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Happy opening day (again), everyone! Regular season baseball is back in Philadelphia as today it gets underway for the 2016 season. For those that plan to be in attendance at Citizens Bank Park to see the Phillies take on the visiting San Diego Padres, here is the full list of festivities, so you don't miss a thing. 8:00 am - Majestic Clubhouse Store opens. 12:00 pm - Free Citizens Bank Way Opening Day Party including a live performance by Go Go Gadjet, a ferris wheel, a giant Anheuser Busch Bud and Burgers trailer and prizes and sampling from Turkey Hill ice cream, J&J Snack Food, Rita’s Italian Water Ice, Chick-Fil-A, plus more 12:35 pm - All gates open. All fans receive a Phillies Opening Day Commemorative Cap, compliments of Nemours 12:43 pm - Phillies batting practice

Opening day is here.  With another baseball season ready to get under way in Philadelphia, check out the schedule for the Phillies' opener with Boston in town at Citizens Bank Park on Monday. 8:00 a.m. Majestic Clubhouse Store opens . 12:00 p.m. Citizens Bank Way Opening Day Party and concert. Features entertainment, food and drinks. Free to all fans. Plus, live performance by Go Go Gadjet . 12:13 p.m.  Phillies batting practice . 12:35 p.m. All gates open.  All fans will receive a 2015 Phillies Schedule & Car Magnet , compliments of Nemours . 1:13 p.m. Red Sox batting practice . 2:13 p.m. Line up on 10 th Street! Fans who have not yet entered the ballpark gates are invited to line up on 10 th Street and cheer on the 2015 Phillies as they make their “Leadoff Walk” into the ballpark – escorted by the Cardinal O’Hara High School Marching Band . 2:22 p.m. Must-see pre-game ceremony. The 2015 Phillies will make their grand entrance into Citizens Bank...

Today the Phillies announced the signing of RHP Chad Qualls to a one-year $1.15 million contract. Qualls, a 33-year-old reliever, who has 8 seasons of big league experience, most recently pitched with the Padres in 2011. With San Diego, Qualls posted a 6-8 record with a 3.51 ERA in 77 appearances. However, in 2010, over 70 combined games with Arizona and Tampa Bay, Qualls struggled a considerable amount, as he sported a 3-4 record with a 7.32 ERA. In 537 career outings, all in relief, Qualls, a University of Nevada, Reno product, has posted a 38-34 record with a 3.78 ERA and a .263 batting average against. Generally, an inexpensive commitment for a veteran arm, even one with an up and down track record, isn’t something to be greatly concerned with, but considering the effect that Qualls’ presence could have on the future on the team as well as his career numbers at the Phillies’ home park this is not an acquisition that Philadelphia fans should be pleased with. As PhilliesNation’s Cor...

The annual NHL Winter Classic is set to be played on Monday, January 2nd and will pit the Philadelphia Flyers against the New York Rangers. Recently, NHL.com writer Adam Kimelman published quotes from a few important Philadelphia basball figures in regards to the upcoming outdoor contest, to be played at the Phillies' home, Citizens Bank Park. He spoke with Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., team president David Montgomery and the most tenured player on the team, Jimmy Rollins. Amaro: "It's pretty cool. It's been pretty neat watching the development, the things that are happening. … I've been watching every single day we walk in. I take a route in through the concourse and check out the progress. It's been neat to watch." "I'm born and raised here, a big Flyers fan. I was here when the Broad Street Bullies were big-time. I think I was 9 or 10 years old when they were winning. And it's exciting. I've always been a big Flyers ...

The takeover has begun. As the holiday season approaches and winter becomes more imminent, January 2nd, the date of this season's NHL Winter Classic draws nearer. In 2012, Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park will play host to the annual regular season hockey contest that is broadcast on national television. The ballpark is otherwise home to Major League Baseball's Phillies. In the upcoming game, the Flyers will take on New York Rangers. It will be New York's first Winter Classic appearance, while the Flyers, who lost at Boston in 2010, will be seeing action in the annual event for the second time. This will mark the fifth year for the NHL's premiere regular season contest, which first took place in 2008 at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Bills. The process to convert the baseball playing field into an ice rink, in time for the week of hockey events set to take place at CBP, began this week. In addition to the January 2nd regular season...

The following is a post from ballpark aficionado Kurt Smith. Kurt, a New Jersey resident, is the creator of Ballpark E-Guides , a series of baseball venue reviews that provide extremely detailed rundowns of various MLB facilities. From time to time, Kurt expects to join PhoulBallz.com to talk about professional baseball, its cathedrals and whatever else might be on his mind. Right now, though, check out information from Kurt about his excellent downloadable booklet of everything there is to know about Citizens Bank Park. Currently I live in Turnersville, NJ, just a 20-minute drive from the sports complex in South Philadelphia. I saw plenty of Phillies games, Flyers games, and concerts at the Vet and at the Spectrum. And I had no truck with any of it then. But I will say it looks a heck of a lot nicer now. Especially Citizens Bank Park. The idea for writing a guide to the Major League ballparks came to me while lying in bed one night. I thought about my frequent trips to Camden Yards (I...

