Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies-Pirates. One of the great rivalries in all of sports. A classic that dates back to Barry Bonds and Mike Schmidt. Maybe even earlier, who knows. The point is, Doug and I hadn't heard of half of the guys pitching, and the ones we did know were way past their prime. Shit, most of these guys didn't have a prime.

Couldn't have mattered less. Citizens Bank Park is a genuinely awesome place to see a game. I mean, even the scalpers are friendly. The guy we bought our tickets from walked me to the ATM and chatted me up about Arlen Specter's senate race, regaling me with stories about the days when he lived in Berkeley 20 years ago, even going so far as to walk me and Buzz up to the turnstile and wave us goodbye when we entered the park. Sure, I checked my pockets to make sure my wallet was still there, but the guy was NICE. And he was a scalper.

Great seats in foul ball territory, a first at-bat of the game dinger by yet another Pirate we don't know, then a Philly brand massacre capped off in the 8th by Ryan Howard's towering 420 foot grand slam. By the time we'd finished our swirl ice cream helmet, 6 beers, hot dog and giant pretzel, it was already the 8th. Man, time PHLIES when you're watching the Phanatic.

Who is, by all accounts, the greatest mascot in sports. I don't say that because the A's used to be from Philadelphia, I say that because he's green and does cool stuff with his belly.

Final tally: 12 to 2 Phills. Howard went home with six RBI, a pair of runs and a bomb, and the recently released from the DL Jimmie Rollins even cranked in a run with a 2-for-4 effort. Fun baseball to watch, great ice cream helmet, awesome stadium. Cheers.

Phillies 12, Pirates 2.

To Baltimore.


Buzz caught Arlen Specter trying to stump in front of Citizens Bank Park. Efforts to capture his likeness in an A's hat were rebuked by aides.




Now THIS is a guy who likes his own product.