Philadelphia Phillies
With a storm approaching, Dad and I head to Citizens Bank Ballpark, hoping to see a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Washington Nationals.
We had watched the shifting weather reports come in throughout the day. A storm was on its way, and it was certain we would be getting some rain during our game with the Philadelphia Phillies.
My main concern was not about the game itself. I just wanted to get inside the ballpark, as I had done in Norfolk before that game was postponed. Citizens Bank Park contains several tributes to a team with a rich history dating back to 1883, and I looked forward to taking my time with them before the game.
Ashburn Alley in center field honors Hall of Fame center fielder Richie Ashburn with a large bronze statue, one of several depicting Phillies greats around the ballpark; and the Phillies Wall of Fame, Memory Lane, and All-Star Walk nearby all pay tribute to the long history of baseball in Philadelphia and the cherished players who wore the Phillies uniform. I wanted to see that 52-foot-tall lighted Liberty Bell in right field and hear it ring after a home run. I wanted to see the new “PhanaVision” video board in left, now 152 feet wide and 86 feet high — enough to display, the team says, 516 life-size Phillie Phanatics simultaneously.
We parked next to Xfinity Live!, a huge sports bar across the street from the ballpark’s third-base gate. It’s really more of an entertainment complex, with five different places to eat, a theater for live music, mechanical bull riding, an array of TV screens tuned to sports, and a long bar. We plopped down at that bar in time to catch a few innings of our San Diego Padres against the Los Angeles Dodgers as we sipped drinks.
Just before the gates were scheduled to open, we crossed the street to Citizens Bank Ballpark and waited with 100 or so Phillies fans, most decked out in jerseys celebrating current stars Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Trey Turner. The sky was bright and mostly blue, with a few wispy cloud chunks blowing by. Things were looking up.
Completed in time for the 2004 season, Citizens Bank Ballpark replaced the multi-purpose Veteran’s Stadium, which exuded a vibe of concrete and astroturf. Dad had seen the old stadium during his 42-day tour of every Major League Ballpark in 1992, and we were both interested in getting a better look at Philadelphia’s take on modern ballpark design.
It was also a good time to be seeing the Phillies. After posting its first winning season in a decade in 2021, Philadelphia reached the World Series in 2022 (overcoming our beloved Padres) and would make it to the National League Championship Series in 2023. By July, the Phillies had put themselves in contention for a Wild Card berth. Their opponent on this night, the Washington Nationals, sat 22 games out in last place in the National League East.
Suddenly, there was an announcement. A delay in the gates opening?
No. Word filtered back through the crowd. The game had been postponed. The National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch in the area, and the team would not be opening the gates.
Our second rainout. Our first lockout.
We started walking back toward the car, wading upstream against a river of arriving fans who were just getting the news. I stopped to get one last look at the ballpark as a backdrop to a statue of three-time National League MVP Mike Schmidt, who in 1980 hit .286 with 48 home runs and 121 RBI in the Phillies only other World Series-winning season. Statues of Philadelphia pitching greats Steve Carlton and Robin Roberts rest outside two additional gates at the ballpark.
On our way back across the street, I noticed another statue of a Philadelphia icon, “Smokin’” Joe Frazier, one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Frazier left the ring with an Olympic gold medal, a three-year reign as world champion, and 27 knockouts in 37 fights.
Needing to call a dinner audible, I checked places to eat between the ballpark and our hotel and found Monaghan’s Pub in Essington, Pennsylvania. We drove over just as the rain began to come down in earnest.
I had planned to eat a proper Philadelphia cheesesteak at the Phillies game and mentioned it to the server. She told me they could do an off-menu cheesesteak for me. It was fantastic.
We finished quickly and got back to the hotel to ride out the storm.