Another opening, another show.

Opening night at Citizens Bank Ballpark started with a beautiful day. I took a stroll around the grounds before the game.

I don't know what kind of flowers they are.

That's the second biggest U.S. flag I've ever seen. They didn't leave it there once the game started.

The players marched in along some sort of procession from center field. There appears to be a few players in the stands, too, but those are just fans in costume.

They invited some paratroopers from the Army to drop in with the first ball. One of them dropped into the parking lot. Really.

They announced a "sellout crowd." Odd, since the attendance figures for sellouts are never the same twice. I guess I'm the only one who pays attention to stuff like that, but wouldn't you figure that a sellout would mean that there was the maximum number of fans in the ballpark? Reasonable men may differ.

This was the view from my seat.

That's the bell that lights up when a Phillies player hits a home run. Last night, it kind of just sat there. The Phils managed only 4 hits in a 4-1 loss to the Braves, and two of those hits came in the ninth inning - a classic case of too little too late. I'm hearing a lot of teeth-gnashing over the game, which is odd. OK, it's the first game and they played like crap, but it's baseball. There are 161 more to play.

I think we just like to complain.