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Sports

Great American Ballpark Catches Fire During Giants-Reds Game

One of the smoke stacks at Great American Ballpark caught fire during the game last night.

One of the smoke stacks in center field of the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati caught fire during the game last night and firefighters had to be called in to snuff it out. Because sports as entertainment is not entertaining enough, most ballparks—including this one—have gimmicks. Cincinnati has a riverboat motif and the smoke stacks shoot fireworks after Reds home runs. Unfortunately, after Billy Hamilton's home run last night, one of the smoke stacks caught fire.

It was a weird situation all around. After the fire got going, the Reds had to let off all the fireworks to avoid the kind of chaotic scene you see in an action movie. Making it even more bizarre, they set them off during San Francisco at bats, which was not great for the Giants. Eventually the Cincinnati fire department got on the scene and had a couple of guys take care of the situation, as the fans directly below them were evacuated and fans everywhere else applauded the effort.

The Giants beat the Reds 10-2.