The Phillies’ first home game of the season took place on a blindingly bright, blisteringly windy spring day. Chilly breezes did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of the fans who showed up for the home opener, judging by the crowds that showed up early to tailgate in the lots surrounding Citizen Bank Park.
Some folks warmed up with classic activities, like cornhole.
While others took traditional drinking games to new highs (lows?), like this GIANT beer pong setup.
If you came from California, no amount of cold was going to keep you from showing up. That’s the case for one of the couples in the group below who’ve been going to Opening Day together for 11 years running.
“We come every year,” said Jenny Coupe, one of the women. “This is a big deal, man.”
The mercury hovered around 45˚, which isn’t that bad — but it was the wind that called for longjohns. Proof is in these pennants (but don’t let yourself linger on how long ago the most recent one seems…).
Must’ve made strumming a guitar pretty tough. But this musician, Philadelphia Police Officer Brian Loftus, was playing for a reason.
He and his mates were hosting a fundraiser to help out a fellow officer, whose son, Tommy Luke, is struggling with cancer.
Loftus is wearing a jersey for the Philly Police hockey team, which will host a charity game for the same cause on March 11. For this round of fundraising, they even brought out a professional chef to do their grilling.
Of course mounted cops patrol tailgates — what other way is there to go? (We’re not gonna suggest bringing back the Segways.)
If kids braved the cold, they were in for a treat: there was a huge ferris wheel set up in the parking lot.
Just inside the stadium, a new section called “The Yard” also had fun children’s activities, like a miniature field where they could practice.
Adults, on the other hand, can make their own fun. Like this guy.
Asked his name, he responded that he wanted to be known simply as “Bike Man.” He’s been bringing that lil rider to opening day since 2006.
You do you, Bike Man.
Once the game started, it was a different story — manager Gabe Kapler, whose outings so far have been so-so, was booed multiple times. But hey, it’s baseball season! Anything’s possible.
