#26 Veteran’s Stadium
Times Visited: 1
Dates: 4/6/02 vs. Florida (L 7-3)
The trip to Philly was quite fun, this was the first time I ever drove up the Eastern shore. The one thing I loved with this ballpark was how easy it is to get to off the highway, although this was a game with less than 2o,000 people. Much different situation if it’s a full house. This game was the second home page of the year for a Phillies and attendance wise a huge drop from opening day, something that is pretty common on baseball and helped me score a great seat behind home plate. It was very cold that day and I was thankful that they were selling hot dogs that day at a much cheaper price as I needed some hot food to stay warm. Before the game I actually ended up with one of the baseballs from batting practice thanks to a Phillies coach. Although this stadium was the same as many other cookie cutters, I thought the Liberty Bell on the scoreboard was a nice touch. It goes off after the Phillies homer or win, neither of which happened that day. The Phillies and Marlins kept it close until the last two innings but Florida pulled ahead with four runs in the last two innings. Although Philly was supposed to have some bad fans, I didn’t see it at this game. They wouldn’t let me down during a visit to the new ballpark though but that storycomes further down the list.
One thing I thought was cool here was that if it was your first time at the ballpark you could get a certificate that states such accomplishment. That reminds me I need to see if I still have that. One major dislike at the ballpark, it was very hard to find a good place outside the Vet to take a good picture.
After the game I walked over to the Spectrum and watched the Norfolk Admirals take on the Philadelphia Phantoms. This was the first time I saw two sporting events in the same day. After the game I started a trek down to Balitmore to watch the O’s in action the next day.