Parking on the 3rd level in a public garage immediately across the street from the Cincinnati Convention Center, host site of RedsFest, we discovered that the SkyWalk connecting garage to convention center was closed for renovation. The elevator in the parking garage is notoriously slow, rickety, freezing cold, claustrophobic and has an appearance of being 1950's Soviet-grade stock.
We opted for the stairs.
On our way to the stairwell I observed a handwritten note taped to a wall directing patrons, with an accompanying arrow, to use an elevator in the neighboring hotel. A handwritten note taped to a wall in a parking garage? Yes, that looks legit! Of course we followed the arrow. Through a door, around a corner and in fewer than 20 paces we were riding in a warm and spacious elevator with a parquet floor, clean surfaces, a modern interface and rocking 1980's tunes. Score!
Disgorged from the hotel's lobby and onto the mean streets of downtown Cincinnati, we hurried along the sidewalk towards the convention center. Alongside the crosswalk on 5th Street, painted on the roadway directly next to a manhole cover, was a mysterious bright yellow symbol:
A robot with lightning bolt arms, with one arm pointing at the sewer cover, could only mean one thing; I had discovered the secret lair where the robot army was staging for their coming take-over of Earth! Consider yourself fore-warned. Now, go about your business as usual. For now.....
Stop me if you've heard this one before, but I went to RedsFest and a Cincinnati Ballet performance of the Nutcracker broke out!
It was very well received by the Reds faithful.
Unquestionably, the star of RedsFest this year was the 18-year old prospect Hunter Greene. Hunter Greene was selected by the Cincinnati Reds with the 2nd overall pick in last year's June amateur draft. Young Mr Greene surged to national prominence while in high school in California as a sort of Ruthian player; a very good pitcher and slugger. While the Reds let him get several at-bats as a DH in his limited Rookie League action last summer, the Reds are having Hunter focus on pitching. For now.....
Not pictured here was the Cincinnati Coliseum Who Stampede that suddenly materialized when Hunter Greene was announced for an autograph signing Saturday afternoon. There I was with my youngest niece, one moment standing in a courteous line, and in the next instant an avalanche of sweaty, pushy, frothing-at-the-mouth humanity collapsed upon us from all directions including, I think, from the ceiling. Barricades were knocked over. Volunteer staff were trampled. A chair was hastily
I suspect that the reaction was in part a result of the Reds having given season ticket members a big ol' FU by not making available to us Joey Votto for autographs.
Pro tip for next year's RedsFest event planners; For autographs, make available to season ticket members the team's [only] star.
Prior to the doors opening, on Friday afternoon, we three had arranged the most ingenious, devious plot to scatter the big crowds, melt away any long lines which might have conspired to monkey wrench our objectives (read; obtain autographs). And by we three, I mean to say it was fully my idea but that it was heartily agreed to by Lou and my niece. To understand and appreciate my evil plan, you first must know that RedsFest occupies all three levels of the Convention Center. On the second level is a room occupied each year by the Cincinnati Zoo wherein they have critter wranglers (or whatever they're called) wrangling live critters from the zoo. My evil plan was to say to Lou and my niece, whenever we needed the crowd to disperse, "I heard Fiona is upstairs." The fanaticism with Fiona is such that it was sure to vaporize the public in an instant. Alas, my delivery of this secret phrase must have required more work as it failed to take the intended effect.
I'm happy to report that me and my niece both survived the RedsFest Saturday Afternoon Hunter Greene Stampede. Here's my niece getting her Hunter Greene autograph:
Hunter was friendly and he personalized each and every autograph all weekend long. That bogged down the assembly line nature of autograph lines. It was a nice gesture on his part, and appreciated by
Lurking in the background of the above photo was the father of Hunter Greene, umm..... uhh.... Mr. Greene. Wherever Hunter went that weekend, his father was sure to follow. Mr Greene seemed nice and not at all intimidating. For now.....
On Friday, Hunter Greene's extended mix of personalized autographs rolled over into the allotted time for last year's top draft pick, Nick Senzel:
It was thrilling to see the Reds two top prospects together at such an early stage in their respective professional careers. I fired off a blizzard of photographs but, evidently, was too giddy to get a good photo with sharp focus. This was about the best I could manage.
My niece most liked the photo below of Hunter Greene:
We call this "The Are You Kidding Me?!" photo. Gramps must've asked for Hunter to personalize the autograph To Sinterklaas or something.
I didn't have any thanks-for-nothing-you-ingrateful-jerk experiences with any players at this RedsFest as I have had at past Reds-hosted events (I'm looking at you, Yorman Rodriguez [RedsFest 2015]). Being just half-way decent goes a long way with the faithful. The "Best Human of RedsFest 2017 Award" goes to Reds minor league outfielder Taylor Trammell. Here he was taking the time to talk with and shake the hand of a fan afflicted with disabilities:
When Taylor takes Billy Hamilton's center field job for 2019, make young Mr Trammell one of your favorite players.
Taylor looked each fan in the eye, gave everyone a warm smile, and engaged in friendly conversation.
Here was Mr Heavy Artillery (above), in line for Taylor Trammell's autograph. I was sitting on a bucket of baseballs, if you were wondering. People who stand throughout RedsFest need to have their head's examined. After suffering in recent years with the RedsFest grind, Lou got me this awesome Rawlings/MLB-branded bucket with a sweet protective outer cover complete with pockets and pouches. We packed the bucket with donuts. After lugging it around all day Friday and Saturday, my niece volunteered to carry it late in the afternoon on Saturday. My family is very good to me!
Speaking of which, here is Lou and my youngest niece also in line for Taylor Trammell.
Roll the credits!
