NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Citizens Bank Park

I started this podcast (and this blog) with the intent of posting stories from my travels as a sports fan. On occasion, these travels will include me traveling to home territory. This post launches another new series in the podcast that I'm calling "No Place Like Home." My most recent visit to friendly territory was this past weekend at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and if you haven't already, you can listen to the pod here:

I also have some news to report, and that is that after going through many trials and tribulations with tech support, you can now listen on Apple Podcasts! I'd appreciate a follow and a good rating if you're enjoying this experience so far. I know I am.

As I mentioned on the show, I tried to visit CBP as if I'd never been there before, which was a little tough because it's been my most frequented baseball venue by far. I tried to make sure I took some time to see as many sights around the park as possible, starting with the Liberty Bell replica out front that used to adorn the top of Veterans Stadium:

When they unveiled this restoration in 2019, I appreciated it on so many levels. I'd never seen it in person until now, but I'm glad I finally had the chance to do so. Here's some brief historical info from the plaque next to the sculpture:

When I went to my first baseball game at "The Vet" back in 1988(?), I thought this was the real thing that I'd been told was a significant piece of American history. Not too many years later, I learned that the real bell was much smaller, and resided a few miles away on Independence Mall. Gimme a break. I was only 4 or so years old.

Anyway, Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day for baseball even if it was a bit on the warm side:

This was not the location of my seat, just to be clear. I snapped this as I was walking around the main concourse well before the game started. Speaking of, as most newer ballparks do, the concourse is full of things to see and do that really help improve the overall gameday experience from when we were kids. They actually have a small playground, "The Yard," beyond right field:

It includes a wiffleball field and a climbing wall, among other things for families. As I was by myself, I moved on quickly, but I could see myself really loving this if I were much younger.

Beyond The Yard is my favourite part of the stadium, Ashburn Alley:

To the untrained eye, it may seem like not much more than a wide retail area beyond the outfield, but for me, this is where some of my favourite Phillies moments were witnessed during that magical time between 2007 and 2011, when it was far more common for a group of young friends to buy standing room tickets and hang out in the stadium to experience the game. I could be wrong, but it feels like they somehow widened this area since the last time I was here. If they did, it's a good move, provided the Phillies make it back to the playoffs one day...

It's named after the great Richie Ashburn, who I mostly remember as the color commentator of Phillies broadcasts of my childhood. He's memorialized with a statue beyond the center field fence:

I can't mention Phillies broadcasts of yore without mentioning the voice of my childhood, Harry Kalas, who is also memorialized beyond the left field fence:

I'm not gonna lie, I still get a little emotional every time I see this statue, or hear a replay of one of his calls. I'm so happy that the Phillies got him a World Series victory in his final full season behind the mic.

Moving on, no visit to a stadium for me would be complete without some local beers! I started with a "pretzel pilsner" from Levante Brewing. I'm still not exactly sure what that means other than they brewed it with salt:

Later on in the game, I followed this up with the appropriately named "Ring The Bell" from Conshohocken Brewing:

And of course, there were many other options to choose from. CBP has never lacked in the beer department, but even I was surprised to see how much variety was at my disposal.

As I continued around the concourse, I saw a few more interesting things, including this T-shirt:

For those of you who know your geography, you'll know that the outline is clearly not the state of Ohio. I asked the guy wearing it what the story was, and he showed me the back of the shirt which read "Scarlet & Gray Runs Deep in Illinois." A bit wordy, and not my cup of tea, but interesting that he was also a traveling fan (of the Buckeyes, in this case). Turns out, he is trying to visit every ballpark in the MLB before he turns 40, doing so over a number of years. That's pretty cool.

Continuing on, I headed to the upper deck where my seat was located. As I mentioned on the pod, I don't mind sitting up high. I sometimes find it's easier to follow the action on the field, and in the case of outdoor stadiums, it usually provides for a more breathtaking view of the whole experience:

I saw a few more notable things on my way to my seat. I never noticed this old sign from The Vet before, but now I kinda remember seeing these as a kid:

There's another Liberty Bell replica on the third base side that provides for a great photo op complete with the city as a backdrop:

And to the left of that sculpture is this neat little mural that includes lyrics to the Phillies fight song, which I didn't know existed!

Not really a fight song, but most Phillies fans associate "High Hopes" with the team, thanks to the lasting legacy of the wonderful Harry Kalas.

