Phillies Nation

Dust off your cleats and start oiling your glove, it’s softball season.  That’s right, this year Phillies Nation will be fielding a local softball team in the Philly Sports and Social Club league.  Depending on how it goes, we may add additional teams, seasons and locations.  For now, here is the softball league we’re participating in and there are some more details below.

What: 10 vs. 10 (6 men, 4 women) coed softball
Where: 8th & Poplar in Northern Liberties (map)
When: Apr 22 – Jun 30
Game Times: 6:15 or 7:15pm
Game Days: All games on Mondays or Wednesdays
Cost: $65/Individual (10 Game Regular Season), not including $2 per game umpire fee

If you want to play, register asap using the links below, spots will go fast and there are only 9 available.

Register as a male player | Register as a female player

With the 2013 season just around the corner, it’s time to start another Phillies Nation fantasy baseball season, where it’s free to enter and winners of each division win a prizes at the end of the season!

If you are interested in playing this year, sign up below and we’ll email you an invitation to join one of our leagues. Invites will be sent out in mid-March, but you can certainly start thinking of funny team names now.

Wanna win 2 tickets to Opening Day?

It’s easy, just visit this contest page and tell us if you think the Phillies’ 2013 season will be like their 1980 season.

Tell us why (or why not!) the Phillies will go all the way and you’ll be entered to win a pair of tickets to Opening Day vs Kansas City.

The contest ends today, so make your submission now!

If you don’t win your way in, you can still grab your Phillies Tickets for Opening Day and the remainder of the season at www.philliesnationtickets.com

More than 150 people descended upon Big League Dreams in Medford, NJ on Saturday for the first annual Wiffadelphia charity wiffleball tournament. Through their generosity, the Phillies Nation Foundation was able to raise over $2,000 and collect 400 lbs. of food for Philabundance and its mission to drive hunger from our communities.

Congratulations to the winning team Buzz’s Girlfriend…Wiff who beat Jawn Stars 10-0 in the final that started just after the witching hour. And a hat tip to Jordan from Swamp Ducks who won the speed pitch contest with a big league toss of 82 mph.

A huge thanks goes out to the Phillies Nation team, our sponsors and the staff of Big League Dreams for making this event a reality.

We have a bunch of photos below for your viewing pleasure, but they don’t quite capture the budding rivalry brewing between Team Pat Gallen and Team Corey Seidman. We’ll also be airing some video from the tournament during the premiere of Phillies Nation TV, this Tuesday at 6:30 pm on The Comcast Network. Come watch it with us at our premiere party.

With the help of BQ Basement Systems, we’d like to send you to our first ever charity wiffle ball tournament, Wiffadelphia. The festivities begin this Saturday, March 9 at 6pm in Medford, NJ at Big League Dreams indoor facility.

(Please only take part in the contest if you can go to the event this Saturday!!)

Here’s how to enter the contest:

1. Go to the BQ Basement Systems Facebook page and give them a “like”.

2. Write one sentence on the BQ Basements Systems facebook page wall explaining why you deserve the 2 tickets to Wiffadelphia this Saturday. (Please keep it to just one sentence!)

3. We’ll pick the best wall comment and the 2 tickets to Wiffadelphia will be yours!

Thank you for participating and hope to see you at Wiffadelphia on Saturday!

Phillies fans, we need your help in selecting the next Phillies Nation TV female host. Check out the videos below and vote on who you think it should be! Voting ends at 5pm on Thursday.

February is here, and you know what that means – Spring Training!  Fortunately for fans, that journey always begins in sunny Clearwater, Florida. The Phillies have been coming to the area just off the Gulf of Mexico since 1915 and it has provided fans a warm haven from the final weeks of winter.

Phillies Nation has gone to Spring Training the past 7 years and after all the games, player sightings, sunburns, and parties, we’ve put together our Phillies Fans’ Guide to Clearwater.

