Comments on: Phillies top Yankees, lead MLB in attendance for the first time

By: philsrule

philsrule — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 02:19:01 +0000

Plus the Phillies had 3 additional games in 2010 since the series against Toronto was moved to Philadelphia because of the G-7 conference.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:50:27 +0000

Perhaps the “self-important” part. Otherwise, no.

By: citynative

citynative — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:51:15 +0000

Phair. Weather. Phans.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:32:16 +0000

In other words, boring, self-important, and lacking in imagination.

Are you still talking about the park or are you describing Mike Rizzo?

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:22:09 +0000

A thumbs up for the sarcasm.

As I’ve said in this space before, compliments to the Phillies front-runners for showing up to their ballpark in such large numbers. Not every team’s front-runners do that.

By: mrznyc

mrznyc — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:20:14 +0000

Sure is a bad park on the East Coast – Citi Field in NYC – Or should I say Dodger Field – Not only is it a monument to the Dodgers (our competition) it has mountains of obstructed views and is so drenched in exploding advertising it is sometimes difficult to watch the game. From the minute you get into your seat you quickly realize that the worst thing that could happen from the standpoint of the owners would be for you to reamin in your seat and watch a baseball game.

By: natstowngreg

natstowngreg — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:19:09 +0000

No imagination? I’ve attended many games at Nationals Park, and agree that it lacks a certain pizzaz as a ballpark.

But you have to consider how the park fits with the city. Nationals Park was built to fit with Washington’s core architecture — low-rise, monumental-style office buildings, of varying degrees of ornateness. In other words, boring, self-important, and lacking in imagination.

IMHO, it fits its locale as well as the bricks of Camden Yards and the steel of PNC Park fit the locales of Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Thankfully, the park looks more like a real ballpark once you get inside the gates, especially if you come in (as most fans do) to the Centerfield Plaza.

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:58:38 +0000

Nationals Park is boring as hell. It’s new, spacious, close to the train station and there is a nice little bar about 3 blocks away with some good craft brews. The park itself is just pretty boring. No imagination.

My favorite would be Pitt. Love that view from behind the plate. I’ve been to CBP, Fenway, Nationals Park, Turner, Yankee, and Camden Yards. Pitt would be my favorite of those. Since you all were waiting for my answer….

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:51:35 +0000

That wasn’t supposed to be a reply. I was just making a sarcastic statement that would stand alone, so don’t apalogize. 204 straight sellouts is pretty impressive.

By: Francisco (FC)

Francisco (FC) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:48:58 +0000

Now we need only wait for Sabremetric stats to catch up with that fact. Phillies Phans should have the highest WAR of all fans in 2011 after accounting for seating capacity, rainouts, etc.

By: loungefly74

loungefly74 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:48:46 +0000

they earned it. the owners assembled a great team. a perfect example of dividends paying off. hats off.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:42:42 +0000

Turner Field is nothing to write home about, but its not a bad stadium. The park itself is actually wonderful. It’s the location – in the middle of a wasteland of pavement, isolated from the rest of the city – that prevents it from being a great park. The location and the gridlock you have to negotiate to get to that location also have a lot to do with Atlanta’s attendance woes.

By: kopy

kopy — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:39:11 +0000

The Phillies haven’t had a losing record in CBP. It’s cool to stick to your guns. Any team with a new stadium will have plus attendance, and a good record will put it over the top. Add in that Philadelphia is the largest metro area with 1 team, behind Dallas, and it shouldn’t be surprising that their attendance is so high.

By: bitchassjosh

bitchassjosh — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:37:22 +0000

carlosologist, they came in second in the east in 2004, 2005 and 2006. While they werent the team they are now, they were still fairly decent.

As an aside, I would assume that the slip in attendance is most likely due to the deluge of rain Philly received in August. Many rescheduled games :/

By: kopy

kopy — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:35:19 +0000

Truthfully, I have not. On the list, I’ve only been to Yankee, Citi, and CBP. But Fenway is next on my list. However, I’m a sucker for history (I really enjoyed Wrigley), so I’ll probably end up liking it. Even if it sucks, it’s hard to fault Boston since we all know they could afford to tear down and rebuild a state-of-the-art home if they really wanted to.

By: carlosologist

carlosologist — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:25:37 +0000

I apologize, I didn’t mean anything to say that the Philly faithful weren’t loyal last season. I meant to say that they’ve been faithful since they’ve had this beautiful new place to go to. Philly wasn’t very good in 04-06, I believe.

Once again, I apologize.

By: somekat

somekat — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:22:34 +0000

Have you ever been to Fenway? The history is great, I get that, but it is a rat hole

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:20:15 +0000

It’s because we have the best fans in the world. I’m just glad the stats caught up with that fact.

By: xmatt0926x

xmatt0926x — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:15:42 +0000

I think all the new parks are pretty nice at this point, no matter the location. I just wanted to point out before we get the standard “yeah, but they only draw well because they have a winning team” nonsense is that yes it’s true that any fan base will naturally be more “loyal” when their team is winning, but there are several teams that don’t draw even if they are doing well. Just watch the highlights on tv and it’s amazing how empty some of these stadiums are for the teams in contention.

By: kopy

kopy — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:09:50 +0000

Is there a bad park on the East Coast?

CBP is great. So are Yankee and Citi (I personally think Citi is the better venue in a vacuum, but Yankee wins through team/history). Fenway is Fenway. Camden Yards is a model ballpark that is beloved and ushered in this era of retro parks. National Park is also great and well built. Pittsburgh is always mentioned as one of the best. You’d have to go to Atlanta or Tampa to find a bad ballpark, especially with Miami opening a new one next year, and Atlanta probably isn’t even bad (never heard much of it other than it hosted ’96 olympics).

By: b7p19

b7p19 — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:01:41 +0000

Look how much less loyal the Philly fans have been this season than last. Terrible showing. They should relocate this team to a city that will properly support them.

By: carlosologist

carlosologist — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:53:53 +0000

Philly’s had a good run since Citizen’s Bank opened. Not a coincidence that the park is full, seeing how good they are at the moment. It also helps that it is one of the best parks on the East Coast.