Free Time in the Northeast

Recently I had the opportunity to spend some quality time in both Philadelphia and New York. Philly for work, New York for play. During this time I was able to visit Citizens Bank Park to watch the Phillies play the Red Sox as well as make my second trip to Yankee Stadium to watch my Yanks and the Reds. From these trips I will share a few observations. Philly On the fourth day of my conference, I skipped out of a time management seminar and hopped a subway over to a Phillies game. I also convinced a few other underachieving colleagues to do the same. It was a day game against the Red Sox, and a sold out game at that. No box office tickets and all the friendly scalper had were nose bleeds or standing room only. My friends and I took the standing room, which put us in closer proximity to the beer outlets. Once inside, Citizens Bank Park is great. It’s very new, open, with a lot of amenities, and probably not unlike a lot of ballparks that have been built in the last ten to fifteen years. All of the Philadelphia sports venues are all down in the same area of South Philly, so the stadium is surrounded by parking lot. There aren’t any restaurants, hotels, bars, etc near any of the complexes. I think the general idea is to get to the ballpark, get in, enjoy what’s inside until the game is over, then leave. During the game, one thing that struck me was the lack of venom in the fan’s veins. When you think of Philly, you think Rocky, blue collar, rough. Those folks must be strictly limited to the Eagles games, because the crowd I saw at Citizens was very quiet and subdued. Even on the subway ride over to the park, there was a lack of enthusiasm. The Red Sox jumped on them early, but the Phillies weren’t out of it by any means. Maybe everyone just needs a full day of drinking before they get to the game. I don’t know. In the end, the Red Sox won 4-7, but it was a great day, and I would highly recommend the experience to anyone. New York After over a full week in Philadelphia, I finished my conference and my wife met me for an evening of fine food and drink. The next morning we caught a train to New York for some r and r. On the second day of our stay, my wife and I made deal, she could shop all day without a grumbling husband, and I could go to Yankees game. I took the D train up to the Bronx, and by the time we made the last mid town stop, the train was full of Yankee fans. Excited Yankee fans. Loud Yankee fans. Even some vulgar Yankee fans (say it ain’t so). When you’re coming out of subway you can already feel the energy in air. Chants of “let’s go Yankees,” sounds of people selling unlicensed souvenirs in the street (or they could be licensed), and constant chatter of “need tickets, selling tickets?” fill the air. I was thirsty so I squeezed into the loudest bar I could find outside the stadium, Stan’s. Loud music and even louder people. Serious people. I mean they were drinking like they were about to go off to battle. After four or five beverages I made my way to the stadium, and got to my seat just in time for the National Anthem. The atmosphere was electric, and having a great seat added to the moment. We were playing the Cincinnati Reds and the stadium went nuts every time Junior came to bat. Pettite was on the mound and pitched a shut out until a rain delay in the fifth. After the delay they turned it over to the bullpen. In the seventh inning or so, Junior hit homerun number 601, and started a rally that extended into the top of the eighth. At that point Girardi called in Rivera to get the last five outs, and the game was over. All in all to compare the two ballparks I would say that going to Citizens Bank Park is more like going to Six Flags, and going to Yankee Stadium feels like your about to watch a fight. Citizens is fun, and it’s a good place to watch a game, don’t get me wrong, but there are so many other things inside the park that distract your attention. Sadly, the new Yankee stadium that opens next year may have a similar amusement park feeling to it. I hope not. As long as Stan’s is still serving before the game, there will be some rowdy spectators no matter what.