To those fans who have not yet been on a Spring Training trip, I have one word for you – GO! It’s the most fun you’ll ever have…or the most relaxing time you’ve ever had….or both! In the meantime, read below for a taste of what you’ve been missing. The Guide is definitely a work in progress, so I’ve you’ve been to Spring Training, please offer your suggestions in the comments area.

Continue reading The Phillies Nation Guide to Clearwater, Florida

I Love the Phillies, especially the 2012 team.

I grew up a Phillies fan having gone to my first game back in 1983 at Veterans Stadium. I got a patch that night in celebration of 100 years of baseball with different “P’s” on each base. It’s one of my most cherished baseball possessions; but even more important to me are the memories of my dad taking me to the ballpark and teaching me about the game. (I love you, Dad & thank you.)

With all the successes of the Phillies in recent years, games have become a mainstay on my family’s television from April to October – although I still listen to lots of games on the radio & really miss Harry K. (RIP). These days, I am now a dad and I am making new memories watching games with my daughter. At the end of the 2011 season my daughter asked me to take her to a game…so that is what I did.

On June 6, 2012, her last day of 2nd grade, we visited Citizens Bank Park and took in our first live ball game together. We sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as we walked through the parking lot and took lots of pictures on the way to our seats. She got to hear the big bell ring 3 times that night with home runs from Victorino, Wiggington, & Rollins. Sadly, the Phillies went down in a six to five loss that night but we left wearing the Phanatic Dangler hats and ice cream-sticky miniature plastic batting helmets. More importantly, I left that night knowing I had left something special in my daughter’s head and heart…a night at the ballpark with her dad.

It was an up and down 2012 for the Phightin’ Phils. The anticipation of April’s arrival and the chance for post-season play in late September keeps me tuning in to the TV & radio broadcasts and will keep me bringing my daughter back to the ballpark.

Thank you to this year’s Phillies and to all the teams that came before….thank you for the memories.

- Michael

Read more “Why I Love the Phillies” stories from Phillies Nation readers here.

Since I have been here, I haven’t seen any leadership

Jonathan Papelbon, February 21, 2013

I wish I could have written about this quote sooner. But, to be honest, I don’t think there is much to say; I believe Papelbon’s misspoke during a period of quick reflection. A reflection on a season’s worth of disappointments that are understandable when compared to the high expectations the Phillies had entering 2012.

While his comments may have been understandable, that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t entirely wrong. Dead wrong.

Listen, any team that had won the last five division titles has leaders. The 2012 Phillies met that description and then some. Twice a World Series participant, once a winner, in those five years, someone must have been guiding the Phillies. There were more than a few constants from those five years who returned for 2012: Charlie Manuel, Rich Dubee, Carlos Ruiz, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Shane Victorino all entered the 2012 as Phillies who had been there from the beginning of their playoff run. So what gave in 2012? It’s pretty obvious to me. Follow the jump for some beautiful visual evidence.

Continue reading Papelbon Wrong About 2012

Look, we get it. You’re bored waiting around for the Phillies to kick into high gear. We also know you’re a Flyers fan. So, why not use your hockey knowledge to win a few bucks?

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new way to play fantasy hockey that turns the season long grind into quick-hitting, one-night leagues.  And the best part is that you can win cash every single day. Here’s how it works:

You draft a team for one night and get paid out as soon as the games end that night.  DraftStreet.com is at the forefront of this new trend in the fantasy world and is giving us a great promotion: a FREE one-day fantasy league with $200 in prizes exclusively for Phillies Nation fans.

This free contest will be salary-cap style drafting where everyone tries to assemble the best team out of the available players.You will have a $100,000 budget to build a team of 2 LW’s, 2 RW’s, 2 Center’s, 2 Defensive players, 1 Goalie, and a FLEX. Each NHL player has been allocated a price based on their expected fantasy performance.

You can adjust your roster up until the contest starts on Saturday, February 23rd at 7pm, at which time your rosters will lock and the Live Scoreboard will be available.

CLICK HERE to sign up for free and join the Phillies Nation $200 Freeroll on DraftStreet.com.