NATIONAL LEAGUE Phillies hitting more homers at new park

In eight games at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies are averaging three homers.
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
PHILADELPHIA -- There's a huge replica of the Liberty Bell out behind right-center field at Citizens Bank Park. The bell lights up and sways and bongs with each Philadelphia home run.
If last week's three-game series between the Marlins and Phillies was any indication, that bell is going to get some workout this season.
After going homer-less the first night, the National League East rivals combined for nine homers and 31 runs in the final two games of the series. Four of those homers came off the bat of Mike Lowell, who may have been inspired by the 10-foot-high statue of his boyhood idol, Mike Schmidt, outside the park.
Two more homers came from Phillies slugger Jim Thome, including an opposite-field shot. Wil Cordero homered, snapping a 1-for-18 start. Even Marlins catcher Mike Redmond got in the act, cranking his first homer since September 2002.
More offense
In all, after eight games at the new park on Pattison Avenue, it would appear the Phillies' new playpen is decidedly more offensive than their old home at Veterans Stadium. The Vault, as the locals are calling it, already has produced an average of three homers and 9.25 runs per game.
Contrast that with the Vet, where its last season produced a home-run ratio 15 percent below the league average and a scoring mark 14 percent below the league norm.
"The dimensions [at Citizens Bank Park] are almost identical to the Vet," Phillies General Manager Ed Wade said. "We had a wind study done before it was built where a computer model was used, and they felt the prevailing winds would be similar to the Vet.
"That said, it seems like in the early going here, on a relatively calm day, the ball jumps. It may indeed be more of a hitters' park. At the same time, we've had some balls hit to straight-away center field in the open area where it seems like the wind knocked the ball down. It could depend on where you hit it."
A mammoth blast
When Cincinnati was in to open the place, Ken Griffey Jr. hit a mammoth blast to right center on a windy day that stayed in the park. More forgiving, players and coaches say, is the area from left to left-center, where the winds are blocked by the majors' largest scoreboard and McFadden's restaurant.
Redmond's homer, for instance, went out between the "369" and "385" signs in deep left-center, the exact spot Marlins bullpen coach Tony Taylor pointed to during batting practice.
"Compared to the Vet, the ball flies here," said Taylor, who played 15 seasons in Philadelphia.
Thome, who could hit balls out of Yosemite National Park, points out there is one benefit for pitchers: thick infield grass. Gone is the rock-hard plastic grass of the Vet.
"We've got a little higher grass here that slows the ball down through the infield," Thome said. "If you're a sinker-ball pitcher, that should help you."
Although the mound at the Vet was widely believed to be taller than the regulation 10 inches, there have been no complaints so far about the Vault's mound.