CINCINNATI – Fans of Major League Baseball received confirmation of the news they feared hearing over the last few weeks had come true – the start of the 2022 season will not take place on schedule. The delay is the result of a labor dispute between players and franchise owners.
What You Need To Know
- Due to a labor issue, Major League Baseball canceled Opening Day games set for March 31
- The moves calls into the question whether or not the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade will take place
- The event, which attracts tens of thousands of fans downtown each year, was canceled each of the last two seasons due to COVID-19
- Organizers said they have hope that they will be able to have a parade if the receive a big enough time window from MLB
In addition to canceling planned Opening Day events league-wide, MLB eliminated each franchise's first two series of the season that was set to begin March 31.
This move drops every team’s schedule from 162 games to likely 156 games at most, assuming the league and the players’ union can settle their agreement.
News of the postponement has upset and possibly angered baseball fans across the globe. But it hit particularly hard in Cincinnati, where Opening Day has become much more than a sporting event.
The beginning of each Cincinnati Reds season is an unofficial holiday in southwest Ohio and throughout the rest of so-called Reds Country. It’s not uncommon for many adults to call in sick to the office and kids play hooky from school so they can mark the occasion.
“I’m devastated,” said Debbie Gannaway, more popularly known as “Gramma Debbie.”
Gannaway is the owner of the eponymously named Gramma Debbie’s Kitchen at Findlay Market. She’s also a co-chair of the Opening Day Parade, which winds its way from the market in Over-the-Rhine through downtown and stops near Great American Ball Park along the riverfront.
First held in 1869, the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade is an important part of the festivities. The event is reminiscent of much larger parades in New York or Pasadena on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, respectively.
The parade draws thousands of people, and kicks off a day of eating, drinking and baseball.
“If you look up and down the parade route, you’ll see people of every socio-economic status, every race, every ethnic basic, every age group,” Gannaway said. “It’s really about our city coming together, cheering, celebrating and having a good time together.”
Fans were disappointed when the parade was canceled for the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hopes were high that 101st Findlay Market Opening Day Parade would take place later this month, but Tuesday’s news cast doubt on if, and when, it will happen.
“We are just hopeful they resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” said Jim Moehring, owner of Holy Grail Tavern and Grille The Banks.
The parade usually starts around 10 a.m. at the market and wraps up around 1 p.m. just outside Great American Ball Park. People line up hours before, however, and can be found lingering around downtown long after the final out of the game is called.
Moehring said Opening Day is always the “biggest and busiest day every year” for his business – made even more impressive by the fact it usually takes place during the middle of the traditional workweek.
Holy Grail is located just outside the ballpark. It’s one of more than a dozen bars and restaurants lining the acres-wide Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) at The Banks, which serves as the site of many pre- and post-game parties every Opening Day.
“Not having a Cincinnati-style Opening Day for three years just doesn’t seem right, ‘’ Moehring said. “We are hopeful that we will get to enjoy it soon.”
Despite likely challenges, Gannaway remains cautiously optimistic about the potential for a parade this year. The decision will come down to when a new Opening Day will occur and how much advance notice they’ll get.
“It’s still up in the air,” she said. “Until we have an official date, I don’t think we’re going to make up our minds about anything.”
Gannaway said the “promising news” from her perspective is that baseball will need some time – possibly several weeks – to get the season started. There will probably be an exhibition season or training camp before the official season gets underway and there will be other day-to-day operations, such as staffing and supplies to consider.
Spring training games were to have begun Saturday, but baseball’s ninth work stoppage, and first since 1995, already has led to exhibitions being canceled through March 7.
It’s not just the MLB that will need time to prepare. The parade’s organization committee – made up of four volunteers – spends months planning its logistics. There are promotions to consider and scheduling special guests such as the grand marshal.
The typical parade includes about 175 parade slots consisting of performers, politicians, local celebrities and nonprofit organizations – all of which have parade-worthy floats, props and banners they need to assemble.
Permits from the city can take as long as 30 days to get. But Gannaway is hopeful the city would quicken the process, if necessary.
“We can definitely do it in a month, for sure. We can probably do it in three weeks. Heck, we might even be able to squeeze out a pretty sweet parade in two weeks, if it comes down to it,” Gannaway said. “But it all depends on what that date becomes.”
A few decades ago, when people said they wanted to be in the parade, they were basically told to “just show up,” Gannaway said. Since the parade’s expansion, participants have to show up at a certain time and are given a specific space to line up. Essentially the entire area around the market is blocked off.
Depending on how long the baseball lockout lasts, it could affect the ability to assemble marching bands and students who often play a major role in the parade.
The last parade that was planned – but was canceled due to COVID-19 – would have included more than 20 high school marching bands and four college marching bands. Thirty bands were slated to perform this year.
“If this thing gets shoved to the point where it’s after the school year and schools are out, we’re really going to struggle with getting a marching band put together,” she said.
Kelly Lanser, communications director for Findlay Market, said the volunteers who put on the parade have every intent on continuing the tradition and putting forth the best parade possible for the city.
“We are hopeful that we can have the Findlay Market Parade this year,” she said. “We miss the parade and want it to come back as much as anyone else’s in town. We miss the hustle and bustle leading up to it and all the smiles as the parade marches south.”
She said once a date is decided, they’ll have to look at a few factors. First is the time of year of the opener, and the second is whether it will be a home or away game.
If the parade is deemed doable, applications for the parade will likely reopen for a short time to fill any spaces left vacant because of participants not being about to march on the later date.
“I would say that we are learning about MLB negotiations at the same time as the rest of the world, but when we get the green light we are ready to make it happen if we can,” said Lanser.
Gannaway just wants to get things underway.
“As a grandma, I want to take those boys and put them in a room and lock them in there and tell them don’t come out until you fix this,” she said.