Citizens Bank Park

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.

The rematch of last season's Flyers Cup AAA championship will take place at Citizens Bank Park on Jan. 4 as part of the Winter Classic festivities. Malvern Prep announced on Tuesday that it would face La Salle at 5 p.m. at the home of the Phillies. The game will be followed by Neumann University vs. Penn State. In last year's Flyers Cup, the Explorers downed Malvern Prep, 3-2, in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center, before falling to Pittsburgh's Upper St. Clair in the state final.

NEW YORK - Come Jan. 2, when the Flyers and Rangers play the Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies' home ballpark will be transformed into an homage to outdoor hockey. The NHL's signature regular-season event will appear seamlessly integrated into a facility specifically erected to provide an optimal baseball-viewing experience. The bulk of the preparation responsibilities fall on the shoulders of Don Renzulli, the NHL's senior vice president of events. In April, he started overseeing biweekly logistical planning meetings with about 50 people in the largest conference room on the 14th floor in the NHL's New York offices.

That Chase Utley again leads all Phillies in merchandise sales at Citizens Bank Park isn't surprising. It's another number, said Phils director of merchandise Scott Brandreth, that recently drew the attention of the team's merchandise staff. "Our store manager came up here and said, 'What do you think the breakdown is on the sizes [of the Utley shirts being sold]?' " Brandreth said. "By the way he said it, I said it's not what I think it is. " In general, a team sells twice as many large and extra-large adult T-shirts as small and 2X. But not in Utley's case.

The workouts for Roy Halladay began Dec. 1 in Clearwater, Fla., and have continued on a regular basis. There have been interruptions along the way, banquets such as Monday's Philadelphia Sports Writers awards dinner in Cherry Hill. But the trip north allowed for a happening earlier in the day that will make Phillies fans smile. Both Halladay and Cliff Lee worked out at Citizens Bank Park. "It's been an easy winter," Halladay said. Who knows what "easy" is by Halladay standards.

Just outside the visitors clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park, the Oakland A's family will-call list sat on a small, red table hours before Saturday's interleague game against the Phillies. The seventh and eighth entries read: "Wife, Amanda Bailey," and "Parents, under William Bailey. " On Saturday night, cheers could be heard throughout the park as Oakland closer Andrew Bailey got a save against the team he grew up rooting for in Haddon Heights. He's grown up a lot since graduating from Paul VI High, winning the American League rookie of the year award in 2009, and making two all-star appearances.

Expect the price for tickets to the National League Championship Series at Citizens Bank Park, at least on the secondary market, to jump more than 50 percent from their average for the previous series. StubHub suggested last Thursday that the average price for a Phillies ticket for the NLCS would be $222. Tickets into the NLDS at the park averaged around $145. Dodgers tickets, as of last Thursday's report, figured to sell for an average of $142. Tickets to see the Rays, if they advance, will average $105.

Sure, the fences are close. Keep 'em there. Fans seem to have fallen for Citizens Bank Park - more so than for the team that plays there. They like its good sight lines, airy feel - and the way home runs fly out over the flowerboxes in left field. Here's the problem: Those left-field homers strike baseball purists as cheap. Some players and analysts on ESPN - yeah, we're talking about you, Krukker - have taken to calling our city's new ballpark, well, "a joke. " That's exactly what the Atlanta Braves' Hall-of-Fame-bound John Smoltz called it. It's not a coincidence that Smoltz is a pitcher, not a slugger.

Sometime during his formative years in Roxborough, perhaps Phillies president David Montgomery played a game or two of wall-ball. At least that's the way it looked yesterday at the newly angled Citizens Bank Park, with Montgomery chairing a contingent of Phillies brass standing in the left-field corner of the park, and bouncing a baseball off the wall in various locations. No one was taking score, but they were taking notes. Soon enough, they'll see the new way the ball bounces in left field themselves.

