Some pictures from Busch

[StillFunkyB]

I took a few pictures with my camera phone. They aren't the greatest quality. I tried to get a picture of Dunn during his HR swing, but you couldn't even tell what the picture was.

As for the game, all I have to say is that Dave Williams sucked, but you all knew that. From what I could tell is that everything he threw was either up in the zone, or in the dirt.

Sat next to Cards fans from Oklahoma. They were pretty cool.

The park is beautiful, and IMHO it's what Cincinnati should have built. The only thing that was bad was that there were no speakers under the deck in LF where I sat. We couldn't hear a single thing, not even the National Anthem.

[westofyou]

[StillFunkyB]

Ugh, Gavin.

[indyred]

Park looks great.....well done for the St. Louis faithfull.................

[pedro]

[pedro]

Having never been to GABP, what was it about the new stadiumin St Loius that you thought was better than GABP? (on the inside)

[MattyHo4Life]

FunkyB,

How did you do with the traffic and parking?

[StillFunkyB]

Having never been to GABP, what was it about the new stadiumin St Loius that you thought was better than GABP? (on the inside)

My biggest gripe about GABP is that they just squeezed it in on the river. It was as if they rushed the whole thing. It's a nice park, but a view of the Cincinnati skyline instead of the hills of KY would have been nice. When you are at GABP, it "feels" small, at least to me. Busch seemed alot more "open" and not as cramped. I sat under the deck in LF, in the last row, and I could still see enough of the scoreboards to know what was going on. When I sat under the deck in LF at GABP, you had one lousy little scoreboard that displayed R H E.

FunkyB,

How did you do with the traffic and parking?

Got downthere around 9:30ish. I took the Eades bridge, as suggested by someone else in the other thread. I drove down Broadway towords the park and just past the gate there was a lot for $15. Got the car in there in the first spot next to the exit. Took me 15 min to get back to the hotel here in Caseyville. Thanks for giving me the tip on going early, it really paid off.

[StillFunkyB]

They also have this thing where for $2.99 you can send a text message and have it displayed on the scoreboard.

I did this twice, once said "Go Reds! -RedsZone

The other said "Nobody scores on Danny Graves!"

I saw neither message, but these two people basically had a conversation. That's one expensive conversation.

[cincy4life]

I completely disagree, i think the view of the ohio river is beautiful, but i dont get how you feel crammed in, we hardly ever sell out a game...

[KySteveH]

It's a nice park, but a view of the Cincinnati skyline instead of the hills of KY would have been nice.

You know, I've heard a number of folks say this, and I can't really understand it. Why would I want to look at the Cincy skyline, versus the river? I've never heard anyone say that they should have built Dodgers Stadium with a view of the skyline...

[MWM]

the problem is that you don't see the river unless you're in the upper level. And considering most games are night games, you can't see it at night. Cincinnati has a great skyline, especially at night time. Opening up to that would add a certain ambiance that the river doesn't. I think that's the biggest mistake they made with the stadium. They should have found a way to open it up to either the city or to Mt. Adams. From what I understand, they couldn't do it because they of space limitations related to Riverfront. They wouldn't have been able to build it that way and still have Cinergy to play in. They were pretty much forced into it opoening up to the river.

But they should have built on Broadway Commons anyhow. The stadium is OK, but it has John Allen written all over it. It could have been so much better without much more money.

[KittyDuran]

the problem is that you don't see the river unless you're in the upper level. And considering most games are night games, you can't see it at night. Cincinnati has a great skyline, especially at night time. Opening up to that would add a certain ambiance that the river doesn't. I think that's the biggest mistake they made with the stadium. They should have found a way to open it up to either the city or to Mt. Adams. From what I understand, they couldn't do it because they of space limitations related to Riverfront. They wouldn't have been able to build it that way and still have Cinergy to play in. They were pretty much forced into it opoening up to the river.

But they should have built on Broadway Commons anyhow. The stadium is OK, but it has John Allen written all over it. It could have been so much better without much more money.

Wasn't there a problem [MLB regulations] of having the park open up to the skyline? Riverfront was not aligned with the skyline.

[George Foster]

the problem is that you don't see the river unless you're in the upper level. And considering most games are night games, you can't see it at night. Cincinnati has a great skyline, especially at night time. Opening up to that would add a certain ambiance that the river doesn't. I think that's the biggest mistake they made with the stadium. They should have found a way to open it up to either the city or to Mt. Adams. From what I understand, they couldn't do it because they of space limitations related to Riverfront. They wouldn't have been able to build it that way and still have Cinergy to play in.

But they should have built on Broadway Commons anyhow. The stadium is OK, but it has John Allen written all over it. It could have been so much better without much more money.

This is all a moot point because MLB determines were home plate must be in relation to east-west. The only way to have the sky line visible from home plate is to have built GABP north of the skyline. No one wanted GABP built anywere but on the river. However land would have been pretty cheap in "Over the Rhine." You could go see the Reds and buy some crack on the way back to your car...if your car was still there.

[MWM]

Wasn't there a problem [MLB regulations] of having the park open up to the skyline? Riverfront was not aligned with the skyline.

Yeah, from it's current location, it would have to face either due north or northwest to open up to the city, and MLB wouldn't permit that. It could have opened up to Mt. Adams, which would have been OK, but nothing special, IMO. There were so many limitations as to what they could do with the stadium once they decided it had to be between PBS and Cinergy.

Actually, the biggest mistake they made was sitting on their thumbs for so long and allowed the Bengals to snatch up the premier location for a stadium. Personally, I don't see why they were so adamant about it being on the Riverfront. The presence of F. Washington Way makes the riverfront a less than optimal location. Although, I know the City of Cincinnati never would have let it happen, a stadium across the river closer to Covington would have been the best of both worlds, similar to what Pittsburgh has.