March 23, 2004

Goodbye, You Awful Old Thing

Sure, it was generally regarded as the worst facility in professional sports. Sure, it was built during the 3-week span when they thought that multipurpose concrete bowls were the way to go in spectator comfort. And sure, during most Phillies games, the place held more feral cats in the tunnels than fans in the stands. But when they tore the Vet down the other day, it was hard not to think back fondly...at least a little bit. So many memories:

I saw my first National League Game ever there: 1984, vs. Montreal. My mom's college roommate's husband, a local lawyer, hooked us up with Steve Carlton's personal seats. And for some reason I decided Von Hayes was my favorite National Leaguer.

I was in college in Philly during the magical '93 season, when Kruk, Dutch, Lenny, Curt and the boys turned the notion of "professional athlete" on its head. I spent the first eight minutes of my 19th birthday at the Vet; at 12:08, John Kruk pounded one over the right-field wall to send the Padres packing. At 11:53, I asked an usher if I could get a "Happy Birthday" message to myself on the scoreboard at midnight. He was not amused.

My first real date with my college girlfriend was (at my choice, surprise, surprise) a game against the expansion Marlins. It went extra innings; we stayed; Phils won.

Opening Day, 1994. Phillies get their NL Champion rings...there's a touching ceremony for Kruk, who got diagnosed with cancer in the offseason...Phils lose to Colorado. Same girlfriend got tickets to the game, upper upper UPPER deck. When we saw our seats, I remarked "Well, if this game gets boring, I can always turn around and see the game in Pittsburgh." She was not amused.

After college: friends from school come up to Boston for a wedding; coincidentally, the Sox are home against the Angels and none of them have been to Fenway before. My friend Scooter takes a look around, sees the Green Monster and the closeness of the seats, and remarks sadly, "This place makes me want to go home and slap the Vet."

1998 and 2000: Interleague play brings the Sox, and me, down to Philly. Sox get slapped around repeatedly. I was not amused.

I never made it to an Eagles game at the Vet. Never got the deluxe tour of the visitors' locker room. Never actually found the concession stand where they sold the good food. Never, in fact, found my car in the parking lot after the Colorado game. But the Vet will always have a big, ugly, mostly-but-not-quite-soulless, place in my heart. I just wonder where all the cats went.

Comments

What a good group of baseball memories.

The Vet is also the only place where I have personally viewed back-to-back-to-back home runs ... a feat accomplished by 3 Chicago Cubs off Terry Mulholland in 1993 ... Steve(?) Beuschele, Willie Wilson, and Steve Lake. Not quite a bunch of power hitters in general, but they were that day.

Posted by: Vin at March 24, 2004 09:19 AM

Oh yeah...that too!

Posted by: Michael at March 24, 2004 10:55 AM

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