It was a pretty warm day at the ballpark, so a lot of fans in the upper deck moved to the shade in the very top rows of the seats. I thought that was pretty funny:

Being that it WAS quite warm, I decided to get a little ice cream to cool down. The bonus of getting ice cream at the ballpark is that you get to keep the helmet cup:

That's a pretty nifty looking helmet to add to my collection, which is hiding somewhere in a box in my office upstairs. Maybe one day I'll have to display those for a future post on here. Interestingly enough, the Phillies have not worn a cap with those colors to my knowledge, but it's still cool nonetheless. Related, I'm also pretty sure the Phillies never used upside-down W's on their jersey names:

If you don't notice stuff like that, you're totally normal. I started paying attention to uniform minutiae at a young age and I've never stopped. I wanna throw a quick link to Uni Watch just in case there are others of you like me out there who would appreciate that sort of thing. The guy who runs it is a Mets fan, but if you can get past that, it's great for uni-related information and stories.

And finally, after some debate, I DID opt to buy a scorecard as I usually do:

Owing in part to a lackluster performance, I decided to stop keeping score after the 7th inning. You probably know by now, but the Pirates ended up taking this one from the Phillies by a score of 5-0:

I won't complain too much, though. The Phils took 6 of 7 in the season series against an obviously inferior team, and we weren't able to say those sorts of things in years past. This team DOES feel different. Despite that disappointing result, I'm glad I decided to pop in to the ballpark, and I'm ALWAYS happy when I get to visit my favourite city even if only for a weekend:

This is unrelated to this blog or this podcast, but I greatly enjoyed visiting some other old favs including Monk's Tavern, Devil's Den, and the Triangle Tavern among others. I'd also like to once again throw a shout out to my friends Dan and Lacy for putting me up for the weekend. I look forward to returning again some day, maybe for a different sporting event?

Thanks for listening & reading, and enjoy the rest of your week.

HOSTILE TERRITORY: Great American Ballpark

Tuesday night ended up being a historic outing for your Philadelphia Phillies, and I was there as they visited Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. If you haven't already listened to my podcast about the experience, you can do so here:

For those keeping score at home, this is my third consecutive visit to an opposing stadium in as many weeks. I didn't get to enjoy as much of the surrounding atmosphere this time around due to work constraints, but I can imagine the neighborhood right outside the ballpark being a lot of fun on a weekend or before the rare Reds playoff game:

I suppose I don't have much room to talk. The Reds have been in the playoffs more recently than the Phillies. Anyway, there are a number of bars and restaurants that I'd love to visit if I have more time on my next visit (whenever that is). I paused just long enough to take the above photo before turning around and heading in to the stadium:

The main entrance features statues of many Reds greats, including former Phillies great Pete Rose (a.k.a. Charlie Hustle):

Putting aside his personal life, there is no debating that he was one of the greatest ballplayers of all time, and the Phillies owe their first World Championship partially to his joining the team. For those of you who aren't aware, Rose played for some of the greatest Reds teams in history known as "The Big Red Machine" in the 1970's alongside other stars such as Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, and Johnny Bench among many others:

As you have probably noticed, the skies were threatening before gametime, but the worst of the weather did hold off for the most part. It was a decent night to be at a ballpark, or Bark in the Park if you owned a dog:

I actually didn't see as many dogs as I thought I would. Perhaps the threatening weather played a factor in that. In any case, I got to revisit one of my favourite stadium beer bars (this is my third visit to this stadium) in the Brewery District:

It features many local beers plus some popular national craft brews. I thought about also stopping by JJ Bootleggers just because it looked so neat, like something straight out of the 1920's:

A quick walk around the outfield before game time yielded a couple interesting finds. There's a riverboat sculpture overlooking the Ohio River beyond the center field fence:

Keeping with that theme, there's a rentable suite/club above the hitter's eye that's also shaped like a steamboat (with some smokestacks next door):

Finally, tucked underneath the bleachers and the Bowtie Bar is the opposition bullpen:

I had quite the adventure getting to my seats in the upper deck. Maybe I was a bit ignorant of signage, but this was the only place I saw anything telling me how to get to the escalators to the top level, tucked way behind home plate somewhere:

In any case, I found my way up there, but I spent most of my time in "The Gap," a standing area in the upper deck that provides a great view of the playing field and much easier access to concessions and restrooms. Seen here is that view with my usual scorecard purchase:

If you've listened to the pod already, here are the "toothbrush" scoreboards I mentioned in there. They're pretty neat, but I did find them somewhat hard to figure out:

Note that I didn't say that I couldn't read them. My eyes are still fine. However, I can also understand them being hard to read. It's a neat concept, but could use improvement.

