Don’t keep it limited to just baseball
On Thursday, I went to my first game at Citizens Bank Park in two years. Usually, I like to get two or three games a season, but with kids in travel sports and dance and work, going there has become more difficult. However, finally making it back, I was struck by how well that stadium has done in the twenty plus years of its existence. I went to the first exhibition game there and will never forget walking up and seeing the green grass and being shocked at the difference between that and the turf of Veterans Stadium.
However, the Vet still holds a special place in my heart. It’s where I went growing up, looking at the yellow pages each time to got tickets to look at the map of the Vet to find out where we were going to be sitting. I remember in 2003, when Pat Burrell struggled so, so badly, dropping a fly ball in the rain to lose a game and how the crowd didn’t boo him at all. They knew he was going through it and cheered him incessantly at the plate. I remember the football game where a Giants fan was standing in line to use the restroom, then when it was finally his turn, he was lifted and passed out without his feet ever touching the floor and his asking “what just happened?” once he was outside.
I love the Vet.
Which brings us to our question of the day: what is your favorite memory of Veterans Stadium? Doesn’t have to be a Phillies related answer, just your favorite memory of all time.