#27/30: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia
The Philly Flip
Sunday, September 1, 2024
I live in East Central Illinois. Amtrak has three trains running from here to Chicago every day. The ride takes about two hours, there's plenty of open seats, and a ticket is usually $17.
Up in the Northeast, Amtrak has multiple lines running dozens of times a day from Washington D.C. to Boston with stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. Pretty convenient for me, considering the six games I was attending over this six-day stretch were in those exact five cities. But regardless, I must complain. D.C. to Philly is around two hours, the train was nearly sold out, and my ticket was $97. For that kind of money I can take an Amtrak from my home in Champaign, IL all the way down to New Orleans!
I gotta say, I have some love lost for Amtrak after this summer of travel across the U.S. Even though I only traveled by rail a few times, each trip was disappointing in some way. I suppose I'm just spoiled with the train being so accessible here at home.
At least the train was on time. I arrived in Philadelphia with plenty of time to check in at the hotel, get organized, then head to the ballpark. I got there right as gates opened, so plenty of time to wander around. There was no batting practice, but the game-used store had their act together and I was able to buy one with ease in the later innings. I took a full lap around both the lower and upper levels of the stadium. Though there isn't anything terribly unique about it, Citizens Bank Park is pretty nice. It's fairly modern (opened in 2004), has good sightlines, and seems noticeably more open-air than many other ballparks.
The Phillies were leading the NL East and hosting their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves, who were also in solid playoff contention. And it was a Sunday night game, so the place was pretty packed. With this being my fourth game in four days, I was a little too tired to go with a standing room only ticket. So I made an atypical move for me - I got a ticket in the upper level. As it turns out, it was a great spot! The ballpark is a few miles south of downtown, but you get a good skyline view from the cheaper seats.
It sure was a much nicer view than what I had from my hotel room that night…
The game was a pitching duel. Phillies starter Aaron Nola got through the first round of the Braves batting order with just one hit allowed. The second time through started with a solo home run by leadoff man Michael Harris II in the 3rd, and then a couple more scattered hits to produce a run in the 4th. Meanwhile, Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach got through the Phillies order twice unscathed, allowing just two scattered hits across five innings. Then, in the 6th, the Braves got some runners on base and cashed in with a two-run double by outfielder Nick Castellanos. Tied 2-2, the game headed into the 7th with both teams tapping their bullpen. The strong pitching would continue. There would ultimately be a total of twelve different pitchers on the mound in this game, but the score remained locked at 2-2 after nine innings. Bonus baseball! Neither team could advance a runner in the 10th. The Braves got a runner to third base in the top of the 11th but could not bring him home. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, with two outs and the game-winning run on third base, Castellanos was back up to bat.
Final score: Phillies 3, Braves 2.
And even though my scorecards have featured tons of rule-benders and mistakes this season, I had to come up with some way to record an 11th inning when the card only had space for 10…
Extra Innings
After the game I exited slowly and let the crowd dissipate so that I could grab an Uber at a reasonable cost. I paid a street vendor $3 for a $2 bottle of water, asking if I could get back just a single coin - a penny, a nickel, a dollar piece, it didn't matter. He dug up a quarter. Here's why I needed it…
I came up with this idea on my own, but I won't claim it as original. It seems too obvious to have never been done before. I also hesitate to declare it a new tradition. Pat’s and Geno’s both have a worthy reputation, but had it been earlier in the day, there are a few other places I would have preferred to go for a cheesesteak.
Having said that, if you find yourself in Philadelphia at midnight and need an authentic whiz whit, head down to the corner of 9th St & Passyunk Ave. and flip a coin.
Next stop: September 2, Baltimore