drunk Reds fans. Ushers are checking tickets making sure fans aren’t trying to pull a fast one and steal someone’s seat. Beer, hot dog, lemon chill venders are dishing out food and drink like its candy. As cliché as it sounds I always love the smell of peanuts that fills the air at Great American.

Once we got our fill of food and plenty of beverages, we headed down to our seats to check out the plethora of “first pitches”.  The seats start to fill and the atmosphere starts to pick up. As we sit and look up at the starting lineup on the scoreboard, we are exposed to the players that have yet to make a name for themselves in Cincinnati. The no name players are what makes the Reds so unpredictable. It’s what makes Cincinnati a wild card this year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this young, unpredictable team in October.

As the first pitch of the season is tossed into the catcher’s mitt, the crowd erupts. As the game progresses more and more memories are made in the stadium. The game flew by in a blink of an eye. That’s usually what takes place when you’re having fun watching your favorite team. Once the lights of Great American Ball Park finally turn off, another successful opening day is placed into the books. The season is finally underway after waiting so long for America’s pastime to be back in the mix. Buckle up Cincinnati because the Redlegs are back and ready to make a run in the NL central.