Who’d have thought it’d be hard scalping two tickets for two losing baseball clubs this Wednesday evening, June ’04. The Pittsburgh Pirates, a last place team, was in town to play the lowly Reds, but kid’s summer camps had scarfed up most of the tix. Anyway, my wife and I got in, watched a no-hitter through six innings, then had the fireworks go off over our heads as one of the home team’s players crushed a grand slam.
After Reds game at new Great America Ballpark, hit downtown Cincy’s ROCK BOTTOM BREWERY for good pub food and bland suds. Soapy wheat-husked, lemon-lined Cincinnati Light Lager and dry lemon-dropped, grapefruit-juiced light body White Tiger Wheat suit session beer regulars only. Spice-hopped, malt-fruited Crosley Field Pale Ale, tealeaf-flaked, tobacco-dried, wheat-backed Tall Stacks Ale, and mildly spice-hopped, dark chocolate-y, walnut-sharp Brown Bear Brown Ale were perfunctory. Perfume-hopped, whiskey-tinged, mocha-resinous Dry Irish Stout was stylistically off-center.