Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Home to Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, the stadium opened April 3, 2004.
The 42,901-seat ballpark was built to replace the 33-year-old Veterans Stadium, a multipurpose football and baseball facility that was demolished in 2004. Citizens Bank Park features a natural grass-and-dirt playing field and Philadelphia-style food stands that serve cheesesteak sandwiches, hoagies, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, Yards and Yuengling beer, and other regional specialties.
The ballpark is named after Citizens Bank, N.A.. It sits on the northeast corner of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Xfinity Mobile Arena, and Stateside Live!, a dining and entertainment venue which often serves as a media hub for various live broadcasts.
History Planning
In 1999, the owners of the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL joined their western Pennsylvania counterparts, the owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, in asking state and local governments to replace Veterans Stadium and Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with separate baseball and football stadiums. Pressure for new Philadelphia stadiums increased after a railing collapsed at "The Vet" during the 1998 Army–Navy Game, injuring eight cadets. The Pirates owners threatened to leave Pittsburgh in 1997, helping to convince the state legislature to approve funding for the four proposed stadiums. With their architectural plans already in place, Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh approved the pacts swiftly. Still, debate among Philadelphia's city leaders continued into 2001, when Pittsburgh opened its stadiums (PNC Park for the Pirates and Heinz Field for the Steelers). The Eagles ultimately agreed to the site of a former food warehouse slightly southeast of Veterans Stadium. Lincoln Financial Field celebrated its grand opening in August 2003.
The Phillies originally sought to build a downtown ballpark similar to those in Baltimore, Denver, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, and San Francisco. Various locations were proposed, including Broad and Spring Garden streets; Spring Garden and Delaware Avenue; and next to 30th Street Station on the site of the former main post office. The team and the city announced that the site would be at 13th and Vine streets in Chinatown, just north of Interstate 676, within walking distance of Center City. There was considerable support for a downtown ball park from business and labor and the city at large. But Chinatown residents protested, fearing a new ballpark would destroy their neighborhood. The City and team eventually settled on building the ballpark at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on the site of another abandoned food warehouse. In the years that followed, residents, fans, and owner Bill Giles expressed regret that the new ballpark was not located in Center City Philadelphia. Still, the team set attendance records in 2010 (3,647,249 fans, averaging 45,028) with all home games sold out for the first time in the team's 81-year history, extending a sellout streak dating to July 2009 to 123.Phillies attendance figures , sportsnetwork.com, retrieved October 6, 2010.
Chief architect of the new stadium was EwingCole's Stanley Cole. The new park's design was unveiled at a groundbreaking ceremonies on June 28, 2001. After the game that evening, the location of the left-field foul pole, from home plate, was unveiled at the outset of the team's annual Fourth of July fireworks display. On June 17, 2003, Citizens Bank agreed to a 25-year, US $95 million deal for the park's naming rights and advertising on billboards, telecasts, radio broadcasts, and publications. The ballpark was officially topped off on August 12, 2003, and opened in April 2004.
Modifications Shortly after the park opened in 2004, the bullpens were reassigned so the Phillies' pitchers used the lower pen and visitors used the upper pen. This was done to give Phillies' pitchers a better view of the game and to protect them from heckling by fans. However, the team forgot to rewire the bullpen phones after the bullpens were reassigned, so during the first game, the dugout coaches had to communicate with the bullpens by hand signals.
In its first years, Citizens Bank Park allowed 218 home runs in 2004 and 201 in 2005, more than half to left-field. After the 2005 season, the left-field wall was moved back .
Even with these modifications, the park has a reputation as one of the most hitter-friendly parks in baseball.Citizens Bank Park listed as 12th most hitter-friendly park in MLB for 2009 on In 2009, it gave up 149 home runs, the most in the National League and second in the majors behind only the new Yankee Stadium, but has been neutral since, with a .997 park factor in 2011.
