The Baseball-First Charm of Great American Ball Park
As one of our IBWAA directors saw it, on Elly De La Cruz Bobblehead Day.
Pregame Pepper: Bobble, Bobble, Toil, and Trobble (er, Trouble) Dept.
A Brief Lineup of Bobblehead Day/Night Hits and Misses
. . . 12 June 2013: For It’s One, Two, Three, Four Outs, You’re Out—Braves reliever Craig Kimbrel’s bobblehead night featured a twist—the righthander got three strikeouts and four outs in the ninth. Say what? Say—his catcher Brian McCann dropped a third strike, enabling batter Nick Swisher to take first base, and Kimbrel had to strike Russell Martin out to end the inning. (The Braves went on to lose the game, alas.)
. . . 3 June 2017: Steal His Thunder, Why Don’t You?—Marlins pitcher Edinson Vólquez, 2017, pitching that season’s first no-hitter—on his teammate’s bobblehead night. (For the record: it was Giancarlo Stanton Bobblehead Night.)
. . . 19 May 2021: This is the Thanks They Get—Yankee pitcher Corey Kluber pitched a no-hitter on bobblehead night. The Rangers may not have been all that amused—they were honouring him and others in a “mystery” bobblehead promotion that night! (The further oddity: it was the first no-hitter pitched by any Yankee in the 21st century.)
. . . 13 May 2023: The Force Was With Him—Yankee first baseman Anthony Rizzo got a bobblehead night which featured his figurine dressed as a Star Wars Mandalorian. How did he say thanks? Easy—he hit two homers against the Rays, one of which tied the game and one of which put the Yankees ahead, in a game the Yankees ultimately won.
. . . 20 April 2024: Kayakety-Yak—Giants catcher Patrick Bailey made his second career bobblehead night a smash hit—he had a 4-for-4 day at the plate, including a long home run that sailed into McCovey Cove. So why didn’t it count as one of Oracle Park’s fabled splash hits? Easy: Bailey’s bomb landed inside a kayak.
. . . 16 May 2024: Having an Obvious Off Night—It’s the only one of four Shohei Ohtani bobblehead nights during which Ohtani has failed to hit at least one home run. But his fourth bobblehead night (and second of 2025) saw Ohtani hit a three-run homer in the third inning and a two-run bomb in the fourth, en route a 19-2 Dodger burial of the Las Vegas Athletics of Oakland via Sacramento.
. . . 2 April 2025: Walk Off This Way—The Dodgers also gave Ohtani a bobblehead night—and Ohtani thanked them by hitting the walkoff home run.
. . . A Tale of Two Bobblehead Seasons—Google AI notes that, for 2019 and 2021, batters produced an overall slash line of .265/.352/.480 on their bobblehead days and nights, with a combined .832 OPS. Those were slightly above the overall normal league averages those two seasons.
Leading Off
The Ninth Ballpark was a Charm
One of our co-directors catches a game in Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.
By Elizabeth Muratore
Starting in 2024, I set a goal to visit two new ballparks every year. If you count spring training and minor league parks, I’ve already blown past that in 2025 by attending Cactus League spring training for the first time, which included games at the Cubs’ Sloan Park and the Giants’ Scottsdale Stadium.
But my main park-visiting efforts are centered on MLB stadiums, and less than halfway through the 2025 season I have checked off a new major league ballpark with my first trip to Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.
My stop was a weekend getaway to visit a college friend who roots mainly for the Guardians but has adopted the Reds since moving to Cincinnati. We originally bonded partly due to our mutual love of baseball—I remember watching the end of an 18-inning Mets game on our phones while at a party—and this was our first time attending a baseball game together.
Great American Ball Park sits on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, straddling the border of Ohio and Kentucky. I was not aware until we arrived downtown that afternoon just how many bridges there are connecting the two states.*
We decided to kill some time by walking across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge—at one point the world’s longest suspension bridge, and a Brooklyn Bridge prototype—from the edge of Cincinnati to Covington, Kentucky, and back again before strolling along the river towards the ballpark.
It was Elly De La Cruz bobblehead day, and though neither of us are diehard Reds fans, we wanted to ensure that we got the bobblehead. Gates for the 6:40 pm game opened at 5:10, and we lined up just before 4:30. By that time, there were lines streaming from the gates down the block, but compared to the thousands of people that filled in behind us, we were in a good spot.
