The Official Site of The Cincinnati Reds: Ballpark: Timeline

Ballpark


	12/29/02 Cinergy Field is reduced to a pile of rubble following a 37-second implosion of the stadium. Construction crews leveled the already-gutted facility to make room for the final stages of construction of Great American Ball Park. Watch the implosion Cinergy Field farewell gallery 2/22/03 Tickets for Opening Day at Great American Ball Park sell out in a record 55 minutes. 3/22/03 & 3/23/03 As estimated 212,000 fans enter the gates of Great American Ball Park for the official Open House weekend. 3/31/03 Great American Ball Park opens for its first official regular-season game. Former President George Herbert Walker Bush throws out the ceremonial first pitch, and a patriotic theme highlights the much-anticipated event. Unfortunately, the Reds lose to the Pirates, 10-1. Scenes from Opening Day: 56K \| 300K MLB.com checks out Great American Ball Park: 56K \| 300K Opening Day scenery 4/2/03 Austin Kearns hits the first Reds' home run in Great American Ball Park with a first-inning shot off Pittsburgh's Kip Wells. 4/4/03 The Reds win their first game in Great American Ball Park with a 10-9 defeat of the Chicago Cubs. 5/8/03 Aaron Boone hits three home runs to lead the Reds to an 8-6 win and a four-game sweep over the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park. 7/20/03 The Reds dedicate a statue of Joe Nuxhall on Crosley Terrace at Great American Ball Park. It joins Ted Kluszewski's statue, which debuted on Opening Day. 9/26/03 Prior to a game against the Expos at Great American Ball Park, current Montreal manager and former Reds great Frank Robinson joins Reds officials for the unveiling of a bronze Robinson statue on Crosley Terrace. 4/5/04 The Reds host the Chicago Cubs for Opening Day 2004 at Great American Ball Park. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney throws out the ceremonial first pitch. The Reds lose, 7-4. 4/20/04 The Reds honor Chuck Harmon at Great American Ball Park in pre-game ceremonies. The festivities honor the 50th anniversary of Harmon's major-league debut, the first by a Reds' African-American player. 6/27/04 The Reds unveil a bronze Ernie Lombardi statue, the final one for Crosley Terrace, in pre-game ceremonies at Great American Ball Park. 7/3/04 The Reds Team Shop by Majestic, located at Great American Ball Park, has its grand opening prior to the day's game against the Cleveland Indians. 8/3/03 The club honors former Cincinnati greats George Foster and Dummy Hoy with a pre-game ceremony celebrating their inductions into the Reds Hall of Fame. Former Reds Dave Parker, Joe Morgan and Ken Griffey Sr. join the festivities. 5/20/04 Danny Graves throws a scoreless ninth inning against Colorado to secure his 149th career save, passing John Franco as the team's all-time save leader. 6/6/04 Ken Griffey Jr. hits a pair of home runs - Nos. 497 and 498 of his career - in Cincinnati's 6-5 win over Montreal. Griffey hit No. 499 a week later in Cleveland and his historic No. 500 in St. Louis on July 20 - Father's Day - to become the 20th member of the 500-home run club. 6/15/04-6/17/04 In anticipation of Ken Griffey Jr.'s 500th-career home run, the Reds draw 115,998 fans - an average of nearly 39,000 - for a three-game set with Texas. Griffey did not homer during the series, but Reds fans were treated to a sweep over the Rangers in Interleague play. 8/10/04 Adam Dunn deposits a Jose Lima 3-2 offering over the Batter's Eye Pavilion in center field, a tape-measure shot estimated at 535 feet, the longest home run in Great American Ball Park history. The ball hopped over Mehring Way and landed on a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River. 8/29/04 Big Red Machine outfielder Ken Griffey Sr. and general manager Bob Howsam are inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame alongside Will White, a 19th-century Reds pitcher, in a pregame ceremony. 9/18/04 The Reds honor Joe Nuxhall with a pregame ceremony commemorating his 60th anniversary in the Reds organization. 4/4/05 A crowd of 42,794 - the largest in Great American Ball Park history - sees Joe Randa, in his first game as a Red, hit the first Opening Day walk-off home run in club history. The Reds rally for three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the New York Mets, 7-6. 5/24/05 The Reds celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first night game in Major League Baseball history with a 4-3, 14-inning win over the Washington Nationals on Randy Keisler's first Major League hit, an RBI single up the middle. 5/28/05 Sparky Anderson's No. 10 becomes the eighth number retired in Reds history. Several members of the world championship '75 and '76 squads join the Big Red Machine skipper on the field for a pregame dedication. 6/8/05 On a night in which bobbleheads bearing his likeness were distributed to fans, Wily Mo Pena homers twice - including a 428-foot walk-off shot in the bottom of the ninth - to lift the Reds to an 11-9 victory over the Devil Rays. 6/10/05 For the first time in big league history, three members of the 500-home run club appear in the same game as Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. are each in the starting lineup for an Interleague contest between the Reds and Orioles. 6/11/05 Eric Davis and Jose Rijo, stars of the 1990 World Series club, along with 19th-century greats George and Harry Wright, are inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame before the day's game against the Baltimore Orioles. 6/12/05 Sammy Sosa homers twice and Ken Griffey Jr. goes deep once, marking just the fourth time in Major League Baseball history that two members of the 500-club have homered in the same game. 1/20/06 Robert "Bob" Castellini takes over controlling interest of the franchise from Carl Lindner and is named CEO. During the press conference, Mr. Castellini promises to return the club to championship form. 4/3/06 President George W. Bush becomes the first sitting American president to throw out a ceremonial first pitch at a Cincinnati Reds game. The Reds dropped the Opening Day game 16-7 to the Cubs. 4/5/06 Ken Griffey Jr. hits career home run No. 537 to pass Mickey Mantle and take over sole possession of 12th place on the all-time home run list. The Reds defeated the Cubs 8-6. 4/29/06 Capping off a week in which he hit .452 with six runs, three home runs, four doubles and an astonishing 17 RBIs, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips is named the NL Player of the Week. 5/11/06 Ken Griffey Jr., in his return from a prolonged stint on the disabled list, hits a three-run walk-off home run to cap a four-run 11th inning, giving the Reds a 5-4 victory over the Nationals.