Phillies fans hope to bring taste of Citizens Bank Park to Atlanta
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The countdown is almost over for a highly anticipated NL Division Series rematch between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves. Game 1 is scheduled for 6:07 p.m. Saturday at Truist Park.
The Phillies held a workout and press conference in Atlanta Friday afternoon and announced Ranger Suarez would start.
Citizens Bank Park was rocking this week with an atmosphere that led to The Athletic ranking the ballpark as the best stadium for postseason baseball. Now, some Phillies fans are taking that energy to Atlanta.
Philadelphia sports fans love to travel, and it's no different during Red October. Games 1 and 2 are in Atlanta, and Phillies fans are heading down south.
CBS News Philadelphia found fans boarding several flights at Philadelphia International Airport heading to Georgia.
On Saturday we caught up with Joe Tracy of Washington Township, New Jersey, who got on a last-minute flight to see the game.
"We are ready to go to Atlanta. I cannot wait to see our Phils. Last year, I was in St. Louis when they clinched the wild card game. I cannot wait to see the Phillies take game one here. I'm like so amped up, We're excited. We are excited to see our Fightins take on the Braves," Tracy said.
He said the Phils "are the hottest team in baseball right now. Nobody wants to play Philadelphia. We beat the Braves last year easily, we're going to do it again this series."
Tracy said he was looking at flights but that a lot of seats filled up after the Phillies won the National League Wild Card Series against the Miami Marlins.
"Philadelphia is ready to take over Atlanta," Tracy said. He's predicting a 5-3 Phils win and an Alec Bohm home run in the seventh or eighth inning.
Then there was Kass Russo of Ocean City, New Jersey, who was headed to Atlanta for a different reason: her cousin's wedding.
Still, she was sporting a Phillies cap at PHL.
The wedding "starts at 6 o'clock, same time is the game, so this is gonna be funny," Russo said.
The game plan? Well, we hate to break it to cousin Tom, but Russo says she may have her phone out watching the game.
"I'll be cheering on the Phils and like looking at the wedding, but my heart's gonna be the game," Russo said. "What can I say? I wish I could go to the game."
John DeBrigida and his stepson Gavin Moore of Conshohocken were already heading to Atlanta for a baseball tournament. Once the Phils won, they scooped up tickets for Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday.
It's a little like déjà vu from last year. The Phillies beat the Braves in the 2022 NLDS on their way to taking down the San Diego Padres to win the NL pennant.
DeBrigida and Moore both believe the Phillies can do it again.
"We were thinking about it if they would have won it," Moore said. "But once they won it, it was kind of electric at our house and we got to get to go."
"Put it this way. We could have probably paid for tickets for the whole series at Atlanta for what it would have cost to buy the Phillies' tickets," DeBrigida said.
DeBrigida and Moore left Philadelphia at 12:30 p.m. Friday for Atlanta.
There were 18 flights bound for Atlanta Friday alone and we another 13 on Saturday.
For Phillies fans still on the fence about going to Atlanta, AAA said they could find cheaper prices at other airports such as Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey or John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.