Originally
written April 9, 2008
I
don't like Philadelphia. It's a city I loathe,
and there's absolutely little that I actually
do like about the place, much less their sports
teams. Up until a few years ago, the only thing
the rotten city had were Cheesesteaks, which were
easily negated by the amount of smart Philadelphians
who bolted the filthy place, and set up shop in
other cities, like Atlanta, where I can get authentic
flavor, but not in Philadelphia.
But
then I made some buddies that happened to be from
there (we became friends prior to knowledge of
residences), and me being the opportunist that
I am, decided that along with an invitation to
be social and spend some time up there, I took
the opportunity to examine the baseball schedule,
and found that there was a perfect opportunity
to knock Philadelphia's own Citizens Bank Park
off my list. Because I love baseball, I know that
I have to take all the bad things about the game,
like Philadelphia, along the vast good things.
Anyway,
I will give Philadelphia credit for one thing -
I like the notion of having all major sports venues
for football, baseball, and basketball all in one
central location; it takes the guess work out of
figuring out where to go. Although, riding the SEPTA
to the game scared me to no end, both from the filthiness
of the trains, and the dirty looks I was receiving
by wearing an Atlanta Braves hat to the home of
the Phillies.
The
park itself - Citizens Bank Park is actually a
really nice place. Very surprisingly clean, easy
to maneuver around, and I liked the little pavilion
they had in the back for food, souvenirs, and
getting a nice view of the field from the outfield
perspective. The staff was friendly (they didn't
see the A on my hat), and directed me to Tony
Luke's for what they claim is the best cheesesteak
in the park. It was good, but I think I've had
better. My seats were in the "arcade"
level, with a decent view of the park on the 3rd
base side. Unfortunately, the seat that cost me
$31 is the equivalent of an $11 seat at Turner
Field.
The
game: I couldn't have possibly chosen a more meaningless
game to me to go to, as I have absolutely no care
in the world for the Barry Bonds' San Francisco
Giants, and being the devoted Braves fan I am,
I detest the Phillies. But I have the ability
to choose whom I'd want to win regardless, and
it boiled down to the lesser of two evils - the
Giants. And out of all the stars I could've possibly
been seen, I unfortunately got the short end of
the stick. Barry Bonds was not starting, due to
having played in the night game less than 24-hours
prior. Cole Hamels pitched the day prior, and
Barry Zito was scheduled for the next day. So
I pretty much got the short end of the stick in
game selection, but oh well; I was here to see
the park, and enjoy whatever game I could.
Seeing
Ryan Howard and Barry Bonds (who made a PH-cameo)
live were cool things. Philadelphia fans adore Ryan
Howard, and when Bonds was even on the on-deck circle,
the place was booing like only Philadelphia can
do. And speaking of boos, Philadelphia's own Pat
Burrell was a victim of endless boos and jeers,
which couldn't have helped his cause when he committed
like ten errors in the outfield. And
in perfect irony, the skies opened up, and it
started raining like nobody's business. Now that
I think about it, almost all of my baseball travels
to this point have included some rain. Either
way, I was close to ditching the remainder of
the game to get back to my buddies, because I
figured the game was decided on Ryan Howard's
huge homer in the 7th. But silly me, the Phillies
had this crappy reliever, Antonio Alfonseca who
blew the save, and it seemed that the game was
going into extra-innings. Thankfully for me, Shane
Victorino came through in the bottom of the 9th,
as I was on my way out of the rainy park, back
to the filthy SEPTA, and to my friend's home,
to close this sordid chapter of my baseball quest.
Noteable
performance(s): The
game featured six home runs.
Randy Winn lead off the entire game with a solo
shot, ane Bengie Molina also homered for San Francisco.
Philadelphia got home runs from Chase Utley, Aaron
Rowand, a towering go-ahead three run blast from
Ryan Howard, and Shane Victorino in the 9th to
walk-off the rainy field. Such a shame that I
could have any less care for either team playing.
Game
Result: Philadelphia
over the Giants 9-8, on Shane Victorino's epic
rain-soaked walk-off homer in the bottom of the
9th. A perfect end for probably the least douchebag
of the Phillies, as it also happened to be "Shane
Victorino Day" at the park, where fans got
hula-skirt Shane Victorino bobbleheads at the
gate. Except - you had to be 14-years and under
to receive, screwing a traveler like me empty-handed.
Go figure. Stingy, filthy Philadelphia.
Additional
Photos:
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