While waiting to get in, we had an interesting interaction with a fan behind us who was infielder Matt Carpenter’s cousin. How did we find this out, you ask? He told us! We got to chatting, and when I said I was from New York, he said his cousin Matt Carpenter played in New York for the Yankees, and he hits Carpenter up for memorabilia.** The fan also said Carpenter “has a lot more time on his hands now that he’s retired” to fulfill these requests.
I’m normally skeptical of fans claiming celebrity relations, but he seemed legit. Now someone needs to corroborate the story with Matt Carpenter.
When we made it inside, bobbleheads secured, I took in the scenery. It was not lost on me that the Reds are MLB’s oldest franchise, and their stadium reflects their dedication to celebrating their long history in the league. There’s no mistaking that you’re in Cincy baseball central inside GABP—statues, busts and murals of Reds legends abound everywhere you look. A band played on a concourse pregame, which added to the upbeat ambiance. The weather was 65 degrees and sunny, perfect for a ballgame.
Our seats were second from the last row in the upper deck, directly behind home plate. From there, we could see the entire field, the Ohio River and the multitude of bridges spread across our field of view, along with an elaborate riverboat docked just across the water. The stadium itself incorporates riverboats into its architecture, with a fun sculpture/fixture right behind the batter’s eye in center field.
The game atmosphere was extremely refreshing. I don’t enjoy the recent trend of baseball stadiums blasting music to ear-splitting decibel levels and playing sound prompts in between every single pitch. Whoever runs the sound at GABP understands that people at a baseball game want to take in not only the sights, but also the sounds of the game, which includes being able to hear ourselves think and listen to the hum of the crowd around us.
Speaking of the crowd, this was one of the most respectful baseball crowds I’ve been around in a long time. There was decidedly less “up and down” among the fans than at other games I’ve attended recently. Everyone mostly stayed in their seats and was paying attention to the action on the field—I didn’t overhear much non-baseball chatter.
Fans were there to actually watch the game!
This was in stark contrast to my experience at Petco Park last year, when the vibe was much more “groups of friends there to hang out and chat with a baseball game on in the background.” It made sense for a beautiful day in San Diego, but if I’m watching a game in person, I prefer the GABP atmosphere.
Oh right, the game! On Elly De La Cruz’s bobblehead day, the main attraction was, fittingly, De La Cruz. I could tell how beloved he was by the roaring ovation he got whenever he came up to the plate. And he gave the adoring fans what they were waiting for in the third inning, when with two outs, the bases loaded and a 3-2 count, he smacked a grand slam to left-center field. The entire crowd went nuts, including my friend and I.
That night, I also got to see Andrew Abbott—who, like me, attended UVA—get the win for the Reds. They beat the Pirates, 5-2, with Elly’s grand slam supplying their offensive juice.
Of the ballparks I’ve visited, I’d put GABP up there with Camden Yards as one of my favorites. (Citi Field, for this New York-based Mets fan, ranks number one.) It’s got old-timey baseball charm, and the in-game fan experience is very baseball-focused with few distracting bells and whistles. The food options were limited (though the pizza I got was surprisingly good), but that’s reflective of the stadium’s clear commitment to maintaining a quaint retro baseball environment.
If you have an opportunity to see a Reds game in Cincinnati, absolutely do so.
Elizabeth Muratore, a former HtP editor, is now a co-director of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. You can reach her at nymfan97@gmail.com.
* — She ain’t just whistling tea kettle. Five bridges connect downtown Cincinnati to northern Kentucky. Twenty-one, including one named for rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins, connect Ohio and Kentucky total.—Ed.
** — Matt Carpenter spent eleven years with the Cardinals, for whom he was a three-time All-Star and led the National League in doubles twice. (2013, 2015.) He also played for the Yankees (2022), the Padres (2023), and the Cardinals again (2024), before announcing his retirement in May 2025.—Ed.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Have passed by it 20 times but sadly haven't yet gotten to GAB. Citi Field is great but has to bve what you meant by overly noisy music between innings.
I love this park. Used to volunteer at the museum and help give group tours of GABP. Like everyone's favorite park, on the right day, it is full of memories waiting for us to take home.