Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004 and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the Phillies losing to the Cincinnati Reds, 4–1. The ballpark was built to replace the now-demolished Veterans Stadium (a football/baseball multipurpose facility), and features natural grass and dirt playing field and also features a number of Philadelphia-style food stands, including several which serve cheesesteaks, hoagies, and other regional specialties. The ballpark lies on the northeast corner of the Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, the Wachovia Center, and the Wachovia Spectrum.
History
Planning
In 1998, the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League joined their Western Pennsylvania counterparts, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers in making requests to replace both Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate stadiums. Pressure for new Philadelphia stadiums increased after a railing collapsed at The Vet during the Army–Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates threatened to leave Pittsburgh in 1997, which helped convince the legislature to approve funding for the four proposed stadiums. While Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts swiftly, due to plans already being in place at the time of legislative approval, debate within Philadelphia's city leadership carried on as Pittsburgh opened their stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers) in 2001. The Eagles agreed to a site slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium, which would become Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles' stadium was built on the site of an old food warehouse and celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.
The Phillies originally wanted a downtown ballpark similar to Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, initially at Broad and Spring Garden streets, Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue and next to 30th Street Station, where the main post office is located. The team and City announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets, just north of Interstate 676, within walking distance of the Center City downtown district. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park from business and labor and the city at large, but residents of the city's Chinatown section protested. The City and team eventually settled on building at the south Philadelphia sports complex, on the site of an old food warehouse much like Lincoln Financial Field. In the years that followed, residents, fans and owner Bill Giles expressed regret that the new ball park was not located in Center City. Regardless of location, the team set records in 2009 for attendance (3,600,649 fans) and sellouts (73, including 42 straight at the end of the season).
The unveiling of the park and ground breaking ceremonies were on June 28, 2001. Following the game that evening, the location of the left-field foul pole was unveiled at the outset of the team's annual 4th of July fireworks display. On June 17, 2003 Citizens Bank agreed with the team to a 25-year, US $95 million deal for naming rights and advertising on telecasts, radio broadcasts, publications and inside the facility. The ballpark was officially topped off on August 12, 2003, and opened in April 2004.
Modifications
Shortly after the park opened in 2004, the bullpens were reassigned so the Phillies' pitchers used the lower pen and visitors use the upper pen. This was done to give Phillies' pitchers a better view of the game and to protect them from heckling by rowdy fans.
In its first years, Citizens Bank Park allowed 218 home runs in 2004 and 201 in 2005. More than half of those home runs were to left-field. Following the 2005 season, the left-field wall was moved back 5 feet (1.5 m).
Even with these modifications, the park has a reputation as one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball. In 2009, it gave up 149 home runs, the most in the National League and second in the majors behind only the new Yankee Stadium.
Significant events
- Randy Wolf of the Phillies threw the first pitch at 1:32 pm EDT on April 12 , 2004 to D'Angelo Jimenez of the Reds, who got the park's first hit, a lead-off double. Bobby Abreu of the Phillies hit the first home run, which also served as the franchise's first hit in the club's new home. Reds pitcher Paul Wilson earned the first win in that game and Danny Graves earned the park's first save.
- On June 14, 2004, former Phillies first baseman Jim Thome hit his 400th career home run to the left-center field seats at Citizens Bank Park.
- The Eastern League Reading Phillies hosted the Trenton Thunder on May 9, 2005 at CBP; Reading beat Trenton 5–3.
- On September 14, 2005, Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves hit his 300th career home run which went 430 feet (130 m) off Phils reliever Geoff Geary in a 12–4 Phillies win. The ball landed in the upper deck in left field.
- The Phillies lost their 10,000th regular-season game in their history on July 15, 2007 to the St. Louis Cardinals, 10–2, marking the first time a professional sports franchise reached that plateau.
- The park hosted its first World Series game on October 25, 2008, with the Phillies defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 5–4 in Game 3. Before the game, country music singer Tim McGraw, the son of the late Phillies closer Tug McGraw (who had recorded the last out in the Phillies' World Series victory in 1980), took a handful of his dad's ashes and spread them on the pitcher's mound just before handing the ball used in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in the game to Steve Carlton. The elder McGraw died from a brain tumor in 2004. Four days later, the Phillies completed a suspended Game Five, defeating the Rays, 4–3, and claiming the franchise's second World Series championship in front of a park record crowd of 45,940.
- The first inside-the-park home run was hit by Jimmy Rollins on June 20, 2004, against the Kansas City Royals.
Features
Ashburn Alley
Behind center field is Ashburn Alley, named after Phillies Hall of Fame center fielder Richie Ashburn, who played for the team from 1948 to 1959 and was a Phillies broadcaster from 1963 to 1997. It is seen by Phillies fans as a compromise between the Phillies and their fans, many of whom wanted Citizens Bank Park named in honor of Ashburn.
Ashburn Alley is named for the slightly-overgrown grass which bordered the third base line at Shibe Park where Ashburn was famous for laying down bunts that stayed fair. The new Ashburn Alley, located near Ashburn's defensive position, is a walkway featuring restaurants, games and memorabilia from Phillies history. Ashburn Alley also features a memorabilia shop and a large bronze statue of Ashburn directly behind center field, as well as the U.S. flag, the flags of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, a POW/MIA flag and the flags from the Phillies' championships (below).
This area opens two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled first pitch, similar to Eutaw Street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards via the Left Field Gate, with two exceptions: Opening Day, when all gates open three hours before the scheduled first pitch and on the team's annual Photo Day, when all gates open two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled first pitch to allow fans with cameras onto the warning track to take pictures (or videos) of the team's players.
Features of the Alley are:
- All-Star Walk — Granite markers pay tribute to Phillies players that have played in the MLB All-Star Game since its inception in 1933 and runs the length of Ashburn Alley.
- Bull's BBQ — Located at the eastern end of the Alley, it is named in honor of and owned in part by former Phillies outfielder Greg "The Bull" Luzinski. This southern-style barbecue features ribs, turkey legs along with pork, beef and chicken sandwiches and "Bulldogs" (kielbasa).
- Seasons Pizza - A new pizza franchise in CBP that took over for Peace A Pizza starting in the 2008 season.
- Planet Hoagie - Local franchise that makes hoagies, including one named after a Phillies player each series.
- Campo's — Philadelphia cheesesteaks, replaced Rick's Steaks in 2009. The original Campo's opened in 1947.
- Tony Luke's — Tony Luke's famous cheesesteaks and roast pork.
- Games of Baseball — Sponsored by Citizens Bank, this interactive area features a giant baseball-themed pinball machine, a run-the-bases game with the Phillie Phanatic, and a "Pitch 'Em and Tip 'Em" game
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