Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 1 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004.
The 42,901-seat ballpark was built to replace the 33-year-old Veterans Stadium, a multipurpose football and baseball facility that was demolished in 2004. Citizens Bank Park features a natural grass-and-dirt playing field and Philadelphia-style food stands that serve cheesesteak sandwiches, hoagies, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, Yards and Yuengling beer, and other regional specialties.
The ballpark is named after Citizens Bank, N.A.. It sits on the northeast corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Xfinity Mobile Arena, and Stateside Live!, a dining and entertainment venue which often serves as a media hub for various live broadcasts.
In 1999, the owners of the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL joined their western Pennsylvania counterparts, the owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, in asking state and local governments to replace Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate baseball and football stadiums. Pressure for new Philadelphia stadiums increased after a railing collapsed at "The Vet" during the 1998 Army–Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates owners threatened to leave Pittsburgh in 1997, helping to convince the state legislature to approve funding for the four proposed stadiums. With their architectural plans already in place, Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts swiftly. Still, debate among Philadelphia's city leaders continued into 2001, when Pittsburgh opened its stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers). The Eagles ultimately agreed to the site of a former food warehouse slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium. Lincoln Financial Field celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.
The Phillies originally sought to build a downtown ballpark similar to those in Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, including Broad and Spring Garden streets; Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue; and next to 30th Street Station on the site of the former main post office. The team and the city announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets in Chinatown, just north of Interstate 676, within walking distance of Center City. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park from business and labor and the city at large. But Chinatown residents protested, fearing a new ballpark would destroy their neighborhood. The City and team eventually settled on building the ballpark at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on the site of another abandoned food warehouse. In the years that followed, residents, fans, and owner Bill Giles expressed regret that the new ballpark was not located in Center City Philadelphia. Still, the team set attendance records in 2010 (3,647,249 fans, averaging 45,028) with all home games sold out for the first time in the team's 81-year history, extending a sellout streak dating to July 2009 to 123.
Chief architect of the new stadium was EwingCole's Stanley Cole. The new park's design was unveiled at a groundbreaking ceremonies on June 28, 2001. After the game that evening, the location of the left-field foul pole, 325 feet (99 m) from home plate, was unveiled at the outset of the team's annual Fourth of July fireworks display. On June 17, 2003, Citizens Bank agreed to a 25-year, US $95 million deal for the park's naming rights and advertising on billboards, telecasts, radio broadcasts, and publications. The ballpark was officially topped off on August 12, 2003, and opened in April 2004.
Shortly after the park opened in 2004, the bullpens were reassigned so the Phillies' pitchers used the lower pen and visitors used the upper pen. This was done to give Phillies' pitchers a better view of the game and to protect them from heckling by fans. However, the team forgot to rewire the bullpen phones after the bullpens were reassigned, so during the first game, the dugout coaches had to communicate with the bullpens by hand signals.
In its first years, Citizens Bank Park allowed 218 home runs in 2004 and 201 in 2005, more than half to left-field. After the 2005 season, the left-field wall was moved back 5 feet (1.5 m).
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004.
The 42,901-seat ballpark was built to replace the 33-year-old Veterans Stadium, a multipurpose football and baseball facility that was demolished in 2004. Citizens Bank Park features a natural grass-and-dirt playing field and Philadelphia-style food stands that serve cheesesteak sandwiches, hoagies, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, Yards and Yuengling beer, and other regional specialties.
The ballpark is named after Citizens Bank, N.A.. It sits on the northeast corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Xfinity Mobile Arena, and Stateside Live!, a dining and entertainment venue which often serves as a media hub for various live broadcasts.
In 1999, the owners of the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL joined their western Pennsylvania counterparts, the owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, in asking state and local governments to replace Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate baseball and football stadiums. Pressure for new Philadelphia stadiums increased after a railing collapsed at "The Vet" during the 1998 Army–Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates owners threatened to leave Pittsburgh in 1997, helping to convince the state legislature to approve funding for the four proposed stadiums. With their architectural plans already in place, Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts swiftly. Still, debate among Philadelphia's city leaders continued into 2001, when Pittsburgh opened its stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers). The Eagles ultimately agreed to the site of a former food warehouse slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium. Lincoln Financial Field celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.
The Phillies originally sought to build a downtown ballpark similar to those in Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, including Broad and Spring Garden streets; Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue; and next to 30th Street Station on the site of the former main post office. The team and the city announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets in Chinatown, just north of Interstate 676, within walking distance of Center City. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park from business and labor and the city at large. But Chinatown residents protested, fearing a new ballpark would destroy their neighborhood. The City and team eventually settled on building the ballpark at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on the site of another abandoned food warehouse. In the years that followed, residents, fans, and owner Bill Giles expressed regret that the new ballpark was not located in Center City Philadelphia. Still, the team set attendance records in 2010 (3,647,249 fans, averaging 45,028) with all home games sold out for the first time in the team's 81-year history, extending a sellout streak dating to July 2009 to 123.
Chief architect of the new stadium was EwingCole's Stanley Cole. The new park's design was unveiled at a groundbreaking ceremonies on June 28, 2001. After the game that evening, the location of the left-field foul pole, 325 feet (99 m) from home plate, was unveiled at the outset of the team's annual Fourth of July fireworks display. On June 17, 2003, Citizens Bank agreed to a 25-year, US $95 million deal for the park's naming rights and advertising on billboards, telecasts, radio broadcasts, and publications. The ballpark was officially topped off on August 12, 2003, and opened in April 2004.
Shortly after the park opened in 2004, the bullpens were reassigned so the Phillies' pitchers used the lower pen and visitors used the upper pen. This was done to give Phillies' pitchers a better view of the game and to protect them from heckling by fans. However, the team forgot to rewire the bullpen phones after the bullpens were reassigned, so during the first game, the dugout coaches had to communicate with the bullpens by hand signals.
In its first years, Citizens Bank Park allowed 218 home runs in 2004 and 201 in 2005, more than half to left-field. After the 2005 season, the left-field wall was moved back 5 feet (1.5 m).