Riverfront Stadium

From SoSH

Contents 1 Stadium History 2 Big Red Machine 3 Professional Football 4 Baseball Only 5 Trivia 6 Field Dimensions 7 External Links

Stadium History

Riverfront was one of a number of multi-purpose, circular "cookie cutter" stadia 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 Stadium in Washington, D.C., Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia all opened within a few years and were largely indistinguishable from one another; in particular, it was often confused with fellow Ohio River cookie-cutter Three Rivers Stadium by sportscasters because of the two stadium's similar names and similar designs.

The site on which Riverfront 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 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 three times in its final 31 years, (1939, 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 first baseman 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. This was the first stadium in the majors with this "sliding pit" configuration. The new stadiums that would follow (Veterans Stadium, Royals Stadium, Kingdome, Metrodome, Skydome) would install sliding pits as the original layout, and the existing artificial turf fields in San Francisco, Houston, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis would change to the cut-out configuration in the early to mid-1970s.

Riverfront hosted the MLB All-Star Game twice. First in 1970 with President Richard Nixon in attendance, and again in 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.

Perhaps 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.

During the Bengals' tenure, they posted a 5-1 record in playoff games played in Riverfront Stadium, with victories over the Buffalo Bills (twice), San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Oilers. Their only home playoff loss came to the New York Jets.

Baseball Only

When the Bengals moved to Paul Brown Stadium in 2000, the Reds were left as Cinergy Field's only tenant. Prior to the 2001 baseball season, the stadium was remodeled into a baseball-only configuration, and the artificial surface was replaced with grass. To allow room for the construction of Great American Ball Park (which was being built largely over the grounds the stadium already sat on), a large section of the left and center field stands was removed and the distance to the fences was shortened by five feet. Consequently, in its last years, the stadium achieved an openness and a degree of aesthetic appeal that it had lacked for most of its existence. In the Reds' final two seasons in the stadium, ongoing construction on Great American was plainly visible just beyond the outfield walls while the team played their games.

Trivia

• First stadium to have its entire field covered by AstroTurf, except for the cutouts around the bases and pitcher’s mound.
• First World Series game ever played on artificial turf: October 10, 1970 (Reds vs. Baltimore Orioles).
• Hank Aaron ties the all-time home run record with number 714: April 4, 1974.
• Pete Rose breaks the all-time hit record with number 4,192: September 11, 1985.
• First perfect game: Tom Browning, September 16, 1988.
• Longest home run, 473': Mark McGwire, May 5, 2000.

Field Dimensions

Left Field	Left Center	Center Field	Right Center	Right Field
325'	370'	393'	373'	325'

External Links

• Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field