HISTORYFlashback: At Citizens Bank Park, during the Phillies’ road team era
It appears that the sport is being completely reinterpreted in the last several days. In 2020, the National League will at least temporarily adopt the universal DH, and extra innings will start with a runner on second base. It takes us back to a period in recent Phillies history when nearly all of the factors we took for granted in baseball turned out to be unstable.
Commissioner Bud Selig said in May 2010 that the Blue Jays-Phillies series, originally scheduled for June 25–27, had been rescheduled to Philadelphia because of security concerns related to the G20 Summit. The games continued to be played under American League rules, with the Phillies continuing to be the designated away team.
In Philadelphia, public address announcer Dan Baker revealed a lineup that included a designated hitter for the first time ever. In the first two games of the series, Ryan Howard batted first, and in the series finale, Raúl Ibañez did the same. It was walk-up music for both teams.
Unfortunately for those who would normally arrive at the game a few minutes late, the Phillies also batted first. They also donned road grays, which would have bewildered any fan who happened to see the game on TV at the time to see Jimmy Rollins open the proceedings at Citizens Bank Park in gray.