Later on in the game when things were mostly in hand, I headed back down to the lower deck to meet up with some friends I hadn't seen since before the pandemic, ironically at a Phillies/Reds game:

My move had me sitting next to a woman who had a Phillies tattoo and some neat custom sneakers to match:

Among the more interesting fan jerseys I spotted this evening was this kiddo rocking a Kyle Gibson jersey. He was the pitcher of record this evening, but I'm not sure I'd have shelled out the money to get the replica jersey of a 4th (at best) starter:

Whatever the case, Gibson pitched well enough for the Phillies to secure their 10,000th win in franchise history that night:

It's somewhat tough to tell the difference between Reds and Phillies fans due to the similar color schemes, but trust me when I tell you that most of the fans who had stuck around were cheering for the away team.

I'm glad the guy a couple rows behind me made me aware of the situation. I thanked him by putting him in my video of the final out:

And so it was a great evening at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. I'm not sure when I'll return, but so far I've enjoyed my visits. I hope you enjoy your weekend, and go Phillies!

HOSTILE TERRITORY: TQL Stadium

For the second consecutive weekend, I found myself venturing into hostile territory, this time to see a much less popular sport here in America: Soccer. I took a short 1.5 hour drive from Columbus down to Cincinnati for a visit to TQL Stadium, where FC Cincinnati played host to the Philadelphia Union last Saturday. You can read on below for more pictures and info about the experience, and check out the podcast here:

As per my preferred routine, I arrived early for the match. I especially like doing this when I'm visiting a new stadium so I can soak in as much of the experience as possible. I parked a few blocks away in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood and walked over to the stadium from there, hoping to grab a beer at The Pitch across the street:

It's a nice enough place, but as you can see from the second picture above, the lines were already quite long by the time I'd arrived. Considering that there weren't any other bars nearby (but there were a few by where I parked - d'oh!) AND considering the price of a beer was only a couple bucks cheaper than it would be at the stadium, I decided to head across the street where crowds were most certainly lower:

Side note: I mentioned on the podcast that I thought the stadium seated about 10,000 people. It actually seats 26,000. That's quite impressive, IMO.

Beer options inside were plentiful, including Sam Adams and Rhinegeist booths (both brew their beer just a few blocks from the stadium). I decided to go for something a little more off the radar and a little more humourous:

It's named after the "Hell is Real" sign you can see on Interstate 71 between Columbus and Cincinnati, which is also the namesake of the rivalry between FC Cincinnati and Columbus Crew SC. This is just one of the many great local beers available throughout the stadium, and if you know me, you know how much I appreciate supporting local beer.

I enjoyed most of that beer at the bar overlooking the stadium from the northwest corner:

To the right, you can see the supporters section, called "The Bailey."

As for food, vegetarian options were limited from what I could find, but even though this isn't the greatest pic of this mac & cheese, it was quite tasty:

I'll also give props for this sweet cream cheese filled soft pretzel, something I've only seen before at Wawa (if you know, you know):

For the omnivores out there, options are a little more plentiful. Even though I didn't eat it, I appreciated that this BBQ vendor added a special item just for Saturday's match:

And of course, there's local favourite Skyline Chili. It wasn't my thing even when I used to eat meat, but if you like cinnamon & nutmeg in your chili on your spaghetti, have at it:

There was a great moment during the pre-game where FCC midfielder Haris Medunjanin was presented with a frankenjersey featuring both the Union and FCC, as he is returning to Bosnia soon. He had played for both teams during his MLS career:

He drew into the lineup later in the match when it was out of reach, nearly scoring a goal as well:

As for the match itself, it didn't go the way I'd hoped, but I'm pleased with my decision to make the trip down regardless. Thanks to the two season ticket holders to my right for posting the ticket on StubHub and for being very hospitable despite our differing allegiances. There's truly not a bad seat in the house that I could see, and FCC has a truly passionate fanbase that absolutely brought it:

The stadium looks even more visually appealing at night when it's illuminated in various colours:

And...there are appropriately themed bike racks:

While waiting out traffic, it seemed like a perfect time to head back over to The Pitch to enjoy a nice cool beverage outside on a gorgeous late Summer evening, complete with more views of the stadium in the background:

If you're ever in the Cincinnati area, I'd definitely recommend taking in a match at TQL Stadium as part of your plans. Unless something comes up, I'll be back the next time the Union are in town for sure.