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Thread: Crosley vs. Riverfront

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    2009: Fail Ltlabner's Avatar
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    Crosley vs. Riverfront

    For those who have seen a game at Crosley, which stadium did you like better, Crosley or Riverfront?

    What were the pros and cons of each stadium?

    I started going to games in the mid 1970's so I can't weigh in on the issue. However, I'm reading a book on baseball and it shows Crosley after it was shut down and the city of Cincinnati was using it to park impounded cars. Very sad.

    I was going to include the "Palace of the Fans" but desipte popular opinion, no one on Redszone is that old.
    Last edited by Ltlabner; 07-27-2006 at 11:54 AM.


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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    I wish I had seen Crosley Field. My dad has been to all 3 stadiums, and he said that GABP is great, but Crosley was THE ballpark. It was a place you could go, sit down, not have a bad seat in the house, and enjoy a baseball game like it was MEANT to be played.

    Advertisements weren't streamed over a Jumbo screen every 5 minutes, hot dog's were like .50 cents or less, beers were a buck (and not the usual $5-7 they charge now).....

    It's sad the way they put it to use after Riverfront being erected.

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    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Quote Originally Posted by Ltlabner
    I was going to include the "Palace of the Fans" but desipte popular opinion, no one on Redszone is that old.
    You would be incorrect.
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    I was wrong
    Quote Originally Posted by Raisor View Post
    Chip is right

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    Davey BuckWoody's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    I never got to see a game at Crosley which is one of my great sports regrets. Even if I may have been too young to remember much of it, I'd still like to be able to say I'd seen a game there.

    I do remember driving right past it on I-75 on our way to Riverfront before they tore it down so at least I have actually seen it. I can remember at the time thinking how glad I was we weren't going to that old yucky place and instead were going to our shiney new stadium. Silly kid.

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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Crosley field was superior, it was worth a couple of runs a year to watch other outfielders fall when attempting to ascend the incline, only vada pinson could do it successfully

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    We Need Our Myths reds1869's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Quote Originally Posted by Rob Dicken
    Advertisements weren't streamed over a Jumbo screen every 5 minutes, hot dog's were like .50 cents or less, beers were a buck (and not the usual $5-7 they charge now).....
    Not to be rude, but $1 in 1960 is about the same as what they charge for beer now.

    http://www.cjr.org/tools/inflation/i...mit=Convert%21

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    Member RollyInRaleigh's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    I saw one game in Crosley on August 31, 1969, and it still is vivid in my mind. I was 8 years old. I thought that I had gone to heaven. My dad, my grandfather, my uncle and myself drove from Huntington, WV to Cincinnati in my dad's 1968 black Ford LTD. My dad purchased the tickets from the only place in Huntington that sold them, Humphrey's Southside Pharmacy. I remember parking and walking up to the ballpark. My dad bought me a Centennial Edition yearbook that had Pete Rose, Alex Johnson, Johnny Bench, Tommy Helms, Tony Perez and Lee May on the cover. I still have it. My grandfather bought me a Reds cap, and later on, I talked my dad into buying me one of the plastic batting helmets. We sat behind homeplate in the second deck. I could see everything, and the sound of those fastballs hitting the catcher's mitt were so distinct. Bob Gibson pitched for the Cardinals and Jim Merritt for the Reds. The Reds won that game against the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5. Johnny Bench and Tony Perez had homeruns for the Reds, but the highlight was a triple by Pete Rose in the 7th inning with the signature head first slide into third base. I still remember it like it was yesterday.

    I watched many games in Riverfront stadium through the 70's, 80's and 90's and while I always loved the excitement that was generated there through those years, it couldn't hold a candle to that one game in August of 1969 at Crosley Field. I would love to be able to watch another game there. It was a beautiful old ballpark with lots and lots of character. The terrace, the scoreboard, the sun and moon deck. What a place! I feel very blessed as a lifelong Reds fan to have been able to see my first game in that wonderful old ballpark with the three men who most influenced my life. God rest all of their souls, including Crosley.

