When Jim Thome first walked onto the field at Citizens Bank Park, he had a sensation akin to that of a very hungry man entering a bakery and picking up the scent of a buttercream layer cake.
Something was in the air, and he knew he was going to like it.
Thome, who hit 47 home runs in 2003, the Phillies' last year at the Vet, still remembers that first batting practice, on April 3, 2004, as the ball club prepared to open its brand-new stadium with an exhibition game.
"The ball carried really well," Thome recalled on a June visit with his current team, the Chicago White Sox.
Really well.
It wasn't long after opening day that fans started calling the park "cozy," a "bandbox" and a "joke." The phenomenon was the buzz of the dugout, too.
Dave Montgomery, the Phillies' president, insists that the club did not intend to make the park a crowd-pleasing, homer-friendly arcade. The outfield dimensions are similar to those of Veterans Stadium - and, statistically, the Vet favored neither hitters nor pitchers.
So what is it?
The team has gradually come to the conclusion Thome says he sensed that very first day: Something is in the air. Specifically, wind. While players such as Braves star John Smoltz and former Phillies closer Billy Wagner have expressed skepticism, several experts say the atmospheric argument makes sense.
Statistics alone give a strong hint: As a hitters' park overall, the new stadium is in the middle of the pack. Yet it often has been the most homer-friendly park in the majors, even besting Denver's renowned Coors Field, according to stats from ESPN.com.
Some things have been tweaked over the last three years.
Before the 2006 season, the Phillies moved the left-field fence back five feet. And thanks to the intrepid work of Inquirer sportswriters, the team corrected the 369-foot marker on the left-center field fence, moving it to where the distance from home actually is 369 feet, not 3581/2. (The fence itself is straight, whereas the Vet's was bowed, another difference.)
Meanwhile, the balls are still flying out.
Here's why: In contrast to hulking Veterans Stadium, winds pour through Citizens Bank Park like water through a flow-through tea bag. Balls that get airborne are lifted up, up and away.
The most obvious suspects are the prevailing southwest and south winds of summer, which blow straight out to center and right-center fields. Those winds increase with height. Other factors might also be at work.
