The Sign? Swing away . . . far far away

The following post is guest blogger Brad Maule, who is the editor of PhillySkyline.com and holds Plan C tickets in the front row of the Pat Burrell section of the Arcade Level.

Citizens Bank Park is a nice ballpark, there's no doubt about it. The playing field's dimensions are an asset (although Pat Burrell probably isn't a fan of the reconfigured leftfield wall after he missed a game-tying homerun by less than a foot last night), the field's upkeep is excellent (more so if you were raised on The Vet), the causeways are roomy, the sightlines are unobstructed, the beer and food selections are great and even somewhat local, and the Schmitter will take ten years off of my life because I can never say no.

CBP could have been better, though; there's no doubt about that either. Having come on the late side of the Camden Yards Ballpark Revival, it could have provided a bold architectural statement but instead went with conservative (boring) brick paneling. It could have been located perfectly at 30th and Walnut, an easy walk for residents of Center City, West Philly and two major universities, directly above the Schuylkill Expressway, and two blocks from 30th Street Station, which serves every Septa regional rail line, the El, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak, but instead it was built as a 'neighborhood ballpark' in a massive parking lot.

And then there is that goddamn Phillies sign.

The Phillies sign in the centerfield parking lot . . . now that is an obstruction. Google "Phillies sign skyline" and try to find a single favorable opinion. They don't exist; everyone hates that sign. It would seem that even the Phillies organization doesn't think too highly of it. The architectural renderings of CBP -- you remember them, "Homerun Pat Burrell, Phils Win!!!" -- showed no sign of The Sign, but instead a clear and straight view to the skyline. (It also has 10th Street dead ending into trees, and 76 is absent.)

The Phillies recognize the view as part of the experience; the city skyline was on all the marketing literature leading up to the opening of the ballpark. The Sign? Not so much. The 2005 Opening Day ticket painted -- or should I say photoshopped -- the Phillies' embarrassment of The Sign. The ticket design featured a photo of the skyline, for which some poor intern was probably assigned to remove The Sign from the view. Except, well, they didn't finish the job. As you can see below, the photoshop job was left only half done, and 45,000 tickets were printed with half of The Sign.

We've all heard the rumors: "oh yeah, the Phillies are eventually going to tear that thing down." Reality check: CBP is now in its fourth year of use, and well, this is Philadelphia. Penn's Landing was supposed to be a historic waterfront attraction, but we built an interstate highway between it and Independence Park. Love Park was a destination to skateboarders across the world, but after we landed ESPN's X-Games two years in a row, our mayor spent taxpayer money to make it skater unfriendly. It's only appropriate that we have a ballpark with a fantastic view that is blocked by an unnecessary sign.

The Sign is a relic of The Vet Era. Believe it or not, it was built by the City, but it was taken over by the Phillies in the 80s and retrofitted with a more Vet-like appearance.

Well, The Vet is gone, so are they going to finally tear it down? On the contrary. The Phillies are in the process of putting their Theme Tower (that's right -- it's called Theme Tower) up for bids for renovation. It is going to be modernized, it will feature more info ("Suzie will you marry me . . . Dave Matthews tickets on sale Saturday"), and it will be neither moved nor shortened.

So, Phils fans and skyline aficionados, get used to The Sign -- err, the Theme Tower -- cos it ain't goin' anywhere.

Comments

[enrico]

I hate that sign. Great post.

It also took me like 2 minutes to figure out how to use an @ on this keyboard in italy.

[gootman]

If they are going to keep it they should put a big screen on it and broadcast the game so the late arriving tailgaters can see what they are missing while they are finishing their beers.

[Matt P]

That thing looks like a cell phone tower. I bet the CBP architect wants cut it down with a chainsaw...

It will be even more obnoxious with LED messages flashing across it all game.

[Mike H.]

If they have to keep it up... why don't they put the distance from home plate in the corner? I know, it'll be something like 900 feet, but then it would be a little more interesting. Just a little...

[Chris]

Damn good post!!! It's been a while since I railed about CBP, but my thoughts were fairly similar. I thought it should have been built at the base of South Street to re-connect the city to the waterfront. It would have cost a billion dollars, but it also would have been a home run. in stead we spent $450 million and hit a double.

The food and beer selection are good, its a destination for college kids and hotties, and the McFadden's is a cool feature.

I wish there was more of an architectural signature about the place, rather than just being a mish-mash of post Camden Yards parks, but its SOOOOOO much better than that giant toilet bowl we used to call home.

[Suzie]

Yes Brad, I will marry you!

[johndewar]

I like that big sign...ESPECIALLY because it reminds me of the Vet.

[meech.one]

Great post, Brad.

I'll be honest, the only time I even thought about that sign was to remember where I parked if I got too shitfaced, but it is an eyesore.

On the other hand, if it's gonna tell me when I can scoop up Dave Matthews tickets, I say make it bigger!

[bryan b]

this post rocked...I hate that f'ing sign...this organization is so hard to like, it really needs new ownership, and thanks for resparking my ire about the location of the stadium, it would have been so so cool if they put it at 30th & walnut, like the giants staduim in san fran, how everyone walks to the games, i think theres like one parking lot outside the place...but thats philly...