It's Roy Halladay bobblehead figurine day at Citizens Bank Park. Poor weather in the forecast aside, phans all over the area are excited that this giveaway and the Phillies' starting rotation worked out to coincide with each other, as Halladay is scheduled to pitch tonight for the defending National League champs against the Pirates. Halladay, who is often regarded as one of baseball's best pitchers, will be honored with his first Phillies bobblehead after just 8 regular season appearances with Philadelphia. This sort of rush service to bestow Halladay souvenirs on the public got me wondering what other souvenirs the Phillies could rush to the public. Here's my list of desired new promotions that should make their way to Citizens Bank Park. #5 "The Phield" Philadelphia blogger first pitch night. Ceremonial first pitches will start at 2:30 pm for a 7:05 pm game as all Phillies bloggers will be allowed to toss a first pitch to a rotating series of irrelevant for...

The Phillies are home! The Phillies are home! Starting Friday night, the Phillies will begin their annual two day On-deck Series that wraps up pre-season play and rings in a new year of baseball in Philadelphia. The Phils will host Pittsburgh for two games, Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Cole Hamels will start on Friday evening for the Phils, while "Jay" Happ is slated to pitch on Saturday. As expected, Kyle Kendrick will start in Joe Blanton's spot in the rotation as the Phillies open the 2010 season. Drew Carpenter has been called up to take Kendrick's spot in the bullpen. A second round pick in the 2006 amateur draft, Carpenter appeared in 3 games with the Phillies last season, pitching 5 1/3 innings, walking 4, striking out 5, but he surrendered 7 earned runs. Carpenter also appeared in 1 game for the Phils in 2008, when he threw a scoreless inning. ----------------------------------------- Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE . Share on Facebook

Phans and media alike are fairly excited about the Phillies' Grapefruit League match up on Thursday. The Houston Astros are slated to start Brett Myers, while the Phillies plan to start Kyle Kendrick. That's a comical pitching match up for those who recall the famous prank that Myers once pulled on a young Kendrick during spring training. Roy Halladay is scheduled to pitch on Thursday also, but will compete in a minor league game instead of against Houston. There is simple reasoning behind that. The regular season schedule pits the Astros and Phillies against one another during the first week of the season, so rather than give Houston hitters opportunities to see Halladay and get used to his pitches before it counts, they are keeping Roy under wraps. The decision could also be telling as to where the team is leaning with the 5th starter, or their intentions to use the 5th starter in that first week or not, if the Phils aren't shy about the Astros seeing Kendrick. Carlos Rui...

As you all know, today is the mandatory report date for Phillies pichers and catchers, and as such it's the official first day of spring training. Ahhh, it's like a holiday, but who wants to wait? Let's get the season started. The ballpark looks ready, doesn't it? -------------------------------- Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE ! Share on Facebook

Here are some pictures from a pretty remarkable Sunday at the ballpark. Most importantly, here's a shot of Brad Lidge closing out a sweep of the Metropolitans. Phils phan Jamie G. stood out in the crowd, root-root-rooting for the good guys. T-Mac and Sarge celebrating their birthdays with a little Bull's BBQ...and Wheels. Phriend of PhoulBallz John Flynn performed God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. Check out John's web page for tour dates! And lastly, one unsuspecting driver was in for a surprise upon returning to this vehicle, in the Jetro lot, after the game.

PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...

We all saw (and heard) the receptions that Pat Burrell and Adam Eaton got the other day at the Phillies' World Championship ring ceremony. Pat Burrell received the biggest reception of the day. It really had me wondering what exactly it is about Pat that phans love so much. His offensive statistics rank high on Phillies all-time leader boards, but Pat was never an all star and never won any individual recognition, as a Phillie. He was a sometimes-steady hitter, who learned to take more walks over his years, and had slumps as regularly as the weird guy in the cubicle next to me has belching fits and outbursts toward his computer ("Come awwwn! I hate you!"). Patrick the Batrick's performances against division rivals were not very outstanding, despite the misconception that he always killed the Metropolitans (.255 avg vs. Nationals, .249 avg. vs. Braves, .246 avg. vs. Mets, .243 avg. vs. Marlins). Perhaps the affinity for Burrell can be attributed to the fact that he was...

This week, Shore Sports Network's Kevin Williams took some time out of his busy professional radio duties to answer some questions about baseball and his lengthy career. Thanks to Kevin, who is quick and to the point, for the most part. Kevin is a Metropolitans fan, by the way. 1. Kevin, Cole Hamels speaks the truth. He gave an interview where he confirmed that he thinks the Mets are choke artists. As a Mets fan, can I get your rebuttal to such a statement? (He's an) immature jerk who will regret the comment. The simple difference in the teams this year was the Mets lost Billy Wagner and the Phillies had Brad Lidge healthy for the season. 2. You suspended your Fox Sports 1310 AM blog once the Mets fell short at the end of the 2008 season. Do you have any intentions to start it back up, or will someone else be taking your spot? If you are discontinuing your page...who can take the most credit- the Brewers, the Phillies or the Mets? I really don't like blogging....it's fo...

Well, the Mets are at it again...stinking up New York, the NL East and all of MLB. This time it's not with their miserable September play, it's with their crummy uniform decor. The Metropolitans are accessorizing their home jerseys this year with a comemorative patch to celebrate their new home, CitiField. Allow me to present to the Phillies Phaitful the fresh new uniform addition that the NY Metropolitans will have for 2009. This awful image to the right is really what the Metropolitans intend to have on their jersey sleeve this coming season... Amatuerish? To say the least. How about that world class franchise across town? They are going to have a new ballpark as well. What might their patch look like? Have a glance... It is a shame really. The Mets think their Dominos Pizza logo looking art work is sufficient enough to represent what kind of corporate baseball giant they are presenting the world. They are clueless. It screams out, "We deliver hot and fresh in 30 minut...