The lengths we fans will go to, to see our favorite team in action.
Having seen the Giants in Baltimore in June and in SF in July, I had not planned on another trip this year. But this past week I got that itching feeling. My druthers were to see them at Pittsburgh but Philly was half the distance and a weekend series. Their new park, the wild card race, I finally gave in to the siren song.
“Honey, you want to go to the Giants game in Philly? We can drive up Saturday morning and come back after the game.”
“Ok.”
It felt good to anticipate the game but on Wednesday, Hurricane Charlie took a turn northward.
Saturday morning we assessed the situation. We felt an instinct to stay at home but Charlie, downgraded to a low Cat 1, was not supposed to reach the Washington area until afternoon. Philly’s forecast was for the rain to start late afternoon. There was also the possibility the storm might veer away from the I-95 corridor and move more towards the east. The decision was made. Let’s give it a try.
The drive up I-95 was fairly smooth, about two hours and 45 minutes that included a 20 minute pit stop and three toll stops. We got to south side Philly around noon, an hour and some before game time. The park is right beside the new football stadium on the site of the old Vet. The basketball arena is there also. I thought to myself that’s probably a fairly unique set up among sports cities.
We had plenty of time so we walked around the entire park. There’s a statue of Schmidt out front, but it seems to me it was done on the cheap. No large stone setting and chiseled quotes like the Mays statue.
My impression of the park is that it’s certainly no Camden or the Giants crown jewel. There are however, some interesting features. In the very back of the park, two young men were putting up the Phillies starting lineup on a wall. Each player was represented by a large poster, 10’ by 4’ I’m guessing and 1 inch thick in the form of a baseball card.
Another nice touch is Ashburn Entertainment Alley. It’s a hang out area similar to Camden Yard’s Eutaw Street. Alongside a statue of the Hall of Famer were eats, kid play areas and items on Philadelphia’s baseball history. I wanted to check out the history but put that on the next time list.
We headed up the escalator and took our upper level seats. The JumboTron showed highlight moments of some of the Phillies wins. They did a great job of selling the drama, making the fans believe that a walk off homer win was possible every time they set foot in their new home. The Phillies are the opposition but I felt good knowing their fans were enjoying the new park. You could see it on their faces.
The Giants starting lineup was announced. Mohr, Tucker, Deifi Cruz, Feliz, Alfonzo, Grissom, Torrealba and Ransom. Oh great. This is like ordering a Philly cheese steak and only getting the cheese and the onions.
Game time and the sky got a little more grey but nothing ominous. The sold out crowd watched the bench-led Giants jump out to a 5-0 lead off homegrown Eric Melton. He had a 12 and 2 record but no doubt had gotten good run support. His ERA was something like 4.50.
It felt good to have the cushion and to listen to the three Giants fans behind us cheering loudly. One of them was oohing and aahing when Lowry fooled another red-shirted batter. His change of speed was wicked.
Lowry looked good but I prepared myself. He had pitched well in his two previous starts so I worried the law of averages might catch up. The Phillies had gotten their butts kicked 16-6 on Friday night so they would be out for revenge. And the Giants bullpen this year has elevated a lot of blood pressures.
Sure enough, the Phillies pecked away at the young lefty. Two in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Adding insult to injury were the raindrops that arrived. We donned our ponchos and held back a smug smile when the man beside us, speaking for many others, said something about wishing he had brought his wet weather gear.
The light rain stopped after a few innings. The Giants brightened the day for their fans in the sixth on a solo homer by Marquis Grissom that tied the game. The good guys went ahead 7-6 in the eighth on a Torrealba solo shot off ex-Giant Felix Rodriguez. The circuit shot was the Giants’ fourth of the game and 10th in the last 17 innings.
Another nice feature of the park is the scoreboard in right. The American League was not yet open for business. The Cubs were shutting out the Dodgers, a mixed feeling for Giants fans. The zero beside LA looked good but the Giants’ best chance now is the wild card race. Going in to this contest, the standings were
Chicago 62-53 -
San Diego 62-53 -
San Francisco 62-55 1
Philadelphia 59-57 3.5
Most of the other NL games were under the lights, making me wonder why some teams choose to have the majority of their Saturday games during the day and some at night. Climate is probably the biggest factor but as I recalled, the Phillies used to have most of their Saturday games at night.
The Braves-Cardinals game was taking a similar path to the one in front of us. The visiting redbirds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead only to watch the Braves come back. Their contest was six to six after six. The scoreboard at Citizens Bank Park provides the men on base and outs. Nice touch.
The Giants bullpen did their job and held the Phillies scoreless after they tied it in the fifth. It helped that Philadelphia also sported a less than stellar lineup. Alou was just resting his starters whereas Larry Bowa had three players out with injuries - Pat Burrell, David Bell and the dangerous Jim Thome.
Hermanson did his job in the ninth but it wasn’t the 1-2-3 I hoped for. The Phillies got a man on first with two outs. The crowd cheered lustily and I was dreading the roar that we’d already heard several times.
Hermanson bore down and got the final out. Yes!! Three in a row for the Giants and I didn’t jinx them. The Cubs had beaten the Dodgers so we remained one back in the tight race for the National League Wild Card.
Recent Comments