[Joe Manning]

I didn't even know that 30th and Walnut was being considered as a location for the stadium. What is in that spot now?

I always thought it was a good idea that all of the sports arenas were in one location - but that is a great point about how accesible a stadium would be for EVERYONE if it were at 30th and Walnut.

As far as the sign - what is the official reason they are keeping it up? A sentimental reminder of the Vet? Who needs to be reminded of that shit-hole?

Why don't we just round up a bunch of people, some power tools, and ALOT of beer ... and just tear that f*cker down ourselves the next time we hit up a game ...

[Ben]

They should put a picture on the sign of the missing piece of skyline.

[Wayne]

Sign ?....sign ?....We don't need no stinking sign .

[krub16]

I agree the sign is an eyesore and everything, but we don't need a stadium that meshes with the city and is picture perfect. Philadelphia sports have never been about that kind of stuff, it's always about the game which is what was awesome about the vet and is nice about the Linc, too. I go to school in Pittsburgh and spend a lot of time at PNC park which is probably the nicest stadium in the country. The have fireworks every Friday night and they draw crowds that come in the second and leave in the seventh. It's great for the city and nice for people looking for a summer night's activity but it isn't Philadelphia. I don't really like CBP because I liked paying 7 bucks for a ticket and sitting in the 700 level. 16 bucks and little Timmy crying for cotton candy in front of me keeps me in front of the TV sometimes.

[ryan]

Yeah...the sign is atrocious, but I have to argue with your argument about the stadium location. You'd really rather see CBP in West Philly than South South Philly? Sure the location in West Philly would be great for Temple, Drexel, and Penn students...but I don't think that they make up the majority of the attendees of the games. The stadium is still easily accessible by residents of Philly with a SEPTA stop right outside the stadium...but having the Stadium a stone's throw 95 provides easy access to Jersey and Delaware fans (like myself). It's not like attendance is hurting by any means at the stadium either, watching Phillies road games make me sick because visiting stadiums are so vacant compared to CBP...plus there's something to be said for having all of the stadiums together, it's especially perfect when the Sixers and Flyers don't stink it up and we can have a basketball game, hockey game, and baseball game within the span of a few days in an area the size of a few city blocks...also an early fall with both the Phils and Birds playing is nicer...an October like that would be even nicerer.

[Zur]

30th Street?

We'd still be sitting in traffic to get to last year's games.

The Phils looked at who actually buys tickets..

It's not people living in condos in Rittenhouse sipping latte's.. or students from Long Island who go to Penn and bash Philly.

and Septa... ever try to go anywhere outside of Center City around the time the 9th inning would be ending on Septa?

Think People...Septa's useful at rush hour.

and where exactly will all the people who drove for all those years then park? My guess..in front of everyone's houses in West Philly.

San Fran.. a city that has a functional transit system.

We don't.

and Season Ticket holders live in the burbs.

but screw that sign... maybe a drunk Birds fan will drive his green school bus into it this winter.

[Whitey]

Rent a Humvee....and drive it straight into the mofo.....problem solved!

[Greg]

I think the stadium location is perfect. A lot of South Philly residents can walk to the games and people who live elsewhere in the city are just a SEPTA or a taxi ride away. Plus, it makes it more easily accessible to people who live in the suburbs, New Jersey, and Delaware. It's the legendary South Philly sports complex where all the teams play, come on! But about the sign, I never noticed it until now. And now that I have, I see what an eyesore it is. Anybody think of maybe starting a petition and sending it to whoever is in charge of making a decision regarding its future?

[Mike]

Kill The Sign. Jimmy Carter era stuff sucks.

[Jon]

This post is all wrong. While the Vet had to go, this sign should stay. It's so ugly it's cool, and it serves as a much better memorial to the old stadium than painting the spot where home plate used to be be in the middle of an asphalt parking lot. I propose the pillar it should be on the National Register of Historic Places.

And it's time the Phillies and everyone else stop fooling themselves: There is no skyline view at Citizens Bank Park. I've seen closer and clearer vistas of Center City from Delaware County.

This post had one thing right, though, the stadium should have been built at 30th and Walnut or at the Spring Garden location that was briefly considered ... but all these suburbanites -- most of whom rarely set foot in Philadelphia but frequently criticize it -- were worried about where they would be able to park their humongous SUVs.

[PERRY]

The sign is an eyesore and should have gone a long time ago. But Brad is right, it probably will stay forever.

Another annoying thing to me is the Phils uniforms. I can't think of one other major league team that does not have the name of their city on either the home or away uniforms. Typically it's the away uniform, so teams can show off their city name when in the oponents stadium.

I've written the Phils this for years to no avail. Where is their pride????????? Wouldn't a nice block letter PHILADELPHIA across the chest look awesome on the away uniform?

Damn right it would.

[David]

Well, since that last post was both old and off-topic, I had to respond to Jon with the names of the other teams that do NOT have their city name on either the home or away jersey:

Toronto
LA Angels
St. Louis
Tampa Bay

That was a fun waste of 20 minutes.

[Whitey]

Why doesn't some just blow the b*tch up.....or better yet, get a chain, rap it around your bumper and floor your car.....we need to get creative here people!