GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Opening Day. It's always capitalized in Cincinnati.
Today the Reds shelve their off-field chaos. Baseball takes precedence over CEO Marge Schott's unresolved status with Major League Baseball, a budget cut yielding a $22 million no-name payroll and stadium negotiations.
The Reds even dropped a stunner on the last day of the off-season Monday, trading Dave Burba, their Opening Day pitcher, for first baseman Sean Casey, 23, Cleveland's Minor League Player of the Year.
Casey is to be in uniform today at Cinergy Field, when baseball finally takes over.
"It's like that old Ray Milland movie, It Happens Every Spring," said Reds Managing Executive John Allen. "It's a combination of nostalgia and anticipation for the upcoming season. This day belongs to the 30 guys in uniform. We like our players. They're young and enthusiastic. It's Opening Day. We're in first place."
Fans seem curious. The game is sold out, with 2,000 standing-room tickets at $7 each on sale at 10 a.m. at the west ticket area on the Cinergy plaza.
Tradition starts and rules the day, with the 79th Findlay Market Opening Day Parade at 11 a.m.
Although Mrs. Schott is suspended from running the Reds day to day, she is allowed to host today's festivities, which include a moment of silence for local police officers and firefighters killed since last season.
The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the mid-70s and thunderstorms developing in the afternoon.
