June 15, 2009
Citizens Bank Park (Capacity: 43,500)
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Phillies vs Boston Red Sox
Final Score: 11-5
* The stadium was re-visited for a game on June 27, 2019
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Located in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania and situated between the Schuylkill River and the Delaware River, Philadelphia was the first capital of the United States and site of many historical points for the new country. With a current population of 1.4 million it is the 6th largest city in the U.S. and our first visit here was an enjoyable one as we spent time in the city. After our touring, we hopped on the subway down to South Philadelphia for a visit to Citizens Bank Park and the Philadelphia Phillies. Just like the city they play in, there is a lot of history with the team as they began play in 1883. Most of the history is bad as they have endured many down years and losses. The Phillies only won six pennants prior to our first visit, however things turned around dramatically in recent years with two exciting division title wins against the Mets. In 2008, the Phillies won their second World Series title (1980 was the other), ending a 25-year championship drought for the city. The team returned to the playoffs a few more times after that until having to break up the core of that championship squad as the Phillies then suffered with plenty of losing seasons. Things have started to finally look up again with the recent signing of Bryce Harper. After playing in dual purpose Veterans Stadium for three decades, the team moved right next door in 2004 to Citizens Bank Park, a well-liked ballpark.
Prestige Ranking: 4.5 out of 5
Location
All of Philadelphia’s professional teams play in the Sports Complex, located about 3 miles south of Center City (the “downtown” part of Philly). With Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center in this complex, the surroundings were made up of a sea of concrete for parking. That has changed since 2009, as the Sports Complex has added more stuff including a multi-venue space featuring multiple sports bars and an outdoor stage. It is part of the contrived “Live!” conglomeration that I detest, but at least it’s something. Next year, a casino will open beyond centerfield and that may entice people to stick around after a game. If you’re thinking about checking out the rest of South Philadelphia beyond sports….don’t. It’s not worth it. What is worth travelling 10-15 minutes for is the historical stuff at Independence National Park in Old City. It’s a really nice area and you’ll find plenty of interesting sites, including the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Other attractions are not far away and the most recommended include Reading Terminal Market, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Elfreth’s Alley.
Location Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
The set-up makes for a very simple, easy drive with the ballpark located just off I-95 on Broad Street. It’s also accessible from I-76. Getting in is easy and so is parking as it is plentiful in the huge stadium lots. Leaving the complex is not bad and traffic upon exiting is likely a little more spread out than it would be for football or hockey. Make sure to add extra time if the game coincides with an evening rush hour as all of the area highways get quite congested. For our first visit, we took the subway to the game as the last stop on the Broad Street (Orange) line is Pattison Ave and the Sports Complex. It’s an “eh” Mass Transit system, nothing special, but it gets the job done. The second time, I drove.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Exterior
The exterior at Citizens Bank Park has an overall square shape with the corners cut, making for flat entrances. For lack of a better description, there is a lot of “stuff” going on with the building and for the most part, there isn’t really a clean, polished look. The third base side has the main entrance to the stadium and the visual features the back of the seating bowl and stairs to get to seats. A green sign for the ballpark is located at the top. Brick is used at times and most walls that have the brick look can be found by walking from the third base entrance to near the club entrance around home plate, where an interwoven “Philadelphia” is seen from afar. Despite the surrounding sea of asphalt, the lot on which the ballpark stands is nicely maintained with small trees and other landscaping.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
The ballpark experience gets progressively better with each step into CBP. Philadelphia’s concourse is very good as space is plentiful. On the expansive first level, it is covered and open to the infield for a continuous view of the game. There is a polished look to this concourse as it is framed in brick and the paint color is burgundy. Throughout are player murals and concession stands named after city neighborhoods, with each one getting a description. By far, the place to be at Citizens Bank Park is in the outfield at ground level, which is where Ashburn Alley is located. Fans arrive in this open walkway well before game-time to hang out and the spot is filled with great concessions and interesting memorabilia (see displays). Upper-level sections have their own concourse that is more outdoors and with a better field view than below. Minimal elevators and escalators aren’t much of an issue until the end of the game (and some will forego the wait and walk).
