The Phillies will be celebrating a significant milestone tonight as they sell out Citizen’s Bank Park for the 100th straight game. It’s certainly a testament to what a great place to see a game that CBP is… but make no mistake about it, the reason 43,000 people go to ball park every night is because the Phillies have built a winner.
No amount of Ashburn Alleys or great atmospheres would sell out the building if the product on the field wasn’t good. We’re definitely spoiled right now as Phillies fans with both a great park and a great to team to watch play there. It wasn’t that long ago when we didn’t have either. Jimmy Rollins told the Inquirer that he remembers those bad old days…
“The Vet was bad,” said Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins. “You’d look up and see something like 20,000 on the official attendance and you’d look in the stands and it was like 12,000. There were times you could hear someone whisper.”
The Phillies are #1 in the National League in attendance. Actually, it’s ironic that Cole Hamels pitches tonight, because as NBC10 points out he was on the mound the last time the team failed to sell out a game. That game ended up being a great night at the ballpark.
In an interesting twist the Phils last didn’t sell out when Hamels took the hill against the Reds last July 6. Those few fans that failed to make it a sellout missed something special considering the Phillies racked up a 22-1 wipe-out of Cincy (yes at one point the Phillies actually scored runs when Hamels pitched).
Congrats to the Phillies and congrats to us the fans. It should be a special night down there Citizens Bank Park, but then again it’s pretty special every night… which is why it always sells out.