Best Secret in Town

Shhhhhhhhhhh….

With my finger to my lips, I make this noise in my car every time I hear a sports radio caller reprimand the people of Cincinnati for not supporting their first-place Cincinnati Reds.

Quiet you fool! Don’t spoil the best deal in town!

Unfortunately, my car stereo is a one-way transmission, so my feeble pleas bounce harmlessly off the dashboard. So now I will have to take my campaign to the streets.

One fifth of the baseball season is in the books and the Reds find themselves on top of the National League Central with a 23-12 record, 2nd best in all of baseball. The Reds are an exciting club, scoring the most runs and swatting the most long balls (by a margin of 13) in the National League. The Reds are fast this year, with Felipe Lopez leading the league in stolen bases (16) and two players in the top 5. The starting pitching is delivering quality and two relievers (Todd Coffey and David Weathers) have emerged as bona fide stoppers. The Reds even play defense. Just not well.

There are a lot of statistical categories in which the Reds look mighty fine. Except one. Attendance. The Reds are 24th in the league in attendance with an average 21,806 per game. Four of the teams below them in attendance are in last place in their respective divisions. A mere 15,771 were in Great American Ballpark Thursday to welcome Ken Griffey Jr. back from the disabled less. And far fewer actually stuck around to see the Reds unfathomable 11th inning 5-4 comeback victory that included a 3-run walk off bomb launched by Griffey himself.

But I am not complaining. Far from it. This is not a rally cry to get fans to come down to the Ohio River. In fact, I hope everything remains status quo. I am enjoying championship-level baseball at a bargain price in an extreme comfort. Never mess with a good thing.

Right now, I have the ability to watch a first place team, in person, for $7. SEVEN FREAKING DOLLARS. I park for $2 (in a lovely little garage that I would rather not divulge – let’s just say it is north of 5th) and buy the $5 outer view level seats. 700 cents buys be 3 hours of beautiful baseball. And I can pick my seat.

With only 20,000 people attending the games, fans are free to roam around the stadium and pick their own seats. It’s fantastic. Besides the Diamond (the 10-15 rows right behind home plate) and Club Seats, no chair is off limits. That is, if you can duck the occasional battle axe usher. I have sat in the Moon Deck, the bleachers, Terrace infield box, Mezzanine – everywhere. And I have NEVER spent more than $5 for a ticket. In fact, I like the upper level seats better. More perspective.

The games are comfortable. When I take in a game with a group of friends, we never have to cram in next to each other – elbow to elbow. Every one of us can sprawl out and lounge like we were in our living rooms. Not once have I had to wait in line in the bathroom and the beer vendors fight for my business. I walk freely through the concourse like it is 3AM at the airport. It still takes too long to buy concessions but that is a food service discussion for another time. I can’t imagine how those lines would be if the stadium was filled with 40,000 strong.

And there is a strange, cool camaraderie that has fostered between my fellow Reds rooters that have braved the wild streets of Southeastern Ohio to make it down to GABP. We know what is going on and we revel in the scrappy home town team that seems to be playing just for us.

Now I know, in the long run, if this team is going to consistently contend with the likes of St. Louis, Chicago and Houston that the attendance numbers must increase in order to justify an increase in payroll. I know that. But at this moment, I am blissfully happy and could care less.

So stay home Reds fans. Do whatever it is you do when you are not going to games. And those of you that have been down on the river to watch the boys under the lights or Ohio blue skies - enjoy it. There are rare moments when a group of fans can watch their team play at the highest level (in any sport) for next to nothing. This is a gift.

And don’t tell anybody. Shhhhhhhhhhhh….