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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    wayne granger got the save as the Reds defeated bob gibsob, of course alex johnson got his usual three hits, a great pick up for Dick Simpson

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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    When it opened Redland (Crosley) had the most area in the outfield in MLB.

    Multipurpose stadiums had the soul of an Eric Carmen solo record.

    The week it opened, this post cards were moving around town... note the streetcars... folks in Cincinnati might not know... but that's called.."Public Transportation"



    When they knocked it down this was the first swing of the wrecking ball, operated by Pete Rose Jr.


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    Member 919191's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    As you are driving south on 75 towards downtown, can you see any landmarks from the road from Crosley? I've never been sure exactly where it is, other than knowing the streets it was on, and that is pretty much meaningless to me.

    Is the area betweeen downtown and therre safe? I am going to be there for the Cardinal series mext month, and I will probably go out for a run or two while there. Are the neighborhoods safe late in the morning along that route for a prety much defenseless runner?
    I've been to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's house, and I've eaten it at a homeless shelter. And there's great joy and harrowing terror to be found in both places.
    -Todd Snider

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    Davey BuckWoody's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    There is a really cool site called Where's Crosley Now. It will tell you all you need to know about how to find out exactly where Crosley was in relation to the current street layout. You can follow the directions and stand right where home plate was. There are all kinds of Crosley photos and other really cool things on the site.

    Here's an example of some of the superimposed pics they use to help guide you:



  13. #12
    First Time Caller SunDeck's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Went to Crosley once, and my memory of it is a lot like Randy's. I was only a kid, but there definitely was something special about it. Everything seemed close. It was crowded, loud, personal.
    Riverfront had some of those qualities- anyone remember the band that played between innings, or the organ? Nevertheless, Crosley remains my first Reds memory and therefore it is strong. And the astroturf always seemed bad to me.

    Now, this from my dad:
    Crosley was great when he was a kid, but that was when you could take the streetcar down to the park. His aunt owned a "boarding" house and tavern across from Crosley and his grandfather owned a bar in lower Price Hill. He'd go to the bar on the 33 to have lunch, then walk through the West End to Crosley to meet his dad at his aunt's bar, who was usually finishing his truck driving shift around the time the game started. His recollection of Crosley was that it was a defining part of the neighborhood, a lot like I imagine Wrigley is. Everything revolved around games. Traffic couldn't move through, everything pretty much stopped, but it was kind of fun because it was an event every day.

    My dad didn't mind Riverfront at all because he said that it was the right time for the transition away from Crosley. Once I-75 was conceived, it was clear that the West End and Crosley were done. And in that context, he has always said the same thing, that the last ten years of Crosley were pretty awful. Crime, heat, tough parking, smelly toilets, the place had really lost it's luster for people of his generation by the time Riverfront was opened.
    Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.

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    Member crazybob60's Avatar
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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    I asked this very question to my Papaw tonight and he very quickly responded Riverfront due to the fact of the size and he like the bigger Riverfront better than the smaller Crosley, yet that is the only reason he gave though.

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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Been to Crosley, Riverfront, and Great American.

    Loved the Crosley grass over the original Riverfront's turf. Particularly enjoyed how close you could get to the relievers in the pullpens down the foul lines.

    Curiously, I preferred (grassy) Riverfront to G. Am. while the new park was under construction and those Riverfront OF seats were gone, opening up the view over the OF fence and removing the wrap-around bowl look of all of those cookie cutter parks that we all probably grew to hate.

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    Re: Crosley vs. Riverfront

    Quote Originally Posted by crazybob60
    I asked this very question to my Papaw tonight and he very quickly responded Riverfront due to the fact of the size and he like the bigger Riverfront better than the smaller Crosley, yet that is the only reason he gave though.
    BAH! Your Papaw doesn't know squat about how baseball should be viewed by the attending public!

    Riverfront, good for football, good for concerts, baseball...Well if you want to call the Reds of the 70's a "machine" then I guess it fits!


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