For 33 seasons, The Phils had called Veterans Stadium home. It had seen no-hitters from Terry Mulholland and Kevin Milwood, the first and last of Mike Schmidt's 548 career home runs, and of course, a World Series celebration in in 1980. It also inspired the name of this very blog with its infamously rowdy highest section of seating. But the "octorad," cookie-cutter style of the stadium left it as something or a relic of the late 60s/early 70s, as the days of the football/baseball-hybrized arena were becoming a thing of the past. The Eagles were getting their own Lincoln Financial Field, and the Phils were getting Citizens' Bank Park. So on September 28th, 2003, the Fightins took the field at the Vet for the very last time.
The Phillies were 86-75 going into the game--their second straight winning season, but still well short of playoff contention. They were playing the Braves, who had already clinched the NL East, but still sent staff ace Greg Maddux to the hill (in his last-ever regular-season start for the ATL) in an effort to secure the best record in baseball from the San Francisco Giants. Maddux wasn't brilliant, but he only gave up two runs in his five innings of work, and the Braves quickly chased Phillies starter Kevin Milwood from the game, tagging him for five runs in four innings. The last out of the game was a double play hit into by then-rookie Chase Utley, as the Braves won 5-2.
The Phils left Veterans Stadium with an overall record of 1415-1199, a .541 win percentage. Larry Bowa, the Phillies manager who got the first ever hit at the Vet back in 1971, fought back tears at the post-game conference. "It's a pretty special place," said Bowa.
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/09/to...
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