Four years ago when Matt, Brad and I drove to Philly for a game at Veterans Stadium, construction was already underway for a new home for the Philadelphia Phillies.  Now in the summer of 2006, with Veteran’s Stadium long ago imploded, the three of us returned to Philly to see the shiny new Citizens Bank Ballpark that stands in its place.

Citizens Bank Ballpark is everything you’d expect from a new baseball stadium; clean and airy with roomy seats and aisles (and cup holders!), lots of concessions and bathrooms, great views, plenty of standing room, an outfield that is too small and a crappy name.  It is an exceptional facility that is notably unexceptional amongst the new stadiums going up all around the country.

But then, could any stadium that serves as playground for the Philly Fanatic ever be called unexceptional?  The famous green mascot (think of an aged sesame street character on speed) was up to his usual tomfoolery; dancing on the dugout, amusing small children and sexually assaulting the grounds crew.

A game was played too, between the Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds, and both teams seemed to be making their best effort to prove you don’t need pitching to win a ballgame.  Nine runs were scored in the first two innings and seven more would be tacked on after that.  Phillies slugger Ryan Howard added some drama to the game when he belted his 40th home run of the season to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th.  The Phillies bullpen quickly gave the lead back in the 9th and the Cincinnati pen tried to equal the feat in the bottom of the inning.  Ryan Howard got a chance for heroics again when he came to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the 9th inning with two on and two out.  But this time he struck out to end the game.