![\"Phillies](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cq2s778ze0a15qb3.jpg\")
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PHILADELPHIA – Phillies fans are filling stores and making final plans as baseball returns to Philadelphia on Thursday, with Opening Day celebrations set to kick off at Citizen’s Bank Park.<\/p>\n
Fans stock up on Phillies gear ahead of Opening Day <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Stores like Rally House in Deptford, NJ are seeing a surge in Phillies merchandise sales as fans get ready for the season opener.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m excited about the game. I came to get some Phillies stuff. It\u2019s going to be nice tomorrow too so I\u2019m going to put on my Phillies gear,” said Alisa Fowler of Sewell, New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Many fans are keeping up family traditions and looking forward to seeing new players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s just an exciting day. We love baseball. I\u2019ve been going to opening day forever. I\u2019ve always loved the Phillies my wife is a huge Phillies fan because of that,” said Paul D\u2019Ariano of Deptford.<\/p>\n
The Phanatic remains a top pick for fans shopping for team gear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Well the Phanatic is a fan fave. So with him celebrating his birthday in the next couple weeks I don\u2019t think one guest leaves without some something Phanatic,” said Danielle Ramsey, store manager at Rally House.<\/p>\n
Excitement is high for the new season, with fans eager to see both familiar faces and new players on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Just seeing all the new players I\u2019m interested in seeing Justin Crawford play and Andrew Painter. It\u2019s been a while so we\u2019re ready for baseball to be back,” said Lauren D\u2019Ariano of Deptford.<\/p>\n
Fans are preparing for tailgates and celebrations, with many mentioning the good weather forecast and the anticipation of a strong team this year. “We are ready. 70 degrees. Sunny. Going to be gorgeous. It\u2019s my wife\u2019s birthday today so we\u2019re ready to go,” said Paul of Clarksboro, New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Opening Day events and game details <\/p>\n
Opening Day is more than just a game for many in Philadelphia\u2014it\u2019s a citywide celebration with traditions, family gatherings and special events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Phillies will do their walk out from Center Field, there will be a flyover by the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, a remodeled New Era team store and new ballpark menu items.<\/p>\n
The first pitch against the Texas Rangers is scheduled for 4:15 p.m., with gates opening at 1:45 p.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Opening Day ball will be delivered by colonial re-enactors on horseback as part of the celebration of the nation\u2019s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n
Fans are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy all the festivities and avoid missing out on the pregame excitement.<\/p>\n
Local perspective:<\/p>\n
Fans from across the region, including New Jersey towns like Sewell, Belmawr and Deptford, are making the trip to Philadelphia for Opening Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many are keeping up annual traditions, shopping for new gear and looking forward to spending time with family at the ballpark.<\/p>\n
The excitement for baseball\u2019s return is matched by optimism for the Phillies\u2019 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Optimism so it\u2019s going to be a good. I think we are going to have a good team this year. We got some new players I hated to see a couple of them go but that\u2019s the nature of the business,” said Dave Morton of Deptford.<\/p>\n
Sports<\/a>Philadelphia Phillies<\/a>Phillie Phanatic<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA – Phillies fans are filling stores and making final plans as baseball returns to Philadelphia on Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1423,139,523,69,71,70,1425,67991,726],"class_list":["post-148855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-mlb","tag-news","tag-people","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-phillie-phanatic","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}