The Philadelphia Sports Complex included the Vet, where the Phillies and the “Iggles” played, the Wachovia Center, where the Flyers and 76-ers play, and an open air football field.
Originally the Vet had a lousy fake field and ugly orange seats. Later they put in a new field. Less crappy, but still fake. The seats were changed to blue, which at least is a Phillies color.
Note the Bud logo was italicized.
The Liberty Bell would light up when a Phil hit a homer. At the new ballpark they upped that to three Liberty Bells: red, white and blue.
At the Phillies Hall of Fame there was no mention of how they set an all-time sports record with their 10,000th loss.
The big Philly Favorite is, of course, a big greasy cheesesteak. And they taste best at the ballpark.
Former Phillies 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt had a statue outside The Vet.
In 2002 the new ballpark was under construction next door.
October 2003: Construction had come a long way. Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004 and I was there for Game One.
I was in Philadelphia in January 1993 as a Greater Media programming consultant to monitor Magic 106.7/WMJX Boston’s sister station Magic 102.9/WMGK and try to figure out why we were doing much better in Boston than they were in Philly. Obviously this was a business trip and I did not have to pay for it. I looked around the locked stadium the day of the Bill Clinton inauguration. I was actually staying at the Hotel Atop the Bellevue…which was the site of the Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak of 1976. Much later, in 2006, I came down with a strange disease no one could figure out and I was tested for everything the doctors could think of…including Legionnaire’s…because I had stayed there. But Legionnaire’s was not the problem. Unlikely it would still be in the air 30 years later.
Philadelphia had just been through a winter storm of snow and ice, and the ice factor made the streets practically impassable. Rather than the streets being plowed and sanded the ice partially melted, then re-froze. The result was deep ice ruts and an extremely slippery surface. Being a New Englander I’m used to driving on snow-covered streets, but this was the toughest maneuvering I have ever faced. That summer I was back for a WMGK Strategic Study and driving was greatly improved.Again, a trip I didn’t have to pay for.
Game: July 28, 1993. I bought a $7 scalper ticket for $5 right before game time and saw the Phillies play the Cardinals. Sat in the top deck in center field, right below the Liberty Bell. It was the best I could do because they had 46,000 fans on hand. I had a Philly cheesesteak. Big and sloppy and tasty.
In the Cardinals lineup was the Wizard of Oz, Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith, the idol of Jesse Stone in the Robert B. Parker books. Also, Luis Alicea, Bernard Gilkey, Mark Whiten and Rheal Cormier, all of whom spent time with the Red Sox. After a third-out flyball catch right fielder Whiten would just drop the ball on the fake field and it would roll all the way to the mound. (The crappy fake field (top shot above) was later replaced by a much better – but still fake – field.) The Phillies starter and winner was Terry Mulholland (10-8). He went 7 innings and was relieved by Larry Andersen, who also had a cup of coffee – not of Starbucks quality – with Boston. The Red Sox traded Hall-of-Famer Jeff Bagwell, who came up through their organization, to Houston in order to get Andersen. One of the worst trades ever. 1st base was manned by John Kruk, a colorful figure who was played by Chris Farley on SNL when the Phils went to the World Series that Fall. It was a back-and-forth game: Cards up 4-0 in the 1st, Phils tie it in the 3rd, go ahead 5-4 in the 5th, Cards go up 6-5 in the 7th, Philadelphia gets 3 bottom 7 and 6 bottom 8 and win, 14-6.
I was back working in Philly in 2003 while the new ballpark was being built and stopped by a few times to see the progress.
The new field – originally slated to be named Phillies Ballpark but Citizens Bank bought the naming rights – would have have real grass. It was built right across right the street from the Vet.
Can you believe the ticket is only $7 and I talked the guy who sold it to me down to $5?