Upon my return in 2019, I saw two new gathering spaces: Pass & Stow and the High & Inside Pub. Located above and beneath each other behind home plate, these are great spots, but completely hidden from the field of play. It’s nice for food/drink/chat two hours before the game, I just hope people aren’t paying for a game ticket to spend their time in a place that can be replicated in many other places in the city. Also recently added is a section called “The Yard”. Aimed at kids, they can rock climb, play on a diamond, launch hot dogs and eat at an Ice Cream Bar. Cool stuff.
Concourse Ranking: 5 out of 5
Food
In 2009, I thought the food was phenomenal here. Upon return a decade later, it feels like many other ballparks have passed CBP in terms of selection and variety. I found way too much generic stadium food around the infield and even while in Ashburn Alley, would have liked to seen another stand or two. Disappointing fans in 2016, they removed the very popular “Schmitter” sandwich. Most other local highlights remain as you can try Philadelphia specialties like Chickie’s & Pete’s for fries or PJ Whelihan’s for wings. There of course are cheesesteaks throughout the ballpark and Campo’s or Tony Luke’s is the best place for one. Philadelphia also specializes in soft pretzels and water ice, both good to try at a ballgame. Bull’s BBQ is the only other stand that stood out. If you are looking for a sit-down meal, there is one open to the public as Harry the K’s Bar and Grille is located underneath the scoreboard in Ashburn Alley and named after late, great broadcaster Harry Kalas. Beer choices offered several local products including Yards and Victory.
Food Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Interior
The design at Citizens Bank Park is best described as sharp. There are four levels of seating with the suites tucked in nicely (and hidden) between the first and second decks. I also appreciate how the two premium seating areas are hidden, so the general fan mostly sees the seating bowl. Four levels are a lot and the top deck does feel further than other ballparks as a result. The separation from the 300s is annoying as two sets of stairs are needed to reach the 400s. The shape of the ballpark features many angles and no rounded features, with seats being directed towards the infield. This angled approach provides something different, though it lends to a ballpark that isn’t as friendly with sightlines compared to those with slightly more curved seating bowls. They at least turn the seats inward to help out with that. Sitting in them is comfortable and they are all colored blue, making for a welcome change from the overplayed green color. Obstructions aren’t really an issue in the park and even though the first level isn’t all that steep, heads don’t get in the way. They actually do a bit in the upper deck, despite the sharper incline, because you are much higher up, I found my seat had somebody’s head a few rows down in the way of my home plate view. An interesting feature is the break in the upper deck seating on the first base side. This allows standing fans in the concourse to have a better view, plus it allows for the right field deck to be lower and closer to the field. While on the third base side, the hole offers a glimpse of the Walt Whitman Bridge. The outfield looks great with two levels of seating in left and three in right. Center features Ashburn Alley with standing areas to watch along with “Rooftop” seating on top of the concession roofs, which was built to emulate outside seats at the Phillies’ old home, Shibe Park. Beyond the outfield is a distanced view of the Philadelphia skyline.
Interior Ranking: 9.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
The board is different in that it is attached to a towering light tower and placed in far-left field, giving many fans an open view of Center City. The scoreboard that I saw in 2019 was a relatively new one and it sits in far left-field left. My lone beef is that the difficulty in seeing it when sitting on the third-base side is not addressed well enough by the hard-to-see screen in right field hanging down from middle façade. The scoreboard itself features a very sharp, all-video screen and it is not all that cluttered. A huge Phillies logo sits up top and replay frequency was adequate.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3.5 out of 4
Displays
With over 100 years of professional baseball, the Phillies have a lot of history to display. Walking up to the ballpark, there are a few commemorations to both Veterans Stadium and the actual veterans. Even though the stadium was a dump, it is very classy to remember those whom the stadium was named for. Each entrance gate has a ten-foot high statue in front for a famous past player. Those featured include Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, Connie Mack and Robin Roberts. I was happy to see another Phillies treasure get recognition as a Harry Kalas statue was recently added in front of his restaurant. For 38 years, he was the team’s beloved announcer and fans grew up on his silky, baritone voice.
