Cinergy Field

Riverfront Stadium/ Cinergy Field
Description
Architect	Heery & Heery and FABRAP
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

Cinergy 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 1, 1968 and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million. On July 14, Riverfront hosted the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

In 1996, the stadium was renamed "Cinergy Field" in a sponsorship deal with Greater Cincinnati's power company, Cinergy Corporation. It was demolished by implosion in December 2002.

History

"Cookie Cutters"

Riverfront was one of a number of multi-purpose, circular stadiums built in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s as communities sought to save money by having their football and baseball teams share the same facility. Riverfront, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Shea Stadium in New York, RFK in Washington, The Astrodome in Houston, Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia all opened within a few years and were largely indistinguishable from one another.

The site on which the stadium sat originally contained the birthplace and boyhood home of cowboy singer and actor Roy Rogers.

Big Red Machine

Riverfront Stadium quickly earned a place among its peers and in Cincinnati's century-long baseball tradition as the home of one of the best teams in baseball history. The World Series had visited the Reds' previous home, Crosley Field, just twice in its final thirty years, (1940-1961) 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. The World Series would return in 1990, with Cincinnati winning the first two of a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics at Riverfront.

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 Concepción who used the turf to bounce many of his long throws to first. Catcher Johnny Bench and outfielder Tony Perez also played here. The artificial turf covered not only the normal grass area of the ballpark but also what is usually the "skinned" portion of the infield. Only the pitcher's mound, the home plate area, and cutouts around first, second and third bases had dirt surfaces.

Riverfront hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 1970 (then-President Richard Nixon was in attendance) and 1988.

Professional football

Despite Cincinnati's love of baseball, 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 at the University of Cincinnati Nipert Stadium on 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 the AFC 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) and 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.

Riverfront Stadium also hosted the 1988 AFC Championship, as the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills 21-10 to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance.

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. A large slice of the left and center field stands was 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. Thus, during its last couple of seasons, the stadium achieved an openness and a degree of aesthetic appeal that it had lacked for most of its existence.

Milestones

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.

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.

Concerts

References

Dittmar, Joseph J. (1997). Baseball Records Registry: The Best and Worst Single-Day Performances and the Stories Behind Them. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786402938
Munsey & Suppes (1996-2004). Riverfront Stadium. Ballparks.
Smith, Ron (2000). Riverfront Stadium. The Ballpark Book. The Sporting News. ISBN 0892047038
Riverfront Stadium Opens. BaseballLibrary.com.

External links

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

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