A building promised for years has risen at the corner of a gentrified neighborhood in South Philadelphia. The blue-paneled structure is 7,500 square feet, and inside it will have four retractable batting cages lined with artificial turf. It will be a place, at the intersection of 17th and Fitzwater Streets, where young baseball and softball players in the city can practice all year.
It will called the Ryan Howard Training Center.
"It's cool to have a building named after you," Howard said last week. "But it's really about what happens inside - people being able to take advantage of what's going on there and better themselves.