Cincinnati Reds looking to emerge from COVID-19 lockdown

The Cincinnati Reds are reportedly looking for a way to put actual fans back into the stands this season.

Here’s a question implied in a lot of MLB discussions: Which will be the first team to have actual fans back in their home stands instead of cardboard cutouts? Not that I want to see Bernie from that old comedy disappear from the stands, of course. (Was that Facebook post Photoshopped?)

Anyway, the possible answer to our question is the Cincinnati Reds. According to various sources Aug. 11, including local Cincy news outlets, both the city and Hamilton County have approved a Reds plan allowing twenty-percent occupancy of the Great American Ball Park, the Reds home venue. Fandom could happen in Ohio perhaps in September, or for the playoffs, assuming the Reds make them, naturally.

But not so fast, Bunky. While measures by Ohio officials and the citizens of Hamilton County have dropped the COVID new-infection rate in the Cincinnati area to a very acceptable level (if there is one), MLB and Governor Mike DeWine must also approve the Reds plan before any tickets are sold.

With a low infection rate in the Reds home county, assuming that doesn’t change, it’s hard to see why MLB would object to Cincinnati’s plan. Governor DeWine is a slightly different judge.

Somewhat independent, DeWine is a little unpredictable on this issue. A Republican, he has handled the safety of his citizens during the pandemic better than, well, some, but he has done things in recent months called “both popular and unpopular.”

One result is that Hamilton County had only 60 new COVID cases Aug. 9 among a population of over 817 thousand.

DeWine himself has tested both positive and negative for COVID almost immediately, which might suggest no one actually knows what he was during the period of those two tests, and the notion of uncertainty has surely occurred to the man.

Later this week Governor DeWine will apparently make an announcement about sports in general, including all athletes in Ohio from high school through MLB and other professionals.

The Cincinnati Reds, one of the smaller MLB-market teams despite being professional baseball’s oldest club, can only hope that their governor will OK taking in a little cash for live fans.

But that first bunch in the ballpark, if they get to come in this season, should get some really good giveaways, including a new mask.