If you live in Cincinnati it's hard to concentrate on much else- unless you had been living under a rock the last few days as the Magic Number slinked down to "Clinch." Last night around 10:20pm (or so) Reds Right Fielder Jay Bruce swung the bat on the first pitch of the bottom of the 9th and sent the ball over the Center Fielf Wall to the extreme delight of 30k+ fans at Great American Ballpark.
The win brought the Central Division Championship home to the Reds for the first time since 1995 and represents the return to prominence for this team for the first time since 1999! I was fortunate enough to have been there- front and center for the winning hit!- I'm a life long Reds fan (except for Monday when I was a sworn die hard Cardinals fan hoping that St. Louis would win and the Reds could clinch at home)- I could live to be a 1000 years old and I won't forget last night!
The best part of the game (aside from the Homerun) was that probably 20,000 fans were still in the ballpark an hour after the last run crossed the plate. One by one the Reds players trickled out of the locker room and interacted with the fans still in attendance. I could write an essay but I'll stop short by saying it was an incredible experience! From Drew Stubbs robbing the Astros of a Homerun earlier in the game to the crowd constantly on their feet every time Joey Votto or Scott Rolen came to the plate, to the thousands of flash bulbs going off when Aroldis Chapman pitched 100+ mph, oh- and Jay Bruce's homerun.... not sure what else to say!
If you weren't fortunate enough to get in on the Post Season tickets (which I believe have been sold out for some time)- you still have 5 games to go see this team play in person! This is a unique team that is fun to watch!
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