PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Citizens Bank Park was a field of dreams.
Phillies Fan Ann Klein explained, “I came here to get the experience of a lifetime, on the field. Batting, I can’t wait to bat, fielding. Just to be here is a dream come true for me.”
More than 100 Phillies fans got lesson in Baseball 101.
They’re all women and they all love the sport.
Baseball 101 is a program that offers fans a real-life experience, while a portion of the proceeds goes to charity.
Genevieve Achay, a Phillies fan, said, “This is my first time here at baseball 101. I’ve always wanted to come but tickets are really hard to come by. So I bought them early. My dream is to touch this field, so I’m hopping to slide head first into one of the bases.”
The day-long event includes a behind the scenes tour.
Then the ladies got a chance to “shag” some fly balls, batter up, run the bases and pitch.
Under the hot sun, they got to play like the pros. Many waited a lifetime for this opportunity and call it a dream come true.
Achay explained, “All my friends and family are very jealous, all my co-workers are jealous.”
They got lessons from former Phillies players like Juan Samuel and Larry Bowa.
Some fans left a lasting impression for Bowa. “You can tell they played softball or something because they have very good actions and sort of caught me off guard a couple of throws with something on it.”
All the ladies kept trying until they got the “swing” of it. Bowa said no one should be embarrassed if they mess up.
“We’re paying guys $8 million a year and they are missing balls so don’t worry about missing the balls here during the drills,” he said.
Achay added, “It’s amazing! We are having a blast all the ladies are having fun!”
After a long day of drills, they get to watch the real deal.
That’s because they all got tickets to see the Phillies play the Mets tonight.
