Tuesday night’s Angels-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia will be a homecoming for Mike Trout, who grew up in nearby Millville. But this isn’t going to be any regular homecoming – approximately 8,000 fans from Millville will be in attendance at the game. That’s nearly 20% the capacity of Citizens Bank Park, and when added to the team’s average attendance this year, closer to 25% of the crowd will be cheering on Trout.
In fact, the attendance from Millville is going to be so extreme that the evening will be dubbed “Millville Night”. MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez has the details.
If a group purchases at least 500 tickets, the Phillies will gladly name a night after your city. They’ve done it for years, and back in the early 1980s, “Millville Night” was an annual tradition. So around mid-October, Phils coordinator of premium sales and services Jerry O’Connor touched based with Quinn, a longtime season-ticket holder, about starting it up again.
Quinn mentioned it in a city meeting, worked with Marianne Lods, executive director of the Millville Development Corporation, to spread the word, and bought a block of 1,000 tickets — in the 400 section, making up the upper deck behind home plate.
In 48 hours, they were sold out. And as of Monday afternoon, 3,960 tickets had been purchased.
That doesn’t count the entire varsity baseball team of Trout’s alma mater, Millville High School, which will sit in center field. Or the hundreds of others from encompassing Cumberland County, who will be sprinkled throughout the Phillies’ home ballpark. Or a big portion of those traveling in an estimated 15 buses, making up a total fan base that’s nearly 30 percent of Millville’s entire population (just shy of 29,000).
It’s going to be a wild scene at Citizens Bank Park. Hours before gametime, the only ticket available for under $25 through the Phillies is standing room only at $17 a pop. There might be a decent walk up crowd for the game thanks to a gorgeous day in Pennsylvania and a minimal chance of showers this evening.
Millville is going to be in full force in south Philly this evening, and the cheers for Trout may be just as loud as the boos were for Ryan Braun on Opening Day. Considering how vociferous Philadelphia was towards the 2011 NL MVP, that’s impressive. And if Cliff Lee manages to strike out Trout, who leads the American League in punchouts this season, the cheer from the Philly faithful may make Millville’s cheering section look like amateur hour.
[MLB.com]