The heart of Phillies history can be found in Ashburn Alley. I was disappointed to see the timeline removed and while the Wall of Fame and the replica World Series trophies are great, I felt a little let down not seeing more team history. I did like the concourse banners showing CBP great moments. The enlarged ticket stubs inside the elevator waiting area are nice additions. From the seating bowl, fans can see that this area also includes flags to display division, pennant and World Series titles. Also spotted are five retired numbers and the one for Jackie Robinson.
Displays Ranking: 5 out of 6
Cost
In 2019, Philadelphia was 10th in Fan Cost Index with parking now $18 and concessions outrageous ($9 for a burger, $10 – $15 for a beer). Ticket costs are impossible to judge because of flex pricing, so looking at it from an average season ticket view, the Phillies also rank 10th in the league. The secondary market can generally lead to upper deck seats in the $15 – $30 range, depending on the regular season game.
Cost Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Fan Support
For our first game in 2009, it was an announced sellout that wasn’t far from the truth as there were few open seats available. Playing Boston (and them bringing fans) plus coming off a World Series win certainly helped. As the team went through a rebuilding phase after 2012, crowds at the ballpark dwindled, with the team seeing average paid attendance in the bottom third of the league. When the Phillies showed improvement in 2018 and contended in September for a wild card spot, fans didn’t respond as mid-week crowds were pathetic (10,000 or less). What did rejuvenate the fan base was the signing of Bryce Harper as there was a palpable buzz around the ballclub. Attendance went up and this hot, weekday afternoon game drew a surprisingly decent crowd with more than half the ballpark full. It doesn’t mean that things are perfect, as evidenced later in the season as they couldn’t yet get a big weekday crowd for an underachieving team in playoff contention. Philadelphia always will be a football town as the Eagles are a clear #1. However, this is a bigger baseball region than they are given credit for and while attendance will ebb and flow like most places, it takes a proven winner to lead to sustained ballpark attendance.
Fan Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Philadelphia fans have a reputation of being loud and harsh. It is indeed true they boo a lot and with many arrogant Red Sox fans on hand during our 2009 visit, confrontations took place. But what I noticed was that when a Philly fan booed, it was with reason. Like when pitcher Chan Ho Park did not run out a routine grounder he could have beat out. Always hustling and hard-working players are rewarded with love from the crowd. And the disagreements that took place were usually instigated by demonstrative visitor cheering. So yes, they can be mean, but it was not too bad for our first Phillies game. Atmosphere is always dictated by seasonal performance in baseball and the ballpark had some pep in it for both games I’ve seen. There were frequent loud roars during big plays and “Let’s Go Phillies” chants occasionally would break out. Fans got to their feet during home runs and they were raucous in 2019 when I saw a great 9th inning comeback.
Atmosphere Ranking: 11 out of 14
Other Stuff
After each Phillies home run, there is a large Liberty Bell replica in the outfield that rings and lights up as it swings back and forth…..While Philadelphia’s previous home in Veterans Stadium may have been a boring cookie-cutter facility, the ballparks prior to that were not. Baker Bowl, followed by Shibe Park were very unique places that had interesting features, too many to list. Sections of the ballpark are modeled after those two venerable facilities…..A little more on the signature Ashburn Alley: The area is open 2.5 hours prior to game time and the bullpens are bi-level and close to the fans, which you know can lead to some interesting conversations in this city…..The Philly Phanatic is the best mascot in sports. The green thing with the big nose has built quite a reputation for his humorous antics. On this day, he definitely lived up to it and he was really fun to watch. As an adult, I still am quite entertained by him.
Game (Initial Visit)
In the game, Boston jumped on struggling J.A. Happ as they pounded him with several hard-hit balls and a four-run 2nd inning. Josh Beckett was cruising with four very efficient innings, until the 5th. The Phillies staged a rally with Ryan Howard hitting a two-run double to take a 5-4 lead. In the top of the 6th, Beckett then hit a solo home run to help his cause. With the game tied at 5 going into the 7th, Jimmy Rollins led off with a tie-breaking solo homer. The Phillies batted around the lineup, scoring six runs, aided by Red Sox reliever Ryan Madson walking in a couple runs. Philly went on to win the wild game 11-6. Jimmy Rollins had 3 RBI and Pedro Feliz went 3 for 5 with 2 runs. Chan Ho Park got the win and Beckett took the loss.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
