My observations from Cincy for the Opener

Wow, now that was fun. It was a six hour drive but overall it was worth it. I want to share a few things I noticed from this trip.

Great American Ballpark is a very nice and clean place to see a game. The site lines were all good, it was felt like a wide open stadium with some very nice views of the river from my seat. The people working were extremely friendly to someone wearing a Cardinal shirt and hat. Great place to see a game, just make sure you skip ordering a bratwurst. I am not too keen on a white brat.

Te pre-game in comparison to what I have seen in St Louis was weak. They had a very short parade downtown with people gathered at Findlay Market. No real hype or giveaways, just food lines. At game time they had the introductions of the players from both teams and a fly over by four jets. Weak sauce as far as I was concerned.

The game.

Reds fans were visibly excited that Aaron Harang struck out the first two batters to start the game. I would be too, he has lost 31 games in the last 2 years. then Albert went deep. Let me interject here that in batting practice the ball on many bats seemed to jump out of there. Albert is a man.

Rasmus looks so effortless right now in his swing. His looong home run was a thing of beauty. Then later he made a very nice home run robbing catch of Scott Rolen’s shot. Cards may go as Colby goes this year. If he is good or very good, the Cards are in for a treat.

David Freese is, in my opinion, not going to cut it defensively. He is going to cost us some games this year. His bat is sound, his defensive footwork is questionable.

Carpenter- He just battles. I have no concerns at this time about him.

Motte- Jason throws the same pitch at the same speed from the same arm angle. This is not going to cut the mustard for a full season. He throws 95-95 MPH but you know where it will be.

Holliday- How many sunflower seed packages will he go through this year? We sat in left field bleachers and he poured in his mouth almost every 2-3 pitches. Now if this is all I can find wrong with Matt, this is a good thing.

Franklin- i am worried. He doesn’t appear sharp and able to just get people out on a regular basis.

Overall, we looked good after one game. I have generated some excitement for the upcoming year. This should be fun.

Be Sociable, Share!