I feel obligated to violate every stereotype of the much maligned Philly fan to provide my impressions from flying down from the Seattle area for the recent Phils series. What a great experience.

Cons:

* where the heck were your fans ? Geez even on bobblehead night the place was vacant. I know MLB reported attendance over 20,000 every game but those numbers were beyond bogus. I’d be surprised if there were 7,000 folks for the mid-week day game in absolutely perfect weather. The other dates were just slightly more attended. All I heard were Phils fans cheering. Really surprising.

* Mike getting hurt is sad for all baseball fans. Really so odd. He was moving so well scoring from second on that (ridiculous) WP+E the first game.

* earthquake during the game ? Yikes. Section 311 was bouncing like a Jr. HS gym when kids jump up and down on the metal bleachers behind you.

Pros:

* stadium site lines – we were in the low rows in sections 411, 416, and 311. Prices actually are considerably lower than Seattle tickets for similar locations

* everybody every day in every way was so nice it’s kinda hard to even find words on it. That includes the fans, the folks working there, even the folks selling food inside.

* the walk over from the Embassy Suites was great. Highly recommend that place. Not crazy expensive, a real breakfast every day tossed in for the price of the room. Available parking.

* looked like the parking setup was pretty great for folks driving. They obviously had their act together.

* Ron. Just love Ron. You gotta love a baseball lifer.

* the rally monkey and bobble-them stuff on the screen was pretty hilarious.

* basic atmosphere – excellent. Nice and family and school-group friendly. Gotta love it.

Thanks to the folks here who helped us in picking where to stay that was walkable. Fingers crossed Mike’s back this year. Enjoy him while you can !