It's a big day in Philadelphia as the Phillies prepare to play their home opener Thursday afternoon.
Newswatch 16's Chase Senior was at Citizens Bank Park for the Opening Day festivities.
Sunshine, blue skies, and 60 degrees. Could you ask for better baseball weather?
"It's Opening Day! You can't miss the Phillies on Opening Day!" said Diann Belsak of New Ringgold.
This opening day was one of the most anticipated openers in recent memory for Phillies fans everywhere, thanks to the signing of Bryce Harper.
The superstar right fielder inked a 13 year, $330 million contract with the team at the end of February. In addition to generating excitement, his No. 3 jersey is already a hot ticket item for fans of all ages.
"It's an amazing feeling to see that they're actually putting together a team that's going to potentially get to the playoffs," said Matthew Himmelreich of Schuylkill Haven.
Joshua Sattazahn of Orwigsburg added, "Opening Day is crazy just to begin with, but now with the addition of Harper and everything, it's going to be nuts in there today."
Even though the Phillies didn't take the field against the Braves until around 3 p.m. on this sun-kissed day, thousands of fans made their way into the ballpark early for opening day festivities.
"Very hopeful this year. It's going to be a year of big things and I think we're to go full fledge and very strong," said Nicole Kreiser of Schuylkill Haven.
"We're very excited for this years team," added Charlie Hansler of Tamaqua.
The party got started well before the first pitch. A group of about 100 people from Schuylkill County took two buses down to Citizens Bank to check out Bryce Harper's debut in red Phillies pinstripes.
"This is awesome. It's great. We get to see a lot of people that we don't see all winter long because you're snowed in," added Belsak.
"They are rowdiest people that I've ever spent some time with, so it's gonna be pretty nuts in there for our group," said Sattazahn.
According to fans we spoke with, playoffs are the expectation.
Legal sports books across the bridge in New Jersey have the over/under for Phillies wins at 89.5.
Fans we spoke, of course, predicted the Phillies win total would be in the 90's.
Watch as a Phillies fan celebrates their Opening Day win the Chase Senior.
