Phillies' batting practice before the first game ever in Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.It was cold, it was windy, it was sunny for the exhibition game this afternoon between the Phillies and their new Triple-A affiliate IronPigs. A whopping 10,188 fans jammed the park, designed to hold 9,100. By noon half of the seats were already filled for the 2:05 game. Gov. Ed Rendell was among the many featured guests on hand, wearing a 1993 World Series jacket and calling on the Phillies to give him reason to buy a new one. The famed Bach Choir of Bethlehem sang the anthem, a great touch. I had on sunblock but it was useless against the windburn that I came home with. Kyle Kendrick pitched five strong innings for the Phillies who scored early on a 2-run homer by Geoff Jenkins, then added 3 more. By the end of the 3rd, most of the Phillies starters were out of the game. Final score in an exhibition game that was much too long: 5-3. More about the new park another time. It was a good day for the baby IronPigs, who had lots of enthusiastic new supporters on hand.
