Boys of Summer book Entry #57

July 7, 2004 - Dad
Philadelphia, PA

We are now on our way to Philadelphia. The traffic is heavy but moves well accept for an accident which we avoid by taking Highway 1 for a few miles.

The local NPF group arranged a room for us at the Pennsview Hotel in Old Town, Philadelphia. It is actually a 2 1/2 room suite. The hotel is located next to a subway station. We leave the hotel at 4:45 to catch a train to the game. We arrive at Citizens Bank Park at 5:30 to an enthusiastic group of 40+ from the local NPF. Bob and I are warmly welcomed to a catered "Tailgate" party in a balcony area of the park. We are each given original Philadelphia A’s wool jerseys.

While we are eating and enjoying the company of our new friends it begins to rain hard and the game is delayed for one and a half hours. The weather clears and the game begins. The crowd, which includes a good number of Mets fans, is rowdy. There is loud and aggressive cheering that appears to be close to getting physical. Thanks to a responsive security group the crowd activity stays at the vocal level. A number of Philly fans are booted form the park for vulgar language.

July 7 - Bob
Philadelphia, PA

How nice to have a short drive (that’s the east coast for you) and to have things set up in such a great way for our arrival. This morning was truly rejuvenating -- with the workout, run and pool -- it was a great feeling.

I have a memory of my dad swearing -- and for some reason it really makes me laugh. I’m sure he sounds no more foolish than the next man (myself included), but my feeling is one of laughter when I hear his anger at (from my perspective) trivial things. On this trip, that was the experience when we were just a bit out of Phoenix and a rock flew up and smacked the windshield. It wasn’t his swearing that I found funny so much as the great anger, put toward what I perceived as a trivial thing. And by the by, that’s no knock on my dad -- just an observation. I swear at stupid shit all the time.

Philly, ah Philly. I’ve been through twice and always thought of it as rather a rough place. We’ll see. I’m open to seeing it as it is today.