By John Fay and Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

View of Reds banners noting team highlights through the years at the Great American Ball Park. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

SARASOTA, Fla. - The opening of Great American Ball Park could be impacted by a war with Iraq.

Reds officials say they will follow whatever guidelines Commissioner Bud Selig sets for baseball during wartime.

Selig has been invited to attend ceremonies for the opening of the ballpark March 31.

"It's not confirmed yet," said Major League spokesman Rich Levin. "He's looking at it."

One person who will attend the opening is Sparky Anderson, the former Reds and Tigers manager - and Anderson says he thinks Pete Rose should also come.

"I think that would be very good," the 69-year-old Hall of Famer said Monday. "I don't know why he shouldn't be. He certainly was a big part of (Cincinnati)."

But as war with Iraq becomes increasingly likely, Selig is studying what steps baseball will take at home in the event of U.S. military action abroad.

"The commissioner is in contact with people in Washington," Levin said. "Whatever we do will be guided by world events."

The Reds are also preparing for that contingency.

"We've had some internal discussions about what we'd do," Reds chief operating officer John Allen said last week. "But we don't have a defined Plan B."

Allen said the Reds would formulate a plan once Major League Baseball sets a policy.

"We'll follow the lead of Major League Baseball," Allen said.

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E-mail jfay@enquirer.com; kkelly@eqnuirer.com