Cinergy Field History "Cookie Cutters" Big Red Machine

Riverfront Stadium/ Cinergy Field

Description
Architect	Heery & Heery and Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild and Pashal
Location	Cincinnati, Ohio
First baseball game	June 30, 1970
Last baseball game	September 22, 2002
First football game	September 20, 1970
Last football game	December 12, 1999
Demolished	December 29, 2002
Capacity
Baseball 1970 to 2000	52,952
Football 1970 to 1999	59,754
Baseball only 2001 to 2002	40,008
Baseball dimensions 1970 to 2000
Left	330 ft	100.6 m
Left-center	375 ft	114.3 m
Center	404 ft	123.1 m
Right-center	375 ft	114.3 m
Right	330 ft	100.6 m
Backstop	51 ft	15.5 m
Baseball dimensions 2001 to 2002
Left	325 ft	99.1 m
Left-center	370 ft	112.8 m
Center	393 ft	119.8 m
Right-center	373 ft	113.7 m
Right	325 ft	99.1 m
Backstop	41 ft	12.5 m

Cingery Field formerly known as Riverfront Stadium ( 1970 - 2002) was the home of the Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League team. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of " The Big Red Machine," as the Reds were often called in the 1970s. Construction began on February 1February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 333 days remaining, (334 in leap years). Events 1662 The Chinese pirate Koxinga seizes the island of Taiwan after a nine-month siege. 1788 Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet pate, 1968Events Undated Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc. 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots. The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3. Nauru adopt his national anthem of the and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million. On July 14July 14 is the 195th day (196th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 170 days remaining. Events 1223 In France, Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II of France. 1789 French Revolution: Citizens of, Riverfront hosted the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe Major League Baseball All-Star Game is an annual exhibition baseball game between the best players from the National League and the American League. The All-Star Game usually occurs in mid-July and marks the middle of the Major League Baseball season..

In 19961996 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty''. Events January January 5 Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone Jan, the stadium was renamed "Cinergy Field" in a sponsorship deal with greater Cincinnati's power company, Cinergy Corporation .

1 History

1.1 "Cookie Cutters"

Riverfront was one of a number of multi-purpose, circular stadiums built in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in in the late 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around and early 1970s as communities sought to save money by having their footballThis article deals with the history and development of the different sports around the world known as "Football". For links to specific articles on each type of football, please see the list at the bottom of this article. Football is the name given to a n and baseball teams share the same facility. Riverfront, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia all opened within a few years and were largely indistinguishable from one another.

1.2 Big Red Machine

Riverfront Stadium quickly earned a place among its peers and in Cincinnati's century-long baseball tradition, however, as the home of one of the best teams in baseball history. The World Series had visited the Reds' previous home, Crosley Field, just once in its final thirty years, but it came to Riverfront in its first year (1970) and a total of four times in the stadium's first seven years, with the Reds winning back-to-back championships in 1975 and 1976.

Baseball purists disliked Riverfront's artificial turf, but Reds' Manager Sparky Anderson took advantage of it by encouraging speed and line drive hitting that could produce doubles, triples and high-bouncing infield hits. Players who combined power and speed like Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Ken Griffey, Sr. thrived there. On defense, the fast surface and virtually dirtless infield (see photo) rewarded range and quickness by both outfielders and infielders, like shortstop Dave Concepcion who used the turf to bounce many of his long throws to first.

Riverfront hosted its second MLB All-Star Game in 1988. It was also the site of the first two games of the 1990 World Series, both won by the Reds on the way to a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

1.3 Professional football

Despite Cincinnati's love of baseball, however, it was the prospect of a professional football team that finally moved the city to end twenty years of discussion and build a new stadium on the downtown riverfront. After playing for two seasons on the University of Cincinnati campus, the Bengals built on the Reds' success in the stadium's first year when they recorded their first winning season and first playoff appearance in 1970, just their third year of existence.

The most memorable football game at Riverfront was probably the American Football Conference Championship on January 10, 1982. The game became known as the "Freezer Bowl" and was won by the Bengals over the San Diego Chargers, 27-7. The air temperature during the game was -9 °F (-23 °C);, but the wind chill was -59 °F (-51 °C), the coldest in NFL history. The win earned the Bengals their first of two trips to the Super Bowl while playing at Riverfront.

1.4 Baseball-only

When the Bengals moved to Paul Brown Stadium in 2000, the Reds were left as Riverfront's only tenant. Prior to the 2001 baseball season, the stadium was remodeled into a baseball-only configuration. The centerfield stands were removed and the distance to the fences was shortened by five feet to allow room for the construction of Great American Ball Park, while the artificial surface was replaced with grass.

2 Milestones

2.1 Baseball

First stadium to have its entire field covered by AstroTurf, except for the cutouts around the bases and pitcher’s mound.
First Hit: Felix Millan , June 30, 1970.
First Home run: Hank Aaron, June 30, 1970.
First Presidential Visit: Richard Nixon, July 14, 1970.
First Upper deck Home run: Tony Perez, August 11, 1970.
First World Series game ever played on artificial turf: October 10, 1970.
First No-hitter: Ken Holtzman , June 3, 1971.
First Pitcher ever to pitch a No-hitter and hit two Home runs in the same game: Rick Wise , June 23, 1971.
Hank Aaron ties the all-time Home run record with number 714: April 4, 1974.
First stadium to display Metric distances on the outfield walls (100.58 meters down the lines, 114.30 to the alleys, 123.13 to center): 1976.
Highest season attendance, 2,629,708: 1976.
First Rain checks issued: August 30, 1978.
First player to Hit for the Cycle: Mike Easler , June 12, 1980.
Pete Rose breaks the all-time Hit record with number 4,192: September 11, 1985.
First player ever to be Caught stealing four times in one game: Robby Thompson , June 27, 1986.
First Perfect game: Tom Browning, September 16, 1988.
Longest Home run, 473': Mark McGwire, May 5, 2000.

2.2 Football

First Touchdown: Sam Wyche , September 20, 1970
First Field goal: Horst Muhlmann , September 20, 1970
Corey Dillon breaks the single-game rookie rushing record with 246 yards: December 4, 1997.

2.3 Concerts

The Eagles, August 16, 1978.
The Rolling Stones, September 14, 1989.
Paul McCartney, May 5, 1993.
Grover Washington , July 25, 1999.
George Strait, May 21, 2000.

3 References

Dittmar, Joseph J. (1997). Baseball Records Registry: The Best and Worst Single-Day Performances and the Stories Behind Them. McFarland & Company. BooksEnthsiast.com
Munsey & Suppes (1996-2004). Riverfront Stadium. Ballparks.
Smith, Ron (2000). Riverfront Stadium. The Ballpark Book. The Sporting News. BooksEnthsiast.com
Riverfront Stadium Opens. BaseballLibrary.com.

4 External links

A Farewell to Cinergy Field. MLB.com.
Cinergy Field: Kiss it Goodbye. Cincinnati.com.
Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field. Ballparks of Baseball.
Cinergy Field. BaseballLibrary.com.

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