Citizens Bank Park is a 43,302-seat baseball-only stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that opened on April 3, 2004 and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12. It was built to replace the now-demolished Veterans Stadium (a football/baseball facility) and is the home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. The ballpark features natural grass and dirt playing field and boasts many Philadelphia style food stands, including cheesesteaks, hoagies and other regional specialties. Behind center field is Ashburn Alley, named after Phillies great and Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, a walkway featuring restaurants and memorabilia from Phillies history, along with a restaurant bar and grille called "Harry The K's" named after Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas. This area opens two-and-a-half hours before the scheduled first pitch, much like Eutaw Street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards via the Left Field Gate.

In 1998, the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League joined their western Pennsylvania counterparts, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers in making requests to replace both Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate stadiums, much of which came after a railing collapsed at The Vet during the Army-Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates had also made strong threats in 1997 about moving from Pittsburgh, forcing the issue at the state level. The state legislature approved funding for the four proposed stadiums. While Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts rather swiftly, due to plans already being in place at the time of legislative approval, bickering in Philadelphia's political arena and debate carried on as Pittsburgh opened their stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers) in 2001. The Eagles agreed to a site slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium, which would become Lincoln Financial Field. The "Linc" was built on the site of an old food warehouse and celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.

The Phillies originally wanted a downtown ballpark much like those in Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland or San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, initially at Broad and Spring Garden streets, Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue and next to 30th Street Station, where the main post office is located. The team and City announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets, just north of Interstate 676, an easy walk from downtown and a great view of the skyline. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park, but residents of the city's Chinatown section formed protests, even though the ball park would not technically be located in Chinatown, and the City and team eventually settled on building at the south Philadelphia sports complex. In the years following, many residents and fans have expressed regret that the new ball park is not located in Center City.

The unveiling of the park and ground breaking ceremonies were on June 28, 2001. Following the game that evening, the location of the left-field foul pole was unveiled at the outset of the team's annual 4th of July fireworks display.

The next milestone came on June 17, 2003 when the Citizens Bank division of the Royal Bank of Scotland agreed with the team to a 25-year, $95 million deal for naming rights and advertising on telecasts, radio broadcasts, publications and inside the facility. The ballpark was officially completed on August 12 that same year, and it was cleared to open the following April.

Controversial comments have swirled around the fence distances since its opening. Pitchers and media members (especially those in Philadelphia's newspapers) have indicated that the ballpark, which promised to be fair to both hitters and pitchers, was a bandbox. The team made an honest mistake originally placing a 369-foot distance marker in left center field twenty-five feet closer than it should have. A study originally showed that a survey of wind patterns would have had an advantage in night games for pitchers and hitters in day games. But in 2004, the park yielded a total of 228 homers, the most in the National League, and only U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago served up more dingers with 272 that year. After the 2005 season where 17 fewer home runs were hit in the park than in 2004, the fences in left and left-center were moved back five feet and raised 2.5 feet (0.76 meters).

On May 11, 2006, in a rain-shortened game against the New York Mets, Phillies center fielder Aaron Rowand, in catching a long-drive hit that prevented a possible 4-2 loss, ran full speed into the Phillies bullpen fence, breaking his nose in the process. Rowand, upon seeing the center field fence after his acquisition from the Chicago White Sox, recommended to the Phillies to place extra padding on the bullpen fence, padding that arrived the day before his sacrificial save, and that was being slated for installment on the team's next road trip series against the Cincinnati Reds. The padding has since been installed.

On June 20, 2006, Ryan Howard, facing Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees, hit a home run that travelled an estimated 461 feet. With that blast, Howard became the first person to reach the third deck at the ballpark. To commemorate the event the Phillies painted a white "H", much as the Vet had "Stargell's Star", at the location. The painted "H" is located at Section 304, Row 1, Seat 8.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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