Cincinnati Reds tickets

RIVERFRONT STADIUM was the name until 1997 when, like many other sites in professional sports, naming rights to it were sold. So Cinergy Field it is. Cincinnati was home to the very first professional baseball team, the Red Stockings, formed in 1869. Somewhere along the way, the word "stockings" took on a feminine connotation, so the name was changed to the Redlegs, then to simply the Reds. The oldest team in baseball plays in a multipurpose con¬crete bowl that also accommodated the NFL's Bengals. About the only nod to the Reds' long history is the use of old Crosley Field's home plate. But Reds fans will soon get a new baseball-only facility in the Queen City.

While there is nothing especially interesting about Cinergy Field, it was once notable as home to the only major-league dog, Schottsie, fol¬lowed by his successor, Schottsie 02. These Saint Bernards, belonging to and named after former Reds owner Marge Schott, used to romp on the field alongside the players during batting practice. Occasionally, the big pooch would leave a deposit near second base. Two groundskeepers would dash out and clean up to the delight of dog and crowd alike. Inside this large, impersonal structure, amid the bright green artificial turf and with nary a glimpse of the city beyond, this was a welcome, if rather silly, diversion. In 1993, however, the National League banned the dog from the field, shortly after suspending Schottsie's owner.

The Reds continue to draw well here. But when this stadium is replaced, it remains to be seen whether this small-market team, unable to afford players the likes of whom formed the Big Red Machine in the seventies, will generate the revenue necessary to compete with big-market teams.

DWIGHT G00DEN "First time l saw a major-league ballpark was in '84 when I made the team [the Mets] my rookie year. And the first stadium I saw was Riverfront Stadium. And when I saw it, I was just amazed. '.. You go back there three years later; it was like, 'Man, this is a small ballpark.' But the first time you see it, you're like, 'Wow, this is a big stadium and this is what it's all about.'"

DAVID JUSTICE "The first stadium I saw was Riverfront Stadium. I remember the electricity that was in the air. That was back during the Big Red Machine, probably back around '77, '78. And I remember it being exciting and big and just fun."

WILLIE BLAIR "First ball park I saw was Riverfront Stadium, and I was pretty much in awe of it. I think I was only twelve or thirteen years old, and it was pretty special to be able to go out there and see all the guys that I'd watch on TV."

JAVY LOPEZ "The first time I saw a big-league stadium was when I first got called up in '92; it was the Cincinnati Reds. And when I got there, it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life. 'Cause I'd been playing in the minor leagues for six years before I came up to the big leagues, and I'd seen all different ballparks. And some of them, I thought they were pretty nice. But when I came to the big leagues, I saw a big difference, and I got very excited."