Phillies Fans Fuming After Stadium Redesign Makes it Harder to Jeer Opposing Pitchers

It just got harder to boo in the City of Brotherly Love.
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt walks to the bullpen before game seven of the NLCS.
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt walks to the bullpen before game seven of the NLCS. / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
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The Philadelphia Phillies played their first home game of the season on Monday against the Colorado Rockies, giving fans their first look at some of the new aspects of Citizens Bank Park.

While there was far from an overhaul at the Phillies home stadium since 2004, this year’s alterations did go a little bit beyond expanding the ballpark menu.

One of the most noticeable changes is one that opposing teams will undoubtedly love—the bullpen bench, which had previously been in the open just below a bustling section of the stadium, has been enclosed. While opposing pitchers warming up will still have to face jeers from the stands, those not preparing to enter the game will be spared by the new design.

Phillies fans were, understandably, disappointed that their ire would no longer be able to be as broadly directed as it once was, but vowed to find a way to continue getting under the skin of the opposition.

Luckily for Phillies fans, any opposing pitcher that wants to get loose before taking the mound is still going to have to feel the wrath of the crowd.

On Monday, Philadelphia’s home field advantage showed no signs of slowing down due to the new bullpen layout. The Phillies beat the Rockies 6–1, with all six of their runs coming against the Colorado bullpen.


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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.