By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Reds have a homecoming today, playing 14 of their next 17 games at Great American Ball Park. It's a home Cincinnatians are increasingly cozying up to.

The ballpark's first half-season saw attendance rise more than 32 percent over the first half of last season, even as attendance throughout Major League Baseball is down 3 percent from the final 2002 average. As Great American gains renown as a hitter's haven - with the second-most home runs per game of any stadium this season - fans have found the park praiseworthy.

"I love the new stadium," says Donna Yarbrough, 46, of Roselawn. "There's nothing not to like."

The Reds' attendance average of 29,913 ranks 11th of the 30 major-league teams. That's decent for a city that's among the three smallest media markets in baseball, along with Milwaukee and Kansas City. Last year, the Reds averaged 22,590 fans before the All-Star break, finishing the season with a 23,197 average that ranked 21st in baseball.

The best news this season is that interest has warmed with the weather. After averaging 26,481 fans through 28 dates during a rainy spring, the Reds have drawn an average of 35,481 - including seven sellouts - in the 15 home games since. Among those was the first sellout of a weekday afternoon game since 1960.

The overall attendance is still modest, as the team had a season average of 31,819 as recently as 2000 and set a club record of 32,466 in 1976. Yet the jump looks better when considering the Reds have a worse record than at this point last summer.

"My perspective is, it's an outstanding facility," Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman says. "But the bottom line is what the fan thinks about it."

The Enquirer asked a dozen fans about their experiences, and all liked the ballpark.

Here's what they mentioned: How close the seats are to the field. The views. The scoreboard. The smokestacks. Wide concourses. Cup holders.

All good.

Here's what they're didn't discuss: Ticket prices. Parking concerns. Broadway Commons.

On those topics, no news is good news.

The buzz word? Friendly. As in fan-friendly.

"Everything is easy to find," says Connie Gabbard, 35, of Fort Thomas. "It's tons better than the old park."

Says Nelson Broadus, 43, of Golf Manor: "It's intimate. It's a true baseball field."

The park is designed to be cozy: Field-level boxes are only 47 feet from first and third base. The front row of the upper deck is 151 feet from third base, nearly 34 feet closer than at Cinergy Field.

Also, the right-field fence is just 325 feet from home plate, the shortest distance permissible by major-league standards; the left-field fence is 328 feet. That has helped Great American resemble a launching pad. The 123 homers are an average of 2.86 per game, ranking second only to Miller Park's 3.06.

Last year, Cinergy had the seventh-most homers, 2.43 per game.

Several pitchers insisted this mound was too low. But the mound was checked on six different occasions and each time met baseball's 10-inch height requirement.

"It's a lot more open ballpark (than Cinergy), and we think there are just more breezes carrying balls out," says groundskeeper Doug Gallant.

As Brennaman says, "You know the fans aren't going to be disappointed seeing home runs."

What else doesn't disappoint them? Having seen the game-day staff increase from 810 in Cinergy to 1,760 in Great American. Many of the additional personnel are there to help direct folks. For instance, fans tended to clog the main Crosley Terrance entrance early in the season, and the club has educated them on how to find other entrances.

There are 14 elevators, 13 more than at Cinergy. Handicap accessibility is improved. There are more restrooms and concession stands.

"We've gone to great strides to make sure the experience is all about the fans," says guest relations manager Holli Harrison.

The Reds also gave their employees guest-relations training in the off season.

"There are (employees) all the way from the curb to help you, and everyone is courteous," Yarbrough says.

Nationally, the park has a good reputation, said Brennaman, who talks to visiting broadcasters. Bill Verkuilen, who has reviewed every major-league stadium for the baseballparks.com Web site, graded Great American an "A" and ranks it "between No. 6 and 10" among his favorite parks.

"It's a beautiful park that embodies a lot of classic features, as well as plenty of modern touches, without getting excessively gimmicky," he says.

While Great American may lack a signature "gimmick," nearly every Cincinnati-specific nuance was noted and lauded by fans the Enquirer surveyed.

The 50-foot bas relief. The murals of the 1869 and 1975 Reds teams. The giant Pete Rose bat and on the back of the scoreboard. Joe Nuxhall's signoff line, "... rounding third and heading for home," on the park's exterior. The Crosley Field-style Sun/Moon Deck.

"At Cinergy Field, no one ever became emotionally involved with the building," says Jack Damon, 42, of Bright, Ind. "It was too sterile. Here, you walk in and have a sense of history."

Much of the new ballpark's charm is that it isn't Cinergy Field.

"It's a magnitude above (Cinergy)," says Charlie Ryder, 45, of Taylor Mill. "I despised the old one."

Among the few fan complaints are that the fireworks - which spew from the riverboat smokestacks - aren't as large or loud as those at the old stadium. The Reds say they can't shoot bigger ones from the smokestacks for safety reasons.

The other principal gripe is that banners for Reds championship teams aren't displayed on flags or the outfield wall, and that the Reds' retired jerseys from Cinergy have been replaced by jersey-less numbers.

"The ballpark is nice, but I was horribly disappointed about how the retired numbers look and that there's no banners," says Jim Farmer, 32, of Fort Thomas.

The greatest concern is whether the stadium's popularity will wane quickly if the Reds don't win. New ballparks in Milwaukee, Detroit and Pittsburgh each saw attendance fall more than 23 percent from the first season to the second as their teams struggled.

Ultimately, it's up to the Reds to start winning and keep winning.

"People are coming down to see the new toy," says Andrew Knapp, 35, of Western Hills. "But if the business sense of ownership doesn't get better, (demand) may not keep up."

E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com