George Foster to be Grand Marshal of Reds Opening Day parade

CINCINNATI - Findlay Market announced Thursday that George Foster will be the Grand Marshal of the 94th annual Findlay Market 2013 Opening Day parade.

The Reds tweeted the official announcement Thursday morning.

Foster spent more than 10 years of his career as a Reds outfielder, including a tenure during the Big Red Machine years in the 1970s. He is a five-time All Star and the 1977 NL Most Valuable Player.

Officials plan to reduce the size of 2013's parade in an attempt to shorten the time it takes to complete.

Last year's parade had 240 entries and took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete, about the same length of the actual Opening Day game.

This year there will be only 200 entries and duplicates will be trimmed out.

The parade takes place downtown on April 1 before the Reds take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the first interleague Opening Day game in MLB history. First pitch for the game is 4:10 p.m.