August 05, 2003
Am I Going to Miss This Place?
ESPN Page 2's tour of baseball stadiums hit Veterans Stadium today and Jeff Merron gets the Vet and Philadelphia.
The Vet has one of the worst playing surfaces in all of sports, but it's Philadelphia's playing surface. Like Philly itself, the Vet gets no respect. It oozes Philadelphia character in a way you can only understand if you know Philly.
But will I miss it? Well maybe. After all it is the playground of my youth. And if you haven't been there it's difficult to explain that appeal.
- "Ignore the taps, its all Meisterbrau underneath."
- "After a long road trip don't get anything from the concessions till the 7th inning because until then they're just selling leftovers.
- Yelling down to the bullpen at then Met Todd Pratt, "Pratt, you're still kicking around in this league?" Watching John Franco laugh so hard he fell out of his chair.
- Trying to reason with security, explaining if they let a crackhead play left, you should be able to yell at him.
- Leaving a Temple vs. Miami football game before one of the biggest brawls ever. What was security thinking, trying to take an Italian flag from a group of drunk South Philadelphians.
- Arriving at 2:30 AM and catching more than 2 hours of baseball and Mitch Williams improbable game winning gapper at 4:41 AM. "The worst part about it was sobering up and watching Fregosi manage.
- 99 yard pass plays to Michael Quick.
- Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton tipping caps as each flip-flopped the career strikeout lead each half inning.
- Chanting "Pete, Pete, Pete" as Rose chased Musial. Watching Nolan Ryan over power him three straight times. Then rooting for the Astros to come back so Rose could get another crack at breaking the record in the bottom of the 9th.
- The cheesey sound effects after a homerun. And the even cheesier special effects above the left field bullpen.
Well I guess I will miss it. Posted by aetchells at August 5, 2003 01:36 PM