Like most things that have affected my entire life, my first experience with the Phillies began in the late 1990s. I sat in the VIP box at Veterans Stadium as a toddler with my dad’s work. My chubby legs were propped up as I soaked up the AC. I had the time of life because it was also an all you can eat buffet! At my next game, I was very disappointed to find hot dogs weren’t always free and limitless but, I loved sharing a few bites of a Schmitter. I’m all about the food. I was born in the winter, so logistically this doesn’t make sense but the Phillies are the first sports team I ever remember watching.
Fast forward to 2003ish I got my first signed baseball at batting practice. Randy Choate on the Diamondbacks. It was Mother’s Day and Shop Rite was giving out pink Phils hats to the moms. My persistent dad got me one, I couldn’t believe they thought I looked old enough to be a mom! How cool!
I went to a lot of Phillies games over the 2000s because it was fairly cheap, nearby, and my brother's favorite thing to do. We’d get tickets for games v. whatever his Little League team was. My brother Brandon would explain the more intricate rules of baseball like when you already have two strikes and a foul ball is hit it counts as nothing. My dad would explain the rules that just applied to us Philly Phans. If you catch a home run ball by a player on the other team and don’t throw it back on the field the whole stadium will boo you. When we were ready for the boos we followed the Phillies around to Shay Stadium and Camden Yards.
Citizens Bank Park opened up in 2004 and it truly became home. We’d watch BP from Ashburn Alley, as we waited in line for the only Crabfries stand back in the day. We never got cheese because it used to cost extra. But we’d stay right there in the outfield because we knew we’d need to get back in line to get another hot one before the game started and we could no longer leave our seats haha. The games were long and it was sometimes tough for me to stay until the end but I loved the victory song they still play, “High Hopes.” Seeing the stadium unite so happy at the end of a dub was and is so worth it.
Somewhere in this era it was time for me to get a savings account. Guess which bank it's with? My brother started a Phillies blog: allphilliesallthetime.tk this became our password for everything. We also ended every sentence with a “.tk” to make fun of him for a good portion of 2006.
In 2008 my dad let us skip school to go to the World Series victory parade. He went with his dad in ‘80. I was nervous because I was in 6th grade and it was my first time having multiple teachers. I didn’t know if they’d understand my absence. Then we saw my brother’s teacher literally at the parade! He always lucks out! I had never seen Philadelphia like that before! I enjoyed the chaos of champagne showers and seeing everyone hang out of their apartment windows singing We are the Champions. It was really one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of. So at that point I vowed to never miss a Philadelphia championship parade - even the Flyers!
We watched the ceremonial speeches at home in the living room. I heard Utley’s famous F-bomb while carving a pumpkin. It was the best Halloween of my life.
In 2010 my family went to a playoff game without me because I was at my freshman Homecoming dance. I got locked out of the house with no phone, no coat, and no shoes. This playoff season I compulsively checked my pockets for my keys whenever I left the house.
Also in the 2010 era, I started doing September tailgates with my stepmom’s family, Colleen. We were in the middle of a cornhole tournament when my eight year cousin accepted a dizzy bat challenge. He chugged soda out of a Wiffle Ball bat with some twenty year olds. Meanwhile, I was always intrigued by how quickly the scalpers turned out new t-shirts for new players. That tailgate was particularly memorable because the Britney Spears Circus tour was going on simultaneously. We jokingly guessed who was there for Britney and who was there for the Phillies.
Xfinity Live is fairly new and opened in 2012. We moseyed over when I was in high school just to check it out and make fun of some drunks.
I went to a lot of events at the Phillies in college! Including multiple Red goes Greek events. The one my Junior year was also $1 dog night and v. the Mets. With a lot of my sorority being from NYC it was already a mess, but then we ended up not having enough buses home and had to steal someone else’s bus.
Through my Marketing Analytics class I got to do a tour to meet the Phillies Analysts and listen to their Q+A. This was Opening Night as well as, my first time getting close enough to breathe on both World Series trophies.
My senior year of college I surprised my brother with our first Opening Day tickets! We had been wanting to go for a while to be cool like our older cousins who go. The Eagles Super Bowl trophy was there and Doug Peterson threw the first pitch since the Eagles won it all two months prior. We sat at the third base line and saw a very rare Dingery. They wouldn’t let 20-year-old Brandon into Xfinity after the game for ½ price apps even though I told security I’d take care of him like a parent, like I have done my entire life. We drove back to college and have been doing Opening Day ever since.
On Brandon’s 21st Chase Utley played his last baseball game at Citizens Bank Park. Even though he was on the Dodgers at the time, played Kashmir and the crowd erupted like I’d never heard before. My dad filmed the whole thing. We didn’t go out to any bars that night. I picked up a rare disease on the NYC subway where I lost all my fingernails but wouldn't miss Utley’s last at bat for anything.
From 2018-2021 I lived in Reading, PA and went to Reading Fightin Phils games, the Phillies AA affiliate team almost every week. I could get a ticket and dinner for under $20 and scout out future Phillies like Bryson Stott and Rhys Hoskins.
In 2021 I moved to downtown Philly and caught a September $1 Dog Night before the season ended. My first game as an official citizen! I had the parking permit to prove it. I was excited to do new things in the city but also to be close to some of my favorite things like games at Citizens Bank Park.
Game 3 v. Padres. It was rare I was there. I remember it all too well. This has been the craziest sporting event I have ever attended. I could go on but all I will say is it shouldn't be happening. The wildcard team shouldn’t be this good. But that’s the thing about Philly sports, they always keep ya on your toes. They kick it into gear in high pressure scenarios otherwise their fans will tell them to do better. Underdog season has returned. We’re back at the Bank! Let’s end this thing! Phils in 5!
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