April 14

Jenny was in Willow Street in the morning for an appointment, we had lunch in Quarryville afterward. Later in the afternoon I headed for Reading AKA "Baseballtown" for the R-Phils' home opener. I arrived around 3:30 or so, the crowd was already lined up for the 4:00 gate opening. For most of the fans this was their first look at the renovations done over the off-season and by all accounts the response was overwhelmingly positive. The pregame festivities were typical of an opening night with all the pomp and circumstance as we celebrated "The Rebirth Of America's Classic Ballpark". Unfortunately the pregame activities were the high point of the night as the visiting Akron Aeros won the game 5-0. It was scoreless after seven innings as Phillies starting pitcher Ryan Edell kept the club in it but the Aeros broke through in the eighth against the bullpen and won it going away. The R-Phils could muster only two base hits, a single by Freddy Galvis and a double from Matt Rizzotti. Better than 8200 in the park on a mild April evening, it was 63 degrees at game time. We started a few minutes later than the normal 7:05 but we were still done by 9:45 so at least the game went relatively quickly. The series continues through Sunday, on Monday the Eries Seawolves come in for a two-game set. Take care, thanks for reading.