Instead, he’s getting married and bringing his love of the game to the reception.
After the wedding at St. John’s Church in Middletown, David and his bride, Jennifer McMullen, will throw a reception at the VFW that will be more entertaining than an Aroldis Chapman 100 mph fastball.
Just about every aspect of the wedding will have a baseball theme as the reception hall will be converted into Great American Ball Park.
“We wanted it to be fun,” said Mangus, 53, a 1978 Fenwick High School graduate. “We wanted people to remember the night and feel better when they left.”
His wife-to-be added: “We’re a fun-loving couple and we want to have a good time.”
Popcorn, peanuts, Cracker Jacks and nachos will be appetizers, and the main course will be hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches. The wedding cake will be in the shape of a Cincinnati Reds uniform. You get the feeling Marge Schott, the late Reds owner, would have been invited.
After batting practice — I mean the wedding — David and Jennifer will change into Reds uniforms with the Nos. 10 and 19 on the back in honor of their wedding day, Oct. 19. But McMullen refused to wear No. 19 because she doesn’t like the Reds first baseman Joey Votto. He walks too much, she thinks.
That left her with the remaining uniform. She asked Mangus if any Red ever wore No. 10. That question was more painful than another St. Louis Cardinals walk-off win.
“The greatest manager the Reds ever had,” David said, referring to Sparky Anderson, who led the Reds to back-to-back World Series championships.
Even the music will have a baseball beat. What’s a wedding reception without a little “Take Me Out to the Ball Game?”
Mangus called it “a relaxed type reception.” For attendees who are tense, don’t worry there will be a Seventh-Inning Stretch.
And if someone drops the garter? Give them an error.
David and Jennifer first talked about the baseball-themed reception at a Reds game last year. Of course, right?
“We wanted something different,” he said. “We are not traditional people. Then I said, ‘Honey, I got a great idea.’”
And she agreed. He knew then he hit a home run.
This is the second wedding for him and he has two daughters: Megan, 25, and Jozi, 13. This is McMullen’s first wedding.
While Mangus is a lifetime Reds fan, attending his first Opening Day in 1968 with his uncle, she’s relatively new to this fascination. They attended their first Opening Day this year and watched the Findlay Market Parade before the game and ate at White Castle after the game.
Really, David. White Castle? You couldn’t afford Wendy’s?
Then he explained it was an Opening Day tradition, started with his uncle: Parade, game and Slider triple play.
“She knows what Opening Day means to me,” he explained. “I still get goosebumps like I did at the very first one.”
He admitted that after the baseball season ends, depression sets in every year from October through March.
He better not say that after this year. She may throw him out of the game.
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