Philadelphia Phillies

The following is part of a weekly series called "Through the Eyes of..."  In each segment, I share interviews with or stories about those who I view to be the "Good Guys." The men and women who participate in and are the very fiber that make up the great game of baseball.

"Through the Eyes of..." is a part of my personal crusade to present baseball in all its beauty, splendor, and goodness, instead of through hashing and rehashing all that is broken with our national treasure. TC

I saw and heard the strangest thing early Monday morning.

At about 2 a.m. EDT Monday, I saw a stadium full of about 50,000 people strangely quiet. No, I did not wake out of a sound sleep. It was not a religious function and the preacher was giving a sermon.

Nope.

It was a freakin' baseball game.

Much of the East coast was asleep, my wife was asleep, my daughter, who didn't have school the next day, went to bed in the fifth innning and my cat was asleep.

Major League Baseball announced early this morning that Saturday night’s game will be postponed. Game three will be played during the scheduled time for game four, Sunday night at 8:07 Mountain Time.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: MARTINEZ'S SCHEDULE START ON SATURDAY WAS POSTPONED DUE TO SNOW. J.A. HAPP IS DUE TO START SUNDAY. MARTINEZ MAY OR MAY NOT START IN THE BALANCE OF THIS SERIES OR BE MOVED TO THE BULLPEN.

The year is 1999 and in the deciding game of the ALDS, Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez enters an 8-8 game in the fourth inning in the contest against the Cleveland Indians.

The early morning rain had faded, but a strong wind remained as I prepared to go to my first Phillies game since Jul. 9, 2008.

A veteran of Opening Day in Philadelphia, my good buddy was meeting me to go to see the opening round game of the Phillies vs. the Colorado Rockies today, Oct. 7 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

I arrived first and attended a pre-game rally, shown above. The Phillie Phanatic was on stage, as well as the band and several young ladies in Phillies gear. The Phanatic shot Phillies gear out of a long-nose funnel gun into the crowd.

The Colorado Rockies opened their postseason in Philadelphia, the same place that they did in 2007. Both teams are essentially full of the same players. Except for one.