Events
April 12, 2004, 1:32 PM: Randy Wolf of the Phillies threw the first regular-season pitch at Citizens Bank Park to D'Angelo Jiménez of the Cincinnati Reds, who got the park's first hit, a lead-off ground-rule double. Jiménez scored the park's first run later in the inning on a wild pitch. Bobby Abreu of the Phillies hit the first home run in the bottom of the first inning, which also served as the franchise's first hit at Citizens Bank Park. Reds pitcher Paul Wilson earned the first win in that game and Danny Graves earned the park's first save. June 14, 2004: Phillies first baseman Jim Thome hit his 400th career home run into the left-center field seats at Citizens Bank Park. The home run came before a 2-hour, 18-minute rain delay that started when the game was not yet official. The teams waited out that delay and two more to finish the game at 2:06 am. June 20, 2004: The first inside-the-park home run at the stadium was hit by Jimmy Rollins against the Kansas City Royals. April 4, 2005: The Washington Nationals played their first regular season game as a new team after moving from Montreal at Citizens Bank Park, and the Phillies won the game 8-4."Recalling the Washington Nationals first game in 2005", SB Nation, April 4, 2022 May 9, 2005: In the first Minor League Baseball game at the park, the Eastern League Reading Phillies defeat the Trenton Thunder, 5–3. September 14, 2005: Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves hit his 300th career home run, which sailed off Phils reliever Geoff Geary in a 12–4 Phillies win. The ball landed in the upper deck in left field. July 15, 2007: The Phillies lost their 10,000th regular-season game to the St. Louis Cardinals, 10–2, the first time a professional sports franchise reached that mark. October 3, 2007: The park hosted its first postseason game as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Phillies 4–2 in Game 1 of the 2007 NLDS. October 25, 2008: The park hosted its first World Series game, as the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 5–4 in Game 3. Before the game, country music singer Tim McGraw, the son of the late Phillies closer Tug McGraw, who had recorded the last out in the Phillies' World Series victory in , took a handful of his dad's ashes and spread them on the pitcher's mound just before handing the ball used in throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in the game to Steve Carlton. October 29, 2008, 9:58 PM: In Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, Phillies closer Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske of the Rays to complete a 4–3 victory and clinch the Phillies' second World Series championship in franchise history. Game 5 had originally started on October 27, but was stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning due to rain, and would remain suspended before resuming play two nights later. The Phillies held a celebration at the park at the conclusion of their championship parade on October 31.
June 25, 2010: Citizens Bank Park hosted the first regular-season game in a National League stadium in which the designated hitter was used; MLB moved the Phillies' series against the Toronto Blue Jays from Rogers Centre to Philadelphia, citing security concerns for the G-20 Summit. Ryan Howard served as the first DH in a National League ballpark. Despite playing in their park, Philadelphia was designated as the road team. October 6, 2010: The first no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park was thrown by Roy Halladay against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS. May 1, 2011: During a game between the Phillies and the rival New York Mets, the 45,713 fans in attendance began to chant "U-S-A!" following the news that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, had been killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan. October 2, 2011: A crowd of 46,575 attended Game 2 of the 2011 NLDS between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals. , this remains the highest-attended baseball game in the park's history. May 25, 2014: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett threw the first regular season no-hitter in the ballpark's history. He was also the first opposing pitcher to throw a no-hitter. April 16, 2019: MLB announced that Citizens Bank Park would host the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. November 2, 2022: In Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier, combined with bullpen relief from Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly, threw a no-hitter, the first in a World Series game since Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. August 9, 2023: In his first home start with the Phillies, Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter against the Washington Nationals, the stadium's fourth no-hitter and the second by a Phillies pitcher. August 30, 2023: Phillies designated hitter Bryce Harper hit his 300th career home run into the right-center field seats in a game against the Los Angeles Angels. August 15, 2024: Weston Wilson became the first rookie to hit for the cycle in Phillies history. It was the second Phillies cycle hit in Citizens Bank Park and the 10th cycle in Phillies history.
Features Ashburn Alley
Behind center field is Ashburn Alley, named for Phillies Hall of Fame center fielder Richie Ashburn, who played for the team from 1948 to 1959 and was a Phillies broadcaster from 1963 until his death in 1997. It is seen by Phillies fans as a sop to their desire to see the stadium named for Ashburn.
Ashburn Alley is named for the slightly-overgrown grass that bordered the third base line at Shibe Park, where Ashburn was famous for laying down bunts that stayed fair. The new Ashburn Alley, located near Ashburn's defensive position, is a walkway with restaurants, games and memorabilia from Phillies history. Ashburn Alley also has a memorabilia shop and a large bronze statue of Ashburn directly behind center field, as well as the U.S. flag, the flags of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, a POW/MIA flag, and the flags from the Phillies' championships.
YearEventChampionship 1915 World Series National League Champion 1950 World Series National League Champion 1976 NLCS National League East Division Champion 1977 NLCS National League East Division Champion 1978 NLCS National League East Division Champion 1980 World Series World Series Champion19811981 NLDSNational League East Division Co-Champion 1983 World Series National League Champion 1993 World Series National League Champion 2007 NLDS National League East Division Champion 2008 World Series World Series Champion 2009 World Series National League Champion 2010 NLCS National League East Division Champion 2011 NLDS National League East Division Champion20222022 World SeriesNational League Champion20232023 NLCSNational League Division Series Champion 2024 NLDS National League East Division Champion 2025 NLDS National League East Division Champion
In 2004 and 2005, organist Paul Richardson performed from Ashburn Alley, as Citizens Bank Park was built without an organ booth.
Other attractions