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A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

reading fightin phils

Summer of Baseball: Reading celebrating its 50th with the Phillies

July 11, 2016

Reading calls itself Baseballtown. With a stadium that was completed in 1951, and one that’s had some renovations over the years, the Reading Fightin Phils have a unique and interesting stadium.

FirstEnergy Stadium is different than when I last visited in, I believe, 2009. They’ve done many upgrades, to make the field a bit more fan friendly, yet have kept the quirky aspects of the park in place.

When you come into the park, you have an area where the food items are and it gives you the feel of a courtyard. It’s definitely busy there, so you might need to push your way around if you want to get somewhere. The concourse is under the main grandstand, so you are behind the action. There’s also not a full walk-around concourse, but that’s normal for older stadiums.

A place to lean and keep score, with a great view.

A place to lean and keep score, with a great view.

You can go out into parts of the outfield, though, to watch the game from different vantage points. Overall, sightlines were OK and it is a tad picturesque of a place to watch a game. Seats are a tad old-school, but it kind of goes with the stadium. They aren’t bad, but I also will say we didn’t sit in ours for awful long.

Concession wise, there is the regular fare from ballparks. Being it was a dollar-dog day, I chose that as my choice for the night. It looked like they had a lot of the regular choices, which is good. I didn’t get too deep into the area with everything going on as it was crowded and after a long weekend of baseball and other items, I just wanted to watch a game.

The field is nice and it has some cool areas. Like many parks today, there were spots people could rent out etc., for large groups.

The on-field things were fine and didn’t detract from the game too much, which was good.

The team store is not huge, but it is very well stocked with different items. Because of that, it’s not easy to get around, but if you want something – odds are they likely have it. That’s always a bonus, of course, as it makes no sense not to stock up, especially with the rebranding the team did a year or two ago.

This was the 50th anniversary of the team being associated with the Phillies, so it was nice to get there during this season. The action on the field was solid, and it’s an easy place to watch a game. The atmosphere is pretty good as people seem to enjoy watching baseball.

I will note this, though – it seems like some of the people (the fans) weren’t the friendliest in the world. I’m not saying this is all of them, and I’m not even saying the people we encountered were regulars. But it was … odd.

Let me give an example.

Throwing hot dogs in Reading.

Throwing hot dogs in Reading.

The tickets I purchased were underneath the overhang, as there had originally been a threat of rain. We got to our seats and made sure we had the right spot. No sooner than we sat down, the lady (an older lady) made sure she told us “If they aren’t your seats, you’ll have to move.”

I’ve never had that happen to me before, especially by somebody not working for the team. I will say as we came up the stands, one of the people there had their feet up on our seats, and a jacket over top the back. So I guess we were infringing on their “territory.” Still, it was a little off-setting.

We decided, instead, to stand for the game at the top of the bleachers where there’s a place to lean etc. Two more people were encountered – and they were the same. I asked one person if people could stand here and he looked at me like I was green and had three heads.

As I walked the concourse a little later, three – yes three – people bumped into me as they weren’t watching where they were going. I tried to avoid the collisions but they weren’t paying attention. None of them said excuse me (despite them being at fault and watching their phones and not where they were going), rather gave me a dirty look.

Honestly, these aren’t things I want to share because it’s hopefully not the norm. But this was part of my experience and, honestly, it took away from my experience.

I didn’t really interact with many people who work for the team or stadium, but it seemed like there were a lot of people around.

Park Notes:  

FirstEnergy Stadium
Reading, Pennsylvania
Home of the Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)
Visited on: June 12, 2016
Opponent: Altoona Curve (Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates)

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 7.5/10
  • Concessions: 7/10
  • Parking: 8/10
  • Ambiance: 7.5/10
  • Friendliness: 6.5/10

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: Baseball, My world, Sports, Summer of Baseball, Travel Tagged With: aa baseball, baseball, baseball of summer, baseball stadium, baseball stadium review, double-a baseball, eastern league, fightin phils, minor league, minor league baseball, minor leagues, phillies, Reading, reading fightin phils, stadium review, summer of baseball, summer of baseball 2016

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Summer of Baseball: Manchester is about the game

September 22, 2014

Manchester, New Hampshire.

Manchester, New Hampshire.

Manchester, New Hampshire.

I can’t say I’ve ever been here before and, honestly, I wasn’t sure why this was an attractive place to go watch a game, outside the fact that it would make for a good weekend trip to see a couple of games.

Originally, this trip was scheduled for the Fourth of July Weekend, with one game here and one in Connecticut. Bad weather forced that trip to be changed (which worked out well as it landed this tour in State College that weekend and it was a fantastic fireworks show), but I had already purchased tickets for Manchester.

So when the game was rained out, I had the chance to get new tickets. On a weekend in early August, Manchester called again to see the New Hampshire Fisher Cats play Reading, the Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

Score.

Opened in 2005, Northeast Delta Dental Stadium is an interesting place to see a game. Being in the middle of the city, the parking is pretty crappy. In fact, we paid $10 to park in this one lot and we got squished into a silly spot. I think the tickets were $12 each, or something like that. So, basically, we paid an extra seat to park. Now, I realize there was street parking elsewhere for free. The issue was not knowing the area, so we went with a lot. Parking, though, is not a positive for this place.

