In the modern era, with many baseball stadiums moving to downtown urban locales, tailgating has become more and more rare. But don’t tell that to Phillies fans.
The South Philadelphia Sports Complex is something of an anomaly in the modern stadium era. Featuring three major sports venues — Citizens Bank Park, the Wells Fargo Center and Lincoln Financial Field — and surrounded by parking lots, it remains as one of the last bastions of tailgating, for baseball games, at least.
So perhaps it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that, on Tuesday, the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Enforcement cited 61 individuals for underage drinking outside Citizens Bank Park. Plainclothes officers patrolled the parking lots outside the ballpark before and while the Phillies took on the Mets, from 4 to 9 p.m. Two of the offenders were said to be under 18 years old, according to Metro Philadelphia.
Officials have pledged to continue with the periodic crackdowns throughout the season. And, for the record, this is far from the first time the Phillies have had problems with college-age drinkers.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Citizens Bank Park
