My day started around 8:30 am. Me and a couple of friends wanted to get an early start to the festivities, and get things right starting with an old fashioned tailgating party. But of course, we get a late start and hit the ever present Philly traffic, strolling into the parking lot around 11:30 a.m. We got an early scare when the parking attendant told us that Jim Thome had broken his leg. Everybody let out a groan. I let one out for a different reason. Jim Thome was my top pick in this yearıs fantasy draft. Am I a terrible person for being so selfish? Am I really a true fan? This is the dilemma of fantasy baseball. Such is life. We frantically turned on the radio in search of any news about Jim Thome. We heard nothing, so we pondered going back and breaking the parking attendantıs leg. We casually ignored the sign that forbade us from tailgating and fired up the 30 year old hibachi my friend Cakeater pulled from his garage. In a few short minutes, we were in heaven with grilled hot dogs and sausage, lubed by our good friend Yuengling. A hot dog had never tasted better.

After gorging ourselves on spicy sausage and beer, we sauntered into the ballpark. The whole time, I was arguing with my friend Dave about the lasting impression of cool this new ballpark is going to offer us. I proposed that Citizens Bank Ballpark is going to become the Vet in 20 yearsŠan outdated copycat with no personality. In true Philadelphia fashion, they have followed the trends of the day a few years too late, and have shown no efforts of innovation. My fears were confirmed when I walked into the ballpark and took my seat in the upper deck. I cursed to myself, thinking that these same seats at the Vet cost me $8. But at least I was theoretically supposed to have a great view of the Philadelphia skyline from up here. Oh wait, the skyline was obscured by a monstrous scoreboard. So much for the view.

I began to look for more distinguishing features of the new ballpark. I scratched my head in the absence of anything that screamed to me ³I AM PHILADELPHIA.² Sure, they have a jumbo liberty bell. Woo hoo. I began to look in the 2004 Citizens Bank Park convenience guide for some more info on the ballpark. As I scoured the pamphlet, I noticed features that were highlighted by the phrase ³Not Your Typical Ballpark Feature.² These ³not-so-typical² features include an expanded concessions area called Ashburn Alley, a sharp angle in the playing field cleverly titled ³The Angle², and luxurious extra wide padded seats including a full service bar and a pregame buffet for the wealthy, entitled ³The Diamond Club.² Sounds quite typical to me. But what took the cake for me was the paragraph bragging about the new ³Rooftop Bleacher Seats², a tribute to Shibe Park where 199 fans can enjoy a unique setting located above the concession buildings along Ashburn Alley. I have a better idea. How about real rooftop seats. On real buildings. Downtown. Like Wrigley Field. Whoops, too late for that.

I continued absorbing the new stadium, and it began to strike me as being very naked. Now, naked can sometimes be good, and can sometimes be great. But not in this case. Citizens Bank Park looks very empty and lifeless from the inside. I wasnıt expecting Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, but Citizens Bank Park isnıt even on par with Kauffman Stadium or Dodger Stadium. It pales in comparison to its contemporaries that it was supposedly modeled after. It is most certainly not Camden Yards or PNC Park. It is a generic stadium in the middle of a sports complex with a mediocre view of the city in which it shares nothing in common with.

There is nothing there that distinguishes itself as Philadelphiaıs own unique stadium. Donıt get me wrong, it is exponentially better than Veterans Stadium, and it is still a nice stadium. But it is by no means exceptional in a city that desperately needed something exceptional to root for. The good news is, it looks like the team on the field will outshine the new ballpark which was built for them.

That is unless Thome does really break his leg.

posted 04.08.04