A top executive with Major League Baseball stopped by the 9News studios Friday morning for a one-on-one interview on Good Morning Tri-State. Jimmie Lee Solomon is the Executive Vice President of Major League Baseball Operations.
During the interview he spoke of several topics; including this weekend's
Civil Rights Game, whether President Obama will accept an invitation to attend the game, and whether MLB will ever return to it's roots and have the Reds open the season with the league's first game.
When asked about the invitation that has been extended to President Obama, Solomon stated "hope springs eternal, of course. President Obama does have a lot of very important things he is working on right now, foreign policy, our economy, as you and I both know, but we hold out hope that he possibly will show up, but we have a pretty good relief pitcher in case he doesn't with Frank Robinson throwing out the first pitch, in case he (Obama) does not make it".
9News Anchor Lance Barry also inquired about whether Cincinnati will again ever be the first team to open the Major League Baseball season. Until recently, the Reds were given that designation to honor the team's rich history.
"I think I speak for a lot of Reds fans, if you could take one note back to Major League Baseball, please return the true opening day to Cincinnati," said Barry, "What we mean by that is... Cincinnati has a long tradition of opening day here, please bring it back to us, where it rightfully deserves (to be). Hopefully that is on the agenda at some point in time."
"Commissioner (Bud) Selig will be in town, I will take that under advisement, he and I will talk about that, and I am sure we will come back with a resolution," Solomon said.
"We appreciate that, a lot of Reds fans are clapping at the TV right now," responded Barry.
For more on what Solomon had to say about this weekend's game, click on the video box for the story.
