Phillies Drop Season Opener, Nobody is Shocked

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Phillies Opening Day Ceremony 2007, originally uploaded by stksave27

The Crowd.  A great showing by Philly's baseball faithful.  CBP was packed and loud the entire day.  Granted, nobody listened to my plea to lay off Pat and the majority of the park was booing Burrell after his first at bat.  Thankfully, I did not hear an Eagles chant the entire day.  The park was a mob scene and lines for everything were ridiculous.  I ended up only eating ice cream out of a min baseball hat -- Graham Slam! -- because it was the only place with no line.  There was an amazingly wide array of fans at this game.  From an infant with his dad, to an old guy who looked like this was his 50th opening day, from business men in suits, to 400 pound drunks, this game truly ran the gamut of fandom.

The Weather.  It felt like August and I'm willing to bet most fans have the farmer's tan to prove it.  Perfect weather to watch the start of a new season.  Far and away a much better day than last year when it was cold, rainy, and miserable.

The Game.  Disappointing, yet not surprising.  We've seen it too many times before to be upset by it.  The Phils simply didn't capitalize on their opportunities at the plate; the second and third with no outs was particularly tough to watch.  Brett Myers made a bad pitch to let the Braves back in it and Ryan Madson pressed the panic button among fans and their desire to complain about the bullpen.  Did Manuel make the wrong move in keeping his ace in there a few pitches too many?  Howard batting third was certainly interesting.  It was opening day, we'll write this one off as bad luck.

Random Anecdote.  We sat in right field where a group of very vocal rowdies got on Jeff Francoeur for the better part of 3 innings.  Fairly entertaining to mildly annoying, a good effort none the less.  But Francoeur took it well, and even gave his hecklers a nice acknowledgment.  After the acknowledgment, the crew changed tones from commenting about Francoeur's wife (I believe he isn't married yet, but is engaged) to chanting he belonged in the Hall of Fame.  Only in Philly.

The Day.  All in all a great day in South Philly.  The weather couldn't have been better, the Phils got a new season started and while they certainly disappointed on the day, it's a marathon.. yada, yada.  There were things to be excited about and there were things to be worried about for sure.  We're used to worrying.  The 2007 Phils are finally here.  Now go out and get a win on Wednesday for crying out loud.  Personally, I'm exhausted.  That sun, some beverages, camera troubles.. I need another day off just to recover.

Only 161 more to go.

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