Citizens Bank Park Review

If you can't see the review below, CLICK HERE.

C I T I Z E N S   B A N K

P A R K

August 18, 2011

Arizona Diamondbacks v. Philadelphia Phillies

7:05pm

Philadelphia 4, Arizona 1

WP:  Herndon (1-2, 3.79 ERA)

LP:  Kennedy, I. (15-4, 3.22 ERA)

S:  Madson (23)

Attendance: 45,633

Time:  2:30 (2:17 delay)

85 degrees, cloudy

Citizens Bank Park replaced Veterans Stadium in 2004.  It sits in South Philadelphia and is surrounded by the home of the Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers.  It holds over 43,000 screaming Philly fans and has hosted postseason action in each of the last four seasons.

You can get into the outfield area a whopping 2-1/2 hours prior to game time, so you can essentially watch the entire Phillies and vistors batting practices.  They open up the rest of the stadium 1-1/2 hours before first pitch.  If I had my glove, I would have gotten a ball off Hunter Pence.  One came screaming right at me.  There was one other guy around and he was trying to get out of the way, too...and he had a glove!

The Atmosphere:  The Phillies are winning so it’s good.  Not a top 5.  There wasn’t that awe I’ve had with the others that are ranked.  Tonight was the second Jewish Heritage game I’ve been to (the other was in L.A.), so there was plenty of good music with out-of-tune singers.  I even got to see “The Amazing Bottle Dancers” for the second time.

The Scorecard:  Good solid card.  I believe $2.  Empty boxes.  Only downfall is that there are no rosters on the cards--they do give you them on a separate sheet of paper.  Also, it just says “Vistor”, so they aren’t made specifically for a certain series.  It earns the third spot.

The Hot Dog:  They have several stand alone carts, all serving Hatfield brand dogs.  The first place I went to did not have any ready.  It was 5:48pm.  Not sure what was up with that.  The next one had plenty of them ready to go.  Good dog.  I added onions at the dispenser.  Had taste.  Some spice.  Not a top 5, but I’d have another.

The Broadcasters:  I thought they were pretty good.  They called a good game and had plenty to talk about during the down time between pitches.  They even had a descent rain delay program where they fielded phone calls.  I’m going to give them the five spot for now.

Entertainment:  The big thing here is to get on the big board.  No racing food.  There was a hat dance-like deal but I can’t remember what it involved.  The mascot is the Phillie Phanatic.  He’s fat.  He’s furry.  He’s green.  Nothing to do with the team name, but he’s easily one of the most recognizable mascots in all of sports.

The Scorecard.

They do have authentic items here, and I was actually able to fill out a form to request a ball from today’s game.

Views from Around the Park:

Other words:  I think they’ll make a run at the World Series.  Not sure if they’ll be able to hold off the Sox or Yankees, though.

Gripes:  Won’t let you bring in your water if the bottle has been opened.  All these places are about “being green”.  I try to recycle my bottles and just end up throwing them away at the gate.  It’d be cool if this place was more in town but Philly is already pretty full.

C I T I Z E N S   B A N K   P A R K

P H I L A D E L P H I A ,   P E N N S Y L V A N I A

H O M E   O F   T H E   P H I L L I E S

Philadelphia is dominating the NL East.  They could play .500 ball from here on and probably still make the postseason.  However, I suspect they will do a little better than that.  They have the best pitching setup in all of baseball, and they have some bats that can do their business at the plate.  They are packing them in at just about every game here.

The Crowd:  Sold-out.  Loud.  A lot of spontaneous noise.  None of that “Get Louder” junk.  They know when to get loud.  2 outs, 2 strikes, make some noise...they do it.  Largest crowd so far, and that has the potential to hold up.  There was a significant rain delay that lead to about 1/3 of the crowd leaving.  You probably couldn’t tell by listening to the game because the ones remaining were plenty loud.  Despite the game being “sold-out”, I was able to buy a ticket for a friend who drove up from Delaware to see the game (world renowned pediatric orthopedist Chris Hardesty-Applegate, MD).  Her and her husband joined me in Cleveland where they live.  Of course, it rained there, too.  I don’t think I have a picture of them at the game, but I do have a picture of their hot dogs that you will see after I actually see a full game in Cleveland.

The Stadium:  Typical retro-style ballpark.  Nothing different about it than the others.  The location isn’t the best because it’s away from everything but it’s easy to get to via the subway.  Instead of shooting off fireworks, there is a Liberty Bell made of lights that gongs and changes colors when there is a homerun.  There’s a bunch of food here.  Dogs, cheesesteaks, crab fries, and more.  Statues of past greats can be found outside the stadium, and there is a new statue of longtime broadcaster Harry Kalas inside the stadium.  Most people know him for his work with NFL Films.

Former Cardinal Steve Carlton.

S T A T I S T I C S   U P D A T E

MLB Games Seen

20 of 31

Days

48 of 86

Driving Miles

11,650 of an estimated 18,735

States

23

Estimated Gallons of Gas

613 of an estimated 1,102

Hot Dogs Eaten

Too Many

Border Crossings

0 of 2

P R E D I C T I O N S   U P D A T E

(AFTER 19 OF 30 GAMES)

Runs

173 of 249

Hits

332 of 512

Errors

27 of 36

Home Runs

47 of 65

Doubles

67 of 101

Triples

9 of 10

Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)

21 of 31

Strikeouts

300 of 415

Walks

111 of 189

Home Team Wins

13 of 17

Complete Games

1 of 1

Shutouts

1 of 2

Saves

11 of 15

Blown Saves

3 of 7

Balks

1 of 2

Wild Pitches

6 of 19

Hit Batters

5 of 18

Walk-offs

1 of 2

Stolen Bases

22 of 40

Caught Stealing

8 of 15

Ejections

1 of 4

Smallest Crowd

18,640

The Coliseum, Oakland

July 27th, Tampa Bay v. Oakland

Largest Crowd

45,633

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

August 18th, Arizona v. Philadelphia

B A L L P A R K   R A N K I N G S

The Stadium 

1.  PETCO Park, San Diego

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Target Field, Minneapolis

4.  Comerica Park, Detroit

5.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

6.  Safeco Field, Seattle

7.  PNC Park, Pittsburgh

8.  Minute Maid Park, Houston

9.  Chase Field, Phoenix

10.  Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

11.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

12.  Coors Field, Denver

13.  Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

14.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

15.  U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

16.  Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

17.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

18.  Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim

19.  The Coliseum, Oakland

The Atmosphere

1.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

2.  Target Field, Minneapolis

3.  PETCO Park, San Diego

4.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

5.  Comerica Park, Detroit

The Crowd

1.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

2.  Target Field, Minneapolis

3.  Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

4.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

5.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

The Scorecard

(after further review, a switch has been made between #2 and #3...Comerica gives you the rosters on the card so it deserves a #2 ranking)

1.  Target Field, Minneapolis

2.  Comerica Park, Detroit

3.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

4.  Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia

5.  Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

The Hot Dog

1.  Coors Field, Denver

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Wrigley Field, Chicago

4.  U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

5.  Safeco Field, Seattle

The Broadcasters

1.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

2.  AT&T Park, San Francisco

3.  Miller Park, Milwaukee

4.  Target Field, Minneapolis

5.  Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

Hatfield brand.

The Bell.

Schmidt.

Out of town scores.

Good lookin’ crew from a 2007 game at Citizens.