BALLPARK HISTORY

Ballparks are full of history. They each have thier own distinct features, The bricks and ivy in Wrigley, monument park and the mystique of Yankee stadium, the warehouse at Camden, the green monster at Fenway, and more, but when you go to a park its more than to see the game, its to take in the environment. As much as I dislike it, part of going to Turner is listening to the fans do that tommohawk chant. I also enjoy seeing the statues or plaques of players who have contributed to all that history.

Each ballpark also gives you a different perspective of the game. What might be a HR at one park is just a fly ball in another. The site lines, angles and views of a game vary from park to park, even if your sitting in the same general area. Also the in game extras , like the mascot races, or singing the stretch at Wrigley, Sweet Caroline at Fenway, or the 7th inning God Bless America at Yankee stadium.

Another great thing about parks is visiting the local bar near the stadium. Harry Carays and Murphy's in Chicago, Pickles in Baltimore, Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit, Hooters in Anaheim, Rock Bottom Brewery in Denver (and Cinci), Harpoon Brewery in Boston, and Billys sports bar in the Bronx.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Citizen Bank Park, 2013

#25

Citizen Bank Park

This was the 3rd and final park of our trip. After great weather in Pittsburgh, missing the rain and the city being shut down to see a great game in Boston, the weather was supposed to be nice for Philly. Well it was nice, if your a penguin. It got down to below 40 with 15 mph winds.


We got to Philly early and went to Pat's King of Steaks. It was awesome. I had been to Geno's before, but Shawn hadn't had either, so we went to Pat's. I was hungry after having to drive around for 30 minutes to find a place to park, then walk 3 blocks to get there. I forgot to take a pic of that awesome sandwich. Oh well, you'll have to use your imagination. 

Citizen Bank Park
This park reminded me a lot of Atlanta, and a few other parks. The concourses were wide open and there are stands to eat, drink and hang out behind the last row. There are also a lot of these places around the park, on the second level, in the outfield area, etc. I like that, especially when you like to move around a park like we typically do.  Well we walked around a lot before the game, but once it started and it got dark, we didn't move a lot. It was freezing. Even the Philly fans were freezing, but they were bundled up a little better than us. One good thing was that the park emptied out early being a Sunday night with school/work in the morning. 

Citizen Bank Park
Steve Carlton 

Citizen Bank Park
 Richie Ashburn
This statue is in Ashburn Alley across the outfield. There are lots of places to eat, drink, and watch the game from out there. 
One of those places was Bull's BBQ. Man, you could smell this place from every place in the park. 
We weren't hungry when we got there, after eating our cheese steaks for lunch, but by the 6th inning we were drawn to it. It was good. 



Our seats were right above the xfinity sign in the pic here. We were up towards the aisle, but they were great seats. Everything you have heard about Philly fans, well at least most of it, is true. Dominic Brown was in LF and there was a single to left that he didn't dive for, and man did he hear it from the crowd. They didn't let up  on him the whole game. 

 Here is a couple of pictures of the liberty bell sign in right center field. It looks better at night, as does the whole park with the lighting, but I wasn't about to go back up to the upper deck to take more pictures. It was cold enough down below. 

The Phillies were playing the Cardinals, so I was a Phillies fan that night. 
It was a pretty tight game, a lot of hits but only a little scoring until the bottom of the 8th when Ben Revere broke a 3-3 tie with a single, then Erik Kratz shot down the red birds with a 3 run home run. 
Final score Phillies 7 Cards 3. 



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