Home plate rule needs further review

April 21, 2014

By Steve Bohnel
@SteveSportsGuy1

The Phillies were in the second of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies. In the bottom of third inning, a play at the plate illustrated one of the key additions to the MLB this season: expanded instant replay.

But this play was different. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, who had singled to start the inning, was on his way home trying to score the first run of the game. Chase Utley fired the ball home. Ruiz blocked the plate, and Arenado was out...for a few minutes.

An emptying bank

April 16, 2014

By Steve Bohnel
@SteveSportsGuy1

Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons had just smacked a hanging slider from Phils reliever B.J. Rosenberg into the left field bleachers at Citizens Bank Park.  Droves of fans departed from their seats with the score now 5-1 in favor of Atlanta in the eighth inning.

Not that it was exactly a sell-out crowd in the first place.  The attendance at the Bank on April 14 was 26,516—far short of the full capacity of nearly 44,000. 

This isn’t a new thing that has been happening just this year. Ever since 2010, when season attendance peaked at an all-time high at 3,777,322, the Phillies have seen a decline in the category, dropping down to 3,012,403 in 2013.