Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park
Home to the Philadelphia Phillies Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date Opened: April 12, 2004- Cincinnati Reds 4, Philadelphia Phillies 1
Capacity: 43,647
Game Attended: May 26, 2009 Phillies vs. Florida Marlins 5-3

Location & Accesibility (0-5): 3
Citizens Bank Park is located in the South Philly Sports Complex with the Wachovia Center, (76ers, NBA and Flyers, NHL) and Lincoln Financial Field (Eagles, NFL). The area was also home to Veterans Stadium and The Spectrum. The Phillies wanted to locate their new field closer to the downtown area but faced some roadbacks, so the team settled to rebuild in the complex. All-in-all the field still has a view of the downtown skyscrapers and with all the history in the complex, it's not a bad place to be.

Historic Value (0-5): 3
Originality (0-5): 3
Only in its seventh year the park has already hosted two World Series, included the famous, rain-delayed 2008 Series where the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays. The park has many original features including statues of Phillies greats such as Mike Schmidt, Robin Roberts, and Steve Carlton. Ashburn Alley in the outfield is a miniature Phillies Hall-of-Fame in the outfield. Many other local features are incorporated into the park which will be discussed in further sections.

Fans (0-5): 5
Another chilly, rainy evening at the ballpark for me, but the atmosphere was still great for the two-time defending National League Champions. The park has been drawing a near capacity crowd game in and game out for some time now. Philly fans definitely have a reputation for being rowdy as well.

Fun Factor (0-5): 5
The Phillie Phanatic, one of sports original mascots, and his crazy antics calls the park home. There is a giant Liberty Bell in right field that dings and sways back and forth after every Phillie home-run. The team store is a whopping two stories that has any Phillie clothing item you could want. There is also a Build-a-Bear shop where one can build their own Phillie Phanatic.

Concessions & Restaurants (0-5): 5
Philly Cheese steaks, yum! Eating any item in the town its named after is heaven on a bun! Harry The K's restaurant that sits in left field is a great place to grab a bite to eat while watching the game. Pizza and Barbecue can also be found with all your other ballpark foods.

My own Subjectivity (0-5): 5
Citizens Bank Park is home to my favorite team so of course I am going to be a little biased towards it. In all honestly though, this ballpark is truly great, it has everything you could want, good food, good fans, and a good team.

Total Score (0-35)= 29

Criteria for "The Ballpark Series" can be found here.

And here is why I love baseball stadiums!