Phillies Photo Day - Citizens Bank Park

Holy Crap! It's a post on Pics of Me in Front of Stuff!
Holy Crap, I'm not dead!
No, the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.  If there were such rumors. 
The Vagina Hunters are still blowing up Pics of Me in Front of Stuff even without new content or content without a huge number of typos like the post about my trip to Iowa.  It's interesting my keyboard stopped working following that trip.  Some like to say it may have been due to an excessive amount of 'adult' material but I worry it may have committed suicide due to it being implicated in the murder of the English language.  It's likely we'll never know for sure. 

Back to exclamations:
Holy crap, I got to stand on the warning track at Citizen's Bank Park!

Holy crap, I'm wearing mandals!  Apparently, it's a fashion faux pas for men to expose their toes in public.  I'll never claim to have attractive feet.  They're slightly hobbitish just larger and with slightly less hair but I have just as much right as anyone to let my toes get some fresh air.  There are bigger prolems out there like muffin tops and Justin Bieber's hair cut.  Go handle those, fashion police, before accosting me for my choice of footwear.  To all you mandal haters, I say eat a dick.

And more importantly, Holy Crap, I've never stood so close to the Philadelphia Phillies before. 

I was not as close as that guy was to Roy Halladay's lovely smile.
I was probably close enough that my man-crush on Cole Hamels could have come to fruition.

No, it would have not been whatever Strictly a platonic man-hug ala J.D. and Turk in Scrubs.

There probably wouldn't be any German subtitles.
Also it certainly would not be a full on homoerotic tummy-stick-esque hug like Apollo Creed and Rocky.  There's a pretty clear difference.  But Cole Hamels was not the only hot thing on the field either, Chase Utley was there, too. 

Ooops, I mean it was really hot and humid in Philadelphia that day.  You can see my blue Chase Utley Jersey appears to be changing color below.

Yes, ladies, that's sweat.  I did not realize at the time, but I actually had mononucleosis that day.  I am pretty glad I made it off the field that day.  Between the heat, humidity, and being sick I could have not only stood on the baseball field but also collapsed there, too!  Fortunately, I was smart enough not to share anyone's beer and also to refrain from the usual stupidity that runs rampant during my trips to see the Official Favorite Baseball Team of Pics of Me in Front of Stuff. 

I did not drink any of the giant beer, I just sat next to it.

 That may be hard to believe, but it's totally true!

Phillies at Yankees - Yankee Stadium - The Bronx, New York

Before I express praise or disdain for New York Yankees fans, let me inform/remind you and them what happened when the Phils visited new Yankee Stadium on Memorial Day weekend via a transcript of the message I sent to my friend Christian, a Yankees fan:

2 of 3. Eat it beeatch.

I do not care that A-Rod did this to Brad Lidge.

It just does not matter. The World Phucking Champions came into the new Yankee Stadium and took 2 out of 3 games from the Evil Empire.

Rubbing the results of the series in Yankees' fans collective face aside, the new Yankee Stadium is quite an impressive piece of architecture.
While the original Yankee Stadium, across the street from the new one, oozed character from every single of its concrete pores it lacked in the aesthetics and the niceties of modern stadiums like Camden Yards, PNC Park, and Citizens Bank Park. While not a dump like Shea Stadium, the old Yankee Stadium was, for lack of a better term, was old. The new Yankee Stadium, inside and out, is beautiful, even to an angry Phillies fan like me.
The warm sunny day found me sitting in the upper deck in left field. Watching, my man-crush and World Series MVP, Cole Hamels pitch to Derek Jeter and the rest of the New York Yankees. (Cole Hamels Fact # 54: Cole Hamels puts his pants on 2 legs at a time.) Hamels was opposed by CC Sabathia, one of the more recent and largest acquisitions by the Yankees. Both pitchers performed well through the first 6 (Hamels) or 7 (Sabathia) innings against excellent lineups. The score was Phillies 3 Yankees 2 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Unfortunately, Brad Lidge was not lights out and allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the 9th. Here comes my praise for Yankees fans: I have been to a few visiting stadiums and there was not one that was more excited than new Yankee Stadium when the Bronx Bombers tied the Fightin's in the home half of the 9th. With the roar emanating from the crowd in the Bronx, I felt a pit grow in the bottom of my stomach. I have heard many people bemoan the loss of the home field advantage in the Bronx due to the loss of the old Yankee Stadium. However, for an almost meaningless interleague game in May, new Yankee Stadium was rocking as the Bombers tied the score. I could only imagine if the Red Sox were in town. Those $2000 seats behind home plate may not be the death of the Yankee's playoff hopes after all.

Fortunately, fellow Philadelphia faithful, there is a happy ending to this story. A scoreless 10th inning paved the way for a 2-out walk by Chase Utley and an RBI double by Carlos Ruiz. Clay Condrey pitched a scoreless 11th inning to send all those noisy New Yorkers home quietly. Overall, the day was a success. Pics of Me in Front of Stuff got to visit the new Yankee Stadium on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon. The hot sausages and garlic fries were delicious, even though they were too damned expensive. Finally, we got to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the marriage of my mom and step-dad and the 27th anniversary of the birth of the Chief Photographer at Pics of Me in Front of Stuff.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Bill!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!

Clearly, that is not a picture of Melissa next to her birthday wishes. Just poor timing by my camera and the stadium cameras.