THERE IS a curious afternoon contest currently penciled in for Monday, Jan. 2 on the Flyers' schedule. Technically, without a peep from the NHL since the league's matrix was released on June 23, it's just one of 82 games on the Flyers' slate. That is all expected to change next week when the NHL will finally - formally and officially - announce Citizens Bank Park as the home of the 2012 Winter Classic between the Flyers and New York Rangers, a league source told the Daily News . It will be by far the latest announcement of the summer compared to the previous four Winter Classic setups, each of which were announced in July.

  Throughout the 2011 baseball season, the Daily News was inundated with emails and calls. Nonetheless, Phillie Phoodie is back for another season as the guardian of Phanatics' taste buds. This year, the Phoodista will sample new offerings at Citizens Bank Park, as well as some nearby eateries that are popular game-day stops for Phillies fans. We may even hit the road to taste test some of the region's minor league ball parks.   First up: Outlet: Panini's, at Section 133. We went: Pregame, 12:30 p.m. Wait: None.

Forty-two down is the answer to how many games the Phillies have played so far this season. Twenty-one across is the answer to the Phillies' number of wins and losses. This is not a crossword puzzle, but the Phillies have heard their share of cross words during this puzzling first month and a half of the 2012 season. They heard more during and after Sunday's listless 5-1 interleague loss to the Boston Red Sox at Citizens Bank Park. With their needle stuck again at .500, the Phillies lost ground to every team in the National League East and lost most of the momentum they had gained during a six-game winning streak that consisted mostly of victories against the dregs of Major League Baseball.

THE PHILLIES are among the teams that want to host an All-Star Game, but their target is further away than you might think. How about 2026? After hosting the game in 1976 to mark the country's bicentennial, the Phillies have targeted the sestercentennial, the 250th birthday of the United States. "We think the Year 2026 is a pretty special time for this city and our country," Phillies president David Montgomery told the Daily News on Wednesday. "We were fortunate enough to host the All-Star Game in 1976.

Before Friday's series opener with the visiting New York Mets, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel talked about the importance of being patient against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Easier said than done when confronted with the floater. The Phillies took their hacks but were thrown off rhythm by the righthander, whose previous history at Citizens Bank Park left much to be desired. Dickey surrendered one run over seven innings as the Mets opened the weekend series with a 5-2 win over the Phillies.

PAT BURRELL will officially retire as a Phillie during the Boston Red Sox series at Citizens Bank Park in May, the team announced. Burrell, 35, will sign a 1-day minor league contract with the Phillies. He will be honored before the Saturday, May 19 game by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Burrell retired in the offseason because of a chronic foot injury that limited him to 92 games with a .230 average last season with San Francisco. " 'Hesitant' isn't the right word - I just don't like to make a big deal about things," Burrell told MLB.com about returning to Philly.

Cole Hamels was astonished to learn that the Phillies have some offensive issues. This 2012 model, with its .198 team batting average, eight total runs and four extra-base hits through four games, does not seem all that dissimilar to the spiffier engines that failed so many times to support him in recent years. "I've kind of been doing that for four years, so, no, it's no different to me," Hamels said when asked if he relished the challenge of pitching without much offensive support this season.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was late September 2003, and the Phillies were playing Juan Pierre's Florida Marlins at whatever that football stadium in South Florida was called at the time. The Phillies trailed the Marlins by one game in the National League wild-card race when they arrived. After the Marlins won the second game of the series to all but assure themselves of a spot in the playoffs, Pierre glanced into the visitors' dugout and was amused by what he saw. "I forget exactly how we won, but Larry Bowa threw his scorecard, and all these other papers just started flying all over the dugout," Pierre said, a huge smile crossing his face.

VIERA, Fla. - Nothing could ruin Brad Lidge's most vivid and treasured memory of Philadelphia. He will forever have that raw 2008 October night at Citizens Bank Park when he struck out Tampa Bay's Eric Hinske, dropped to his knees, and looked skyward, triggering a wild celebration after the Phillies ended the city's 25-year championship drought. It was the perfect end to Lidge's perfect season. Nothing was close to perfect after that for Lidge, including the separation from the Phillies that took place this offseason.