Week Seven: Baseballtown!

After a two-day, six-stop trip last week, this week's plan was much simplier - a late afternoon drive to Reading, Pennsylvania to see the first game of a doubleheader between the Reading Phillies and the Trenton Thunder.

We knew it would be a trip filled with tradition. First, the Phillies have been in Reading for 40 years. Only Bluefield has had a team in the same place with the same affiliation for a longertime. Second, the team plays in FirstEnergy Stadium, which is a new name, but an classic park. Built in 1951, it's the oldest park in the Eastern League by 36 years. And, third, Reading has adopted the nickname of baseballtown to describe the great role that baseball plays in one of Pennsylvania's largest blue-collar towns.

When we arrived, we found just what we expected - an older stadium with plenty of charm, despite narrow concourses and insufficient adjacent parking. Located in an industrial area, people were walking in from everywhere for the game. The stadium lacked the shiny team store, new concession stands and suites that we've seen in other parks.

We also saw enhancements to the park, including a heated pool just outside the right field line. For $25 per person, you can enter the Pool Pavilion, enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet, sit at tiered picnic tables to watch the game and have your kids enjoy the pool. Very original and very nice!

The Reading Phillies had also incorporated the all-you-can-eat plan into two other seating areas. They added a replica train crossing lights above the outfield fence, which are supposed to turn on when runners are on base. I did not see them on, but they did shoot fireworks from that area whenever the home team scored!

We found passion - a nice crowd of 8,508 enjoyed the doubleheader. Capacity for the stadium appears to be just shy of 10,000. The Phillies have led the Eastern League in attendance in seven of the past eight years. There were plenty of minor league baseball thrills, including a visit from the Tooth Fairy (yes, I was surprised she was real, too) to clean off the bases between innings and a wild hot dog vendor tossing hot dogs into the crowd. As usual, we did not come close to winning in baseball bingo!

The stadium had a carnival-like atmosphere, which made up for the age of the facility. Once word of advice is to ask for aisle seats. The stadium is made up of structured seats that do not retract when you stand up, so moving down the aisle becomes an art.

And the game, well the home team won! Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth (in the seven inning game as a doubleheader), Reading scored two runs in the sixth on back to back home runs to cut the lead to 5-3. After a three-up, three down seventh for Trenton, Reading opened the seventh with three straight singles to load the bases. A double play ball produced one run. Michael Spindale then tied the game with a single. The two batters that hit the back to back homers in the sixth came up. This time, Tagg Bozied (former San Francisco Don) and Kevin Maher (former Indiana Hoosier) hit back to back singles, with Spindale scoring the game winner on Maher's hit into left field.

We joined a good number of the fans that chose to go home happy after the win. Good thing - Trenton won the nightcap, 12-2. It was a good visit to baseballtown!

Mike