The Winning Number

Day Air Ballpark completes my tour of all the Cincinnati Reds teams.

Day Air Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons, opened in 2000 as Fifth Third Field. It’s a big, spacious ballpark, like so many that were built around the same time. It has a large capacity for an A league team, more than 7,000 stadium seats and room for another thousand fans in general admission areas. The year the stadium opened, the full season was sold out before a single game was played. The team went on to set a number of attendance records, not just for baseball, but all professional sports.

Heater the Dragon greets fans at the gate. His friend Gem is in the background.

There was a big crowd on hand for the Dragons’ matchup with their cross-state rivals, the Lake County Captains, the High-A team of the Cleveland Indians. The two teams are neck-and-neck in the standings and trying to get a spot in the High-A Central post-season championship series. The loyal fans were rewarded with an exciting finish on Wednesday when James Free came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded in a game tied at 2-2.

A sundog peeks over the top of the crowded stadium. 

I usually root for the home team, but I try to get copies of the team rosters so I can stay more involved in the game. One thing I look for is a player who wears No. 28, which has somehow become my number whenever I buy a game-worn jersey. Half of the time, there is no 28 on the roster. The rest of the time, there’s a 50 percent chance that it’s a pitcher, and most of them spend the night in the bullpen. Some times a coach has the number, but a small fraction of the time I’ll find a position player wearing 28, and ever so rarely he’ll be in the starting lineup.

James Free comes to the plate.

At Day Air Park I circled the 28 next to James Free, who was batting third and playing first base. He went 0 for 4 in his first at bats, but his moment came after a single, a walk and a throwing error loaded the bases. The Captains outfield moved in, hoping to force an out at the plate. On the first pitch, Free swung, the ball took off, and it went over the head of right fielder for a base hit. Jonathan Willems scored easily from third and the celebration began.

Dragons in the outfield celebrating.

The win put the Dragons back in first place in the standings, at least for another day, and I got to cheer for another player wearing my number. Final: Dayton Dragons 3, Lake County 2.

Where there's dragons, there's fire.