The electricians stretched across Darien Street as if they were forming a picket line as the white limousine carrying Jim Thome turned north off Pattison Avenue on that November morning in 2002.
The Phillies were giving Thome a full-court sales pitch, trying to persuade the free agent to come to Philadelphia and help turn their franchise around. They planned a tour for Thome, and the first stop was at the Preview Center, a small building the Phillies built on Darien Street to showcase what their new ballpark, later to be named Citizens Bank Park, would look like when it opened 16 months later.