The stadium from the outside is pretty interesting, especially how it’s tucked in to the area. It’s not a bad looking stadium by any means. In left field, there’s a hotel overlooking the field. The concourse wraps the backside of the field and there’s a little into left field. You don’t miss much if you get up and walk around a little. There’s an interesting bar in the left-field area. Though I didn’t go in, it’s pretty nice and roomy.

There are a couple of souvenir stores — one a bigger one that is downstairs, before you walk up to get into the field, and the other off the concourse. Prices were pretty decent and the main store offered a lot of items.

Keeping book.

Keeping book.

Concessions at the stadium was pretty decent. That being said, we had eaten before coming, so we didn’t really dabble in a lot. The normal ballpark fare was here, but what was nice was soft ice cream. For whatever reason, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find this at stadiums. This place had it. And I got it later in the evening (we were there for a double header) and had no lines. I did, of course, have a hot dog, too, and it was good. One thing to point out is that there is a solid selection of beers here. Concession prices were decent.

A side note for those who keep their own scorecard — the Fisher Cats, if you go to fan relations (on the concourse) offer pre-printed cards with the lineup free of charge. It’s very nice to have, especially when you bring your own book, like I do. It’s much easier to copy off that than standing in front of the lineup board to by taking a photo and reading it off a phone.

One thing, though, is the stadium didn’t stand out. The floors for the seats were metal, so it could get loud if people were walking around. The seats had plenty of space, which is nice. But it’s the same sort of stadium you can see in many places. Overall, it’s a solid stadium with good sight lines and a decent place to watch a game. You could find worse places to watch a game, that’s for sure. However, I’m not sure I would make a specific trip just to see this stadium, but if you can plan it with other reasons to be here, it’s worth catching a game.

Park Notes:  

Northeast Delta Dental Stadium
Manchester, New Hampshire
Home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays)
Visited on: Friday, August 1, 2014
Opponent: Reading Fightin Phils (AA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies)

Ratings (out of 10)

  • Stadium: 7.5/10
  • Concessions: 8/10
  • Parking: 5/10
  • Ambiance: 8/10
  • Friendliness: 8/10

I am embarking on a summer of baseball with the plan to hit a minimum of 10 stadiums this summer. Hopefully, there will be more than that. I will report on each park that I hit on the blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: Baseball, My world, Summer of Baseball Tagged With: baseball, baseball trip, fisher cats, fishercats, manchester, manchester new hampshire, minor league baseball, new hampshire, new hampshire fisher cats, Reading, reading fightin phils, reading phils, summer of baseball

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Harper is counting down to Santa Paws! You know, Harper is counting down to Santa Paws! 

You know, of course, Santa Paws travels with Santa Clause, making sure to find treats and toys for all the good little doggies! (We know they are all deserving, right?) So, Harper put out some milk for the big guy, carrots for Rudolph and the reindeer, and special cookies for Santa Paws! She is ready! 

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One of the best parts about having Harper as my be One of the best parts about having Harper as my best friend… ❤️
Couldn't resist stopping on the way to work to sna Couldn't resist stopping on the way to work to snap this shot. The colors in the sky were fantastic and the scene was nice looking (though, to be fair, I drove by what I think would have been a better scene -- the valley and hills full of snow etc.)

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Just a break on our morning walk … #goldenretri Just a break on our morning walk …

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Harper is ready for tonight! Let’s go Phillies! Harper is ready for tonight! Let’s go Phillies! 

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I look at her and sometimes still can’t believe I look at her and sometimes still can’t believe I have her. It’s been a year and four months and she makes me smile and laugh more each day. It’s amazing how much a dog changes your look on life, and how much joy they can bring. 

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I’ve recently realized how many photos I have to I’ve recently realized how many photos I have to post here, as well as on Harper’s (@harper_dublin) account). So, as I start to transfer photos, I’ll try and catch up. So photos coming could be from all seasons and who knows when. 🤣

This one is recent from the courthouse square in Delhi. We had some pretty good fall colors this year. 

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From a few weeks ago. I was trying to get Harper t From a few weeks ago. I was trying to get Harper to put her paws on the bridge and looked out, but she was more content jumping on me and looking up. I do love the way she seems to be looking at me.
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Couldn’t resist a quick stop this morning with t Couldn’t resist a quick stop this morning with the fog and frost settled in. 

Hamden Covered Bridge 

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Harper’s friend Lucy is around this weekend! #g Harper’s friend Lucy is around this weekend!

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So… @harper_dublin wants to know why she can’t So… @harper_dublin wants to know why she can’t have @mallons_homemade_sticky_buns.
This is why we can’t have nice things. Saw this This is why we can’t have nice things. Saw this on me morning walk Friday with Harper. Likely some college kids, but also as chance at local hooligans. I had Harper so not a lot I could do, but I managed to get the cart off the chair. (See second photo) This was in a local park.
Harper is ready for #nationalfetchday on October 1 Harper is ready for #nationalfetchday on October 15! @chuckitfetchgames 

Should be fun! @discgolfdarren @harmm23
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Street lights hidden in a tree. #life #light #wa Street lights hidden in a tree. 

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Finally learning this Canon M6 MarkII before my tr Finally learning this Canon M6 MarkII before my trip starts this weekend. Really like it now that I took the time to set it up and learn the differences between this and my 7D MarkII. This and the iPhone will do most of the work on the trip. 

Photo is inside on a dark and dreary day. Transferred to phone and edited with #snapseed. 

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