Are the Phillies Phantastc or does a cheesesteak really ****

I don't get to see enough live baseball in the flesh, living 3000 miles away from the US, with a small baby and a large mortgage limits my ability to head off to the ballpark. So when my employers asked me to head off to Philadelphia for a week in July, and having checked that the Phillies were at home across the entire week, I jumped at the chance

I managed to get to see 4 games in my time in the City of Brotherly Love, 2 against the Pirates and 2 against the Nats and one game in Baltimore as well which was a bonus.

There is something about naming rights to stadiums that I don't like, I accept there is a commercial element to it, but a ballpark should have a historic almost musical ring to it's name, so heading to Citizen Bank Ballpark was not the best of starts. I also like if they are close to the city centre, as in San Francisco for example, the Phillies are in effect based in one big sporting car park in the south of the city, with the Eagles, Flyers and 76ers as neighbours and a rather scummy part of town between there and Centre City. There is a lack of soul and spirit in the area, as you might get in Boston, a lack of liveliness like you might get in San Francisco, the area actually reminded me of Oakland in many respects. Nevertheless it is easy to get to via underground train or car and that can't be knocked

Truth be told, location aside, it's a fine stadium, good viewing from all over, seats are fine and I do appreciate when they have a bottle/cup holder on the back of the seat in front. Small things make life easier. Beer was fine, maybe it's an age thing, but I'm starting to prefer lite beer on a summer's day. The food however, well, I'm going to to say something controversial here, but what on earth is all the fuss about a Philly Cheesesteak??? I had my first one ever at the ballpark and it was so disappointing. It's basically some slices of watery beef, a few onions and some cheese in a bun. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with it, it just the locals make as if it is something that should be a a 5* Restaurant in Paris. I know ballpark food can be functional at best some times so I did try a few other cheessteaks over the week, including one in the rather splendid Reading Market but my opinion didn't change and I know 50 pubs over here in Ireland that do a far better steak sandwich. The other thing that was recommended to me in the ballpark was a jerked pork sandwich which was possibly the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten and which went to the bin after one bite.To look at it reminded me of what my baby does in her nappy and probably tasted as bad. I stuck to fries and pizza for the rest of the week

The tat shops(see my post below) were ok, nothing earth shatteringly amazing, tee shirts didn't strike me as the best quality, but some of my work colleagues did give me an 18 inch Phillie Phanatic for my smallie at home, very much appreciated.

Speaking of the Phanatic, I'm not hugely into team mascots, I used to watch Arsenal in the 90s when I lived in London and this 6 foot tall green dinasour appeared one season(called Gunnersaurus) and I never really understood what the heck he was there for. I did enjoy watching the Phanatic however, he is a bit of a loon and in a week when a local NBA ref (Mr Donaghy) was capturing the headlines for all the wrong reasons, perhaps if he had been kissed by a 7 foot tall green furry monster as happened the 3rd base umpire one night, maybe he might have turned out different. The kids like him and I suppose that's important

So to the games, first one was a straightforward win for the home side but the second one against Washinton turned into a 13 innings marathon which finally ended in the wee hours and I am proud to say I stayed to the bitter end. I have never been one of these people who leave before the final whistle(unless it is completley one sided) and to watch people going home after 6 innings is always a depressing sight to me. I enjoyed the second one all the more because I was sat next to an elderly gentleman who really knew his stuff and had played in the minors back in the 50s. A shame I can't remember his name but he pointed things out to me that I would never have considered, especially around field placement. Unfortunately 2 rows in front of us was the dreaded "drunk with the shirt off rallying the fans" fan. God I hate ******** like that. Even I realised quite quickly that I knew more then him, for example, I could read on the screen who was batting, but it all seemed very difficult for this sad little cool dude.

The highlights of the 4 games, some solid pitching, watching Jimmy Rollins hitting a triple which turned into a sort of an inside the park home run courtesy of a fielding error, people watching (always a major part of any game), guys like Rollins, Utley and a few others who play with their hearts and heads. The Phillies did impress me up to a point, but their pitching is limited and they never seemed to dominate a game in the way that the Red Sox, Yankees or even Cleveland are this season. I could see them making the playoffs, or being very close, and if they did make the playoffs, they'd win some games, but they'd probably blow a lot more as well

The Nationals also impressed me, (and that's not something you hear very often), not in terms of their playing ability, with the exception of a couple of guys like Dimitri Young and Ryan Zimmerman, that's limited enough, but in their attitude. This was a team expected to loose 100+ games at the beginning of the season, but will end up not being too far short of .500. They're not going to make the playoffs yet took the Phillies to a 13 inning marathon knowing they had a day game and a flight to catch the next day. Credit where credit is due, if the players and management can keep that going, with a new ballpark to come, watch out for the Nats in 08 and 09

The Pirates are awful, not much else I can add to that, throughly a dreadful side

So did I enjoy the Phillies?, yes, pretty much so. As an overall experience I'd rank it ahead of Boston(Sorry, detest Fenway), Oakland(baseball should never be played in a football stadium) but behind San Francisco and Baltimore. Maybe part of my dislike was Philadelphia itself. I know it has a superb Art Galley in the Barnes Foundation, lots of public art, Reading Market and the Constitution Centre, but the shopping seriously ***** unless you want to go out of town and when the highlight as a visitor seems to be running up some steps to imitate Sly Stallone, well, lets just say Rocky was overrated. Will I go back, probably if work takes me there, or I am passing through on my way to Sesame Street, and there is potentially a very good baseball tour to be made up the East Coast, especially once the Nats new ballpark is completed. But would I go out of my way?, don't think so, so sorry Phillies but thanks to all the people at work and in the ballpark who did make my visit quite enjoyable regardless