The pre-game festivities began with four U.S. Special Forces members parachuting into Bright House Field and ended with the Phillie Phanatic getting a little too grabby with a Hooters waitress who had just thrown out one of the ceremonial first pitches.
Quite the spectacle to take in for Toronto Blue Jays hopeful Scott Richmond ahead of his first outing of the spring yesterday. "I didn't see much of that, I was warming up in the bullpen and all of a sudden I see shadows flying over me, the special forces dropping in there, it was pretty special,'' Richmond said after throwing two scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
"They won the World Series last year, they got supportive fans and it was pretty exciting.''
While the Phillies hauled out all the bells and whistles for their Grapefruit League home opener -- folk singer John Flynn handled the national anthems -- Richmond mowed through a Phillies lineup stacked with regulars with a simple approach.
"Just throwing a lot of strikes,'' said Richmond. "I want to be in the zone, I'm not trying to be too fine right now. Just really get those mechanics going.''
He faced seven batters, retired six, hitting John Mayberry Jr., with a pitch in the second his only blemish.
"He threw the ball real well,'' said manager Cito Gaston. "He gave us a chance to win today, he just picked up right where he left off, even a little better.''
There's a lot on the line in camp for the North Vancouver native, who is actively fighting for one of the vacant slots in the Blue Jays rotation. A talent who slipped through the cracks and only made it into affiliated Baseball last season, this is the 29-year-old's window of opportunity and he knows it.
There are a plethora of other candidates to fill the vacancies and this opportunity may not come for him again.
"Whoever pitches the best here is going to make this club,'' said Gaston. "I think he certainly has an advantage as far as experience, but you still have to go out and do the job and if he gets the job done, he's got a chance to pitch here with us.''
Richmond will get a chance to impress as Canada's ace at the World Baseball Classic and has been preparing for both opportunities for a while now. His next outing comes Tuesday for Canada against the Blue Jays.
"I grew up watching these guys, now I'm playing with them and now I get to pitch against them. It's going to be good,'' said Richmond, who began throwing earlier than normal to get ready.
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