On a muggy, 80 degree Tuesday evening in June, Reds fan Michelle Miller couldn’t help but feel the nostalgia of Christmas morning.
“This is amazing for me, I am so excited, the atmosphere is phenomenal,” Miller said outside of Great American Ballpark. “It makes you feel like a little kid, that excitement like Christmas Day.”
It was Miller's first-ever ball game and it happened to fall on the Reds' latest attempt at an Opening Day celebration. It also was the first time a full-capacity crowd could attend this season as the Reds hosted the Milwaukee Brewers.
“For life to be getting back to normal and the world to actually be getting back to normal and for that to be something you can experience in this capacity is amazing,” Miller said.
But it wasn't Seth Miller's first ball game, and he stood beside Michelle echoing the youthfulness a baseball game brings back to him.
“It always brings back the childhood memories of being at the ball park,” Seth Miller said.
Lifelong Reds fan Kirsti Granecki was on vacation from Las Vegas on Tuesday and put Great American Ballpark on her agenda.
“I’m originally from Southern Indiana so I’m coming back to support the team with my best friend,” Granecki said. “It’s the first time I’ve been back since COVID…Super exciting and I want to catch a ball.”
Like Granecki, Jonathan McCollough and a friend had planned on coming to Tuesday's game before they knew it would be Re-Opening Day.
“It kind of worked out that it got rained out last time,” McCollough said. “I think that having it be the first day with a full crowd is definitely a little more exciting versus just any normal day.”
Businesses took advantage of the postponement too. The original June 2 Re-Opening Day was announced just six days in advance and some businesses struggled to rally in staff.
Owner of Fishbowl at the Banks Danny Scott said he was expecting an obvious increase in attendance on Re-Opening Day and he felt ready and excited to welcome the crowd.
“It gives us more time to ease into full capacity,” Scott said of the postponement. “There is a positive to it.”
For a while, it looked like the day might've escaped it's initial rainy forecast. Fans sat outdoors on Freedom Way in the Designated Outdoor Drinking Area, or Dora, District ahead of the games' first pitch.
Unlike the underwhelming crowds who came last week in the rain, Tuesday brought in a busier bunch for pregame festivities in the Banks.
But around 5:30 p.m. rain picked up around the ballpark and fans paraded their way indoors. The rain slowed before the 7:10 p.m. first pitch and the Reds got an on-time start to the matchup.
The stars aligned in many ways Tuesday. A free pass from rainy weather, a first-time ballgame attendee and fans in from out of town got to celebrate a full capacity game.
Jack Loom said he was excited for Tuesday's game specifically because of the momentum the team built up after sweeping the Cardinals on the road for the first time since 1990 last week.
“Everybody is just really excited because of that series against the Cardinals," Loom said. "Everyone’s talking about it, everyone was watching it and it’s definitely a good ending and so people are excited for this series."
Tuesday's game starts a three-game homestand against the Brewers for the Reds.
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