Home of the Cheesesteak

The next stop on our itinerary was Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. We’re not quite sure what a Philly is, but we hear they make a dynamite cheesesteak. The Phillies’ ballpark is located just three hours from White Plains, so we left Cathy and Jim’s around 8 A.M. and made it there by 11:00. On the way, we read our baseball road trip book, which informed us that it’s a good idea to purchase tickets in advance, since a large number of games sell out. Hmm, it’s too bad we didn’t read that chapter before we were on our way to the stadium. The day was already hot when we arrived at the park and we applied our sunscreen in the parking lot. Then, two hours early for a 1:05 game, we trotted to the ticket window, only to find out that the game was sold out. Our baseball book had also mentioned that this city ranked among the worst for trustworthy scalpers, so we weren’t willing to risk it. Unsure about what to do, we stood by the ticket window, reviewing our options. All of a sudden, people were walking away from the ticket window with tickets in hand. Eavesdropping to ascertain how they did this, we learned that seats had just opened up. For the small price of $50, we could purchase seats on the phield level, where the players’ phamilies sit. Reasoning that they couldn’t possibly be at the ballpark and not go inside to see a game, Susie convinced MB to get in line for tickets.

It turns out that our seats were phabulous. It phigures that the players would give their phamilies good seats. After doing a happy dance when we figured out where our section was, we scouted out the food choices. Usually, we read the book and consider all the options before deciding what we are going to eat at each place. In this case, we knew before we left California that we wanted Philly cheesesteaks. A souvenir seller directed us to the nearest concession stand, claiming they had a good one. (We promised our cashier we would mention all the nice people we met at Citizens Bank Park, and we don’t even have to fib. They were great!) We stood at the rail behind our section to eat our first authentic Philly cheesesteaks (hereafter referred to as cheesesteak #1) and garlic fries.

There were a number of things that made Citizens Bank Park awesome in my opinion. The layout of the stadium is superb, with a large concourse, open walkways, banners of each player, and baseball-themed concession stands. Behind center field, the stretch called Ashburn Alley provides concessions and play areas for the kids. Overall, the ballpark had a great feel to it. And the people really were extremely nice. One fan offered to take our picture when he saw how much trouble we were having with our self-portrait; then after he saw our shirts, he led us to a spot under the Ashburn Alley sign to take a picture of us, because that’s what made it recognizably Philly. Then there were the guys next to and behind us, who told us facts about the park and tried to get us on the big screen. Literally, every time a camera was nearby, the two guys in the row behind us would stand up and dance and encouraged us to do the same. Shout out to Gary and Gary’s friend, who tried their best but to no avail. The game provided excitement too, from its opening nine first pitches to its disappointing conclusion, as the Phillies lost to the Marlins. The play of the game unarguably was a one-handed catch by a fan behind home plate, who had his cell phone in one hand, a beer bottle between his teeth, and caught the high foul pop-fly without dropping either. The Philly Phanatic is by phar the best mascot in MLB, due to his agility inside a 30-pound costume, his sweet dance moves, and his ability to operate a hot dog launcher while driving a motor vehicle.