April 3, 2004: Citizens Bank Park Opens

April 3, 2004: Citizens Bank Park opens, at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. For the Philadelphia Phillies, it was a refreshing change. Unlike Veterans Stadium, they owned it. Also unlike The Vet, it was a ballpark, with real grass, not a stadium, with artificial turf. Unlike Connie Mack Stadium and Baker Bowl, there was no danger of it falling apart. And, unlike all of those, no rats.

The 1st event was a Phillies game, albeit a preseason exhibition. They lost to the Cleveland Indians, 6-5. A visiting Indians fan might have felt at home, as the design was very similar to their Jacobs Field, now named Progressive Field.

The 1st official game was on April 12. The Phillies lost that one, too, 4-1 to the Cincinnati Reds. The Phils' only run came when Bobby Abreu hit the park's 1st home run.

The statue of Philadelphia Athletics owner-manager Connie Mack, which had been placed outside the stadium that bore his name in 1957, a year after his death, had been moved to Veterans Stadium in 1971. It was moved again to Citizens Bank Park. On its base were inscribed the names of the Philadelphia Athletics players who had been elected to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame at The Vet from 1978 onward, until the The Vet's closing in 2003.

From this point onward, the Phillies would elect a new member to the Wall of Fame nearly every year, and place the plaques on a wall on Ashburn Alley, a fan area beyond the center field fence. Named for longtime Phillies center fielder and broadcaster Richie Ashburn, it included a statue of him.

Additionally, statues of Phillies legends were places outside the ballpark's main gates: Pitcher Robin Roberts outside 1st base, 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt outside 3rd base, and pitcher Steve Carlton outside left field. In 2011, a statue of broadcaster Harry Kalas was added behind the left field stands, next to a bar called Harry the K's, which anchors Ashburn Alley, in honor of the "Harry & Whitey" partnership that lasted from Harry's arrival (and The Vet's opening) in 1971 until Ashburn's death in 1997.

Kalas died in 2009, and Roberts in 2010. Robert did live to see the dedication of his statue. As of April 3, 2022, Schmidt and Carlton are still alive.

At the other end of Ashburn Alley, in right field, is Bull's BBQ, a barbecue stand run by former Phillies left fielder Greg Luzinski, similar to the one in roughly the same location at Camden Yards in Baltimore, run by former Orioles 1st baseman Boog Powell. This would lead to other ballparks having food stands named for, sometimes even tended to by, team legends: Luis Tiant in Boston, Gorman Thomas in Milwaukee, and Randy Jones in San Diego.

In center field, reminiscent of the mockup of the Liberty Bell that hung on the upper roof of The Vet (and has been preserved in the parking lot), a big white Liberty Bell was placed in center field, and it lights up in multiple colors, sways and "tolls" when the Phillies hit a home run or win the game.

The Phillies have already done better at The Bank than they did at The Vet: They challenged for a Playoff berth in 2004, 2005 and 2006; then won 5 straight National League Eastern Division titles from 2007 to 2011, including winning the 2008 World Series and the 2009 NL Pennant.

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April 3, 2004 was a Saturday. This was also the day that Freddy Adu made his Major League Soccer debut, at age 14. I have a separate entry for that event.

The Major League Baseball season began the next day. Football was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 86-75 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia, at the same sports complex, a few hours later.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-100 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse) in Cleveland.

* The Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls, 97-83 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns, 124-103 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the New Orleans Hornets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 94-81 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

And there were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the MCI Center in Washington. Bobby Holik, formerly with the New Jersey Devils, scored the winning goal, with 3:52 left in overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators, 4-1 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators, 6-0 at the Corel Centre (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* In a pale imitation of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the Glendale Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. Krys Kolanos scored the winning goal, with 2:05 left in overtime.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

And in English soccer, in an FA Cup Semifinal on neutral ground at Villa Park in Birmingham, Manchester United beat Arsenal, 1-0. The North London team had dreams of both an undefeated Premier League season and a "European Treble": The League, the FA Cup, and the Champions League, which United had done in 1999. Now, they were out of the Cup. Just three days later, West London's Chelsea knocked them out of the CL.

They did finish the unbeaten Premier League campaign, something no other team has done. Nevertheless, there is an asterisk on their record: They played Man United 4 times that season, and didn't beat them: They lost the Community Shield exhibition to start the season, lost this Cup tie, and only came away with draws in both League meetings. United beat South London's Millwall to win the Cup.