Okay, here’s a quick review of my weekend with the family in Cincinnati.
The baseball was as bad as expected. The Reds were practically out of each game before they had a chance to bat. It was just ugly.
On Sunday, however, the Reds were awfully nice to us. Someone with the team saw my “Open Letter to Bob Castellini.” We were invited to hang out on the field prior to the game, and Karen Forgus, VP of Public Affairs for the Reds, gave us the grand tour. John Allen was very nice, and he spent quite a bit of time discussing the Reds with me on the field. We had a chance to visit the radio and television booths, and see some other things I hadn’t imagined we would get a chance to experience. At the end, Ms. Forgus presented my kids with a bag full of goodies.
I’m going to have much more on what was related to me by Mr. Allen and the Reds later, but the undercurrent was that the Reds are listening to what the fans think — they kept mentioning the “passion” of the Reds fans here at Redleg Nation and other Reds sites — and that Mr. Castellini does consider the current state of affairs to be unacceptable.
One of the other RN contributors, Chris, summed it up pretty well. What do they say about PR – it is “doing things right and then telling people about them?” This seemed to be the Reds’ goal — take a guy who’s questioning what’s going on, obviously speaking for at least the most devoted and vocal 1%, and show him that, while they haven’t yet fixed what’s wrong, they do care and they are trying.
Here are a few pictures:
This guy is huge when he’s standing near you.
The view from the Frontgate Outdoor Luxury Suite. That is the way to watch a game. One of these days, we’ll have a Redleg Nation gathering there.
More pictures here and more coming later….