Phanatic fun

Saturday began with a lovely brunch at Tom and Kate’s before we drove to Philadelphia.  We checked into our hotel and set off for the stadium.

Citizen’s Bank Park was very enjoyable.  Dustin awards it a B+/A-.  He says that the field itself was excellent with a great view of the city, he liked the Phanatic (I had to look up that spelling), the fans were decked out in Phillies gear, the food selection was ok, the beer selection was not very good.  The online ticketing process for this game was time-consuming and convoluted, so we ended up with upper-level seats.  They did heighten the view, at least.

Note the fine view of downtown Philadelphia.  This considerably raised my opinion of the field.  And our seats.

A bit of tension came from the fact that the game had a 4:00 start time, and we had 8:30 dinner reservation.  Most of the games we’ve seen have been unusually speedy, but we figured even if this one ran long, we’d be fine with that much of a gap.  I’m sure you can guess what’s coming: a marathon game that ultimately ran close to four hours (we were able to push back dinner, but it added a bit of drama to the proceedings for awhile).

Here's the Phanatic being generally Phanatic-like.

Here's the Phanatic attempting to force us to be "Louder!"  Argh.  The fans were already cheering.  It's the 9th inning.  Shut up, stupid noise-related signs.

In contrast to other recent games, this was not a well-pitched event, but more of an offensive blowout. Tampa Bay took an early lead, the Phillies rallied and took a 6-3 lead, Papelbon blew the save, and then Jim Thome came in to pinch-hit in the bottom of the 9th.  First pitch - walk off home run!  Exciting times.

The walk-off home run mob.

Saturday night concluded with our delayed dinner at Sbraga, where we were seated at the chef's counter and enjoyed watching the action in addition to eating the delicious food.  Then, Sunday brought a tour of the typical "Philadelphia" tourist attractions - Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Pat's King of Steaks, the Rocky statue... 

Please don't think less of us after viewing this picture.

 Up next: Boston, where Dustin insists on saying "chow-dah" as often as possible.