As a child growing up in South Jersey with two parents who were born and raised in the Philadelphia area, I started going to Phillies games at a young age. During the Veterans' Stadium years, my dad shared season tickets with a couple of his friends. I was in attendance for such memorable moments as the J.D. Drew battery incident and the final game at the Vet. More often, though, I was present for conspicuously forgettable performances from Mark Portugal, Midre Cummings, Wayne Gomes, and the like.
I was always a big Phillies fan, even if they were typically second in my heart to the Iverson-era Sixers during my formative elementary and middle school years.