By Kevin Kelly
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Little has gone according to plan so far for the Reds and Great American Ball Park.

Without its star power in Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin - both of whom are out of the lineup with injuries suffered in the season's first days - Cincinnati is tied for last in the National League with an 8-14 record and ranks in the middle of the league's attendance figures even after its extra-inning win against the Dodgers on Thursday.

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Comparing how baseball teams have started seasons at new stadiums

For Reds general manager Jim Bowden, the list of setbacks during the first month of the season is as long as it is frustrating.

"Everything kind of snowballed from that Opening Day sellout loss (March 31)," he said. "Now you have a very unfortunate situation to start the new era of a ballpark."

Cincinnati is the 14th Major League Baseball team to open a new stadium since 1992.

The Reds' 8-14 overall record and 5-7 home record is the third-worst among those teams. While the other 13 teams drew an average attendance above 30,000 per game, the Reds have averaged 26,578 through their first 12 home games.

Though Cincinnati has played better in recent days despite injuries to key players such as Griffey, Larkin and Opening Day starting pitcher Jimmy Haynes and poor performances from others now in the minors, the fact remains they stumbled at a most inopportune time.

"I think our job is to get this team righted," manager Bob Boone said Wednesday. "I don't know how good we are, but I know we're a lot better than (our record)."

Cincinnati ranked 15th or 16th in the National League in batting, pitching and fielding.

"We started 1-8 in 1995 and went on to win the division title," Bowden said. "Last year we all know Anaheim started with the exact record we had after 20 games (6-14), and they went on to win the world championship.

"The start is not how your team is going to play over 162 games."

It is not unprecedented for a team playing its first season at a new stadium to start slowly.

The 2001 Pirates lost 100 games during their inaugural season at PNC Park while the Brewers lost 200 games in their first two seasons at Miller Park.

Only two teams since 1992 - the 1997 Braves and 2000 Giants - have won division titles in their first season playing at a new home ballpark.

"Fans have been pretty well exposed to a wide variety of things that can happen for clubs that move into new ballparks," said Major League Baseball vice president John McHale Jr., who was the president and chief executive officer of the Tigers when they opened Comerica Park in 2000.

"Some teams thrive on the field and off. Others struggle or don't do quite as well as everybody would hope."

The 2001 Pirates were decimated by injuries to key players as they moved into PNC Park.

Cam Bonifay, the team's general manager at the time, assembled a patchwork starting rotation for the first month of the season after Kris Benson, Francisco Cordova and Jason Schmidt suffered injuries.

"We didn't know how our club would perform," said Bonifay, now the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' director of player development and scouting.

"We were very positive going into the year, thinking a new ballpark and the excitement of it would be beneficial to the club."

The Pirates won only 62 games that season.

"It wasn't a great feeling," Bonifay said. "It wasn't an easy thing to go through. We did the best we could do with where we were at the time."

As the Reds did through drafts, trades and free agent acquisitions, the Tigers spent time and money planning for the opening of Comerica Park in 2000.

Detroit won five of its first 20 games, resisted the urge to make drastic changes and finished third in the American League Central with a 79-83 record.

"Knee-jerk reactions in baseball are almost always wrong," McHale said. "It would especially be the case in (Cincinnati) for people not to get too upset or too excited at the first month or six weeks or even two months of the season."

Reds officials obviously hoped a new ballpark would mean big crowds, more revenue and an opportunity to increase player payroll.

As the Tigers, Pirates and particularly the Brewers have learned, prolonged losing adversely affects attendance, which can then affect payroll.

The attendance drop-off at Comerica Park in 2001 from its inaugural season was more than 517,000.

At PNC Park in Pittsburgh, attendance dropped 679,882 from 2001 to last season.

At Miller Park in Milwaukee, attendance was down 841,888 last season.

"When you're not successful right away, it's frustrating," McHale said. "But the new park can also provide you with a little bit of margin because you still have something to interest people and something to entertain people even if you're not winning as frequently as you'd like."

More than 40 percent of the Reds' total revenues come from season and walk-up ticket sales.

A percentage of that revenue is then applied toward payroll, which stood at $58-million on Opening Day.

"Obviously that's a big piece," Bowden said.

Through their first 12 home games, the Reds were on pace to draw 2,152,784 for this season. Tuesday's (19,029) and Wednesday's crowds (21,402) have been the smallest at Great American Ball Park.

Cincinnati's average attendance ranked 14th overall and ninth in the National League entering Thursday, ahead of Houston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, who all play in stadiums opened within the past decade.

"We need to play better," Bowden said, "and when we play better I think the attendance will get better."

Attendance at Great American Ball Park is expected to climb as the season progresses, temperatures warm, schools let out and players heal.

Games against the Marlins on May 24 and a three-game series against the Yankees from June 3-5 are already sold out.

McHale, however, cautions against relying solely on the allure of a new ballpark.

"If you're planning on using the park as a substitute for good baseball for more than a year," McHale said, "in a sophisticated market like Cincinnati, you're probably underestimating your fans."

Through the gloom and doom of the first month, Bowden does sees light and an improved on-field product as the season wears on.

Larkin is eligible to come off the disabled list this weekend. Griffey could return from his dislocated shoulder by the end of May. Haynes, who lost his first four starts in part to a sore back, will return soon. And Russell Branyan, now at Triple-A Louisville rehabbing an injured shoulder, will be added to the infield mix.

"As long as you can stay within striking distance," Bowden said, "if you can stay close, that obviously gives you a sense of optimism."

E-mail kkelly@enquirer.com