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CINCINNATI — You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger Cincinnati Reds fan than Barry Million.

Despite living more than an hour from Cincinnati, the 75-year-old estimates he’s attended about 80 games over the decades — first at Crosley Field, then Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field and now at Great American Ball Park, which he called the “gem of them all.”

But in all those years, he’d never got to attend an Opening Day game. That changed Thursday afternoon when he watched the Reds take on the Pittsburgh Pirates sitting next to his daughter, Lisa Moloney.

They weren’t alone. His grandson stopped by his house in Maysville, Ky., on Wednesday to share that he and his wife would also be at the game.

“It was incredible,” Million said of the pageantry and build-up to the Reds home opener.

The singing of the National Anthem felt more special than usual, he said. Million mentioned the pre-game flyover by two F-16 sets and seeing a massive 300-foot by 150-foot American flag unfurled across the field as Marlana VanHoose belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

He loved watching former third baseman Todd Frazier deliver the ceremonial first pitch.

“The energy is just a 10 out of 10,” he said shortly after walking into the packed stadium. “It’s elbow-to-elbow in here, and even better than I could have imagined.”

Million has often driven the 62 miles from his home to visit family in Northern Kentucky or catch a Reds game. But whether it was scheduling or work or the availability of the tickets, he had never taken part in any of the hoopla surrounding Opening Day.

The baseball gods smiled down on him a couple of weeks ago when a church buddy of his, Kenny Sapp, 82, got a pair of tickets to the game.

Sapp got to experience Opening Day a few years back with his granddaughter, Million said. He ended up inviting Million so he could experience it for himself.

However, Sapp had to cancel his plans to attend at the last minute. He gave the ticket to Lisa so she could go with her dad. The two have watched countless games together for the past four decades.

“This is such a special day for him,” Lisa said, “and getting to be with him during it is a memory I’ll cherish forever.”

A Reds fan from Day 1

Like so many kids, Million’s love of baseball got passed down to him by his grandfather, Lee Rigdon.

A Kentucky native, Rigdon got to travel a lot in his life, Million said, leading him to cities and ballparks all over the country. He even got to see Babe Ruth play.

“To hear his stories about the players he saw and the stadiums, it was just awesome,” Million said.

Despite seeing some starts of baseball’s early era play, Rigdon was a diehard fan of the Red Stockings. So much so got him in hot water with his wife on more than a few occasions, Million said.

“I can still see my grandfather with little transistor radio up to his ear and my grandmother yelling, ‘Lee, get off the radio! We have company,’” Million said with a laugh. “He was just glued to it.”

Rigdon took Million to his first Reds game in 1958 at Crosley Field. Million saw his favorite player, Johnny Temple, who he described as the “little second baseman” on the team.

“The Reds had Frank Robinson, Ted Kluszewski and Wally Post. They were enormous stars back then,” he said. “[Temple] wasn’t a star, but he was the glue that kept them together.”

Following baseball wasn’t easy back then, Million said. There weren’t a lot of games on television. He relied on newspaper stories, box scores and lots of radio broadcasts featuring the likes of Waite Hoyt. Later in life, he enjoyed the sweet, familiar sounds of Joe Nuxhall and Marty Brennaman calling games.

Barry Million believes Great American Ball Park is the best stadium in Cincinnati Reds history. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)

Nowadays, he’s regularly on his iPad checking scores and reading stories online. He devours all the Reds-related programming he can find on TV. Every year, for Christmas and his birth, Million’s family gets him something baseball-centric, usually about the Reds’ history or one of the team’s players.

One of his granddaughters, Haley Moloney, called him a “baseball encyclopedia.” She said she wouldn’t be surprised if her grandfather tried to strike up a conversation about the goings-on of the game with any random person sitting around him.

“He will talk to anyone, but specifically about baseball,” she said. “He could recite you pretty much any baseball statistic, home run count, any player from any team, whether it’s like the Big Red Machine or any of the other iconic years.”

While books and TV broadcasts are great, “there’s nothing like being at the ballpark,” Million said.

“I loved Riverfront and Crosley, but I walked into Great American Ball Park and said, ‘Now this is baseball,’” Million said.

He attended his first game at the club’s then-new park in 2004, a little more than a year after it opened. A few years ago, Haley, who lives in Northern Kentucky, got free tickets for getting straight A’s in high school. She, of course, took her grandpa.

As luck would have it, the pair got selected to appear on the massive video board over the leftfield stands and to participate in a contest to win a gift card to a local restaurant. 

“I told her, ‘Wait a minute! We don’t even know what they want to make us do. They could have us acting like fools,’” he said with a smile. 

Ultimately, he did it to please his granddaughter.

“We ended up winning the gift card,” he said.

A lot of games, but none like Opening Day

Million attended many games in the 1960s and 1970s to watch the famed Big Red Machine. After he retired in 2009, Million said the number of games jumped to five or six games a season.

Then the pandemic hit.

“That was crushing,” he said. “Didn’t get to go to many games for a while, and I really missed it.”

The biggest game, though, took place in 2010. Million’s son, daughter and other family members were in the stands with him to watch Jay Bruce slug a walk-off home run to clinch the NL Central for the Reds, giving the team their first trip to the postseason in 15 years.

Million described it as being “wild and crazy,” after the homer. “There were high-fives and hugs from total strangers,” he added.

Barry Million poses for photos with family members outside Great American Ball Park. Million has been to dozens of Reds games during his life. (Photo courtesy of Barry Million)

The best part for Haley was seeing her grandfather’s reaction to his beloved team making the playoffs.

“Nobody was more excited than him,” she said. “It’s something I’ll never forget, and I know he won’t either.”

Million described that 2010 contest as the most excited he’s ever been at a baseball game. His daughter, Lisa, told him Opening Day is just a “difference experience.”

“She was right,” he said.

Million didn’t have time to check out the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade, but he got downtown early enough to take part in some of the other revelry and festivities. Haley Moloney is the marketing manager at Newport on the Levee in Northern Kentucky, which hosted a series of events for the game.

Million and Haley didn’t get to see each other before Thursday’s game. She planned to see him afterward, though.

“I’m just so happy he got to have this day,” Haley said.

Million voiced his joy about being there as well. While he hopes his Reds have a great season, he said Thursday’s outcome didn’t matter much to him. He’s just glad he got to be part of Opening Day with his daughter by his side.

“It’s been 40 years since I took her to her first game, so this was a long time in the making,” he said. “And it’s all because of Kenny. I can’t thank him enough.”e I took her to her first game, so this was a long time in the making,” he said. “And it’s all because of Kenny. I can’t thank him enough.”