Shannon KeoughFor the fourth year, Cabrini’s partnership with the Philadelphia Phillies has shown great success.
The night of Aug. 28, after everyone drove in traffic, the game started off with rain clouds moving away, or so everyone thought. Within minutes of the game starting, the clouds came right back over Citizen’s Bank Park and caused a rain delay.
For about 45 minutes, students waited until the game would resume by hiding underneath the covering or by wearing their Cabrini College ponchos.
The game resumed, but the rain came down again, which caused another 45 minute rain delay.
During the game Cabrini President Marie Angelella George came to the stands to greet students, faculty and alumni of Cabrini College.
“I love the camraderie that we all have and I love to see the Cabrini shirts in the stands,” George said. “I love walking through the stands and meeting people. I know we get to show ourselves off, but I think the highlight for me is being with the other Cabrini people.”
Before the game started, Cabrini College’s chorus sang the national anthem for the third year in a row. The performance was broadcasted on the jumbotron at the ballpark.
Four years ago, Cabrini only sponsored half of the season with banners by first and third base, and in that first year, approximately 100 members of the College’s community attended the first ‘Cabrini Night at the Phillies.’
The second year of ‘Cabrini Night at the Phillies,’ was the first year that the Cabrini College chorus got to sing the national anthem. Former President Dr. Iadorola threw out the first pitch and the Cabrini dance team was able to dance on the top of the dugout with the Philly Phanatic.
For the third year, in 2008, Cabrini was able to bring the Philly Phanatic to campus during freshman move-in day and more than 1,700 tickets were sold to the Cabrini community for ‘Cabrini Night at the Phillies.’
Fast forward one year, and the College has sold approximately 1,900 tickets. The night still featured a performance by the dance team, as well as some costumes as a part of the ballpark’s “Retro Night.”
There were also t-shirts for the Cabrini community and knitted caps for everyone who was 15 years and older.
“Because of our sponsorship we got the trophy to come to our campus last semester,” Dan DiPrinzio, media relations manager of Cabrini College, said.
“This event has grown every year.”
There were also alumni in attendance at the big night. Chris Nelson, alumni of Cabrini College and now an English teacher at Upper Darby High School, came to enjoy the night with the Cabrini community.
Nelson was joined by his wife and alumni Kristina Nelson. They both enjoy coming back for Cabrini events.
“There’s such a strong connection between Cabrini and the Phillies,” Nelson said.
The Cabrini crowd showed off with their blue shirts and signs such as “Cabrini hearts the Phillies.” Many students wanted to get onto the big screen at the game by showing off their dance moves and, after a few tries, they finally made it.
The Phillies won against the Braves 4-2 with two homeruns from Ryan Howard. The game didn’t end until around 12 a.m. and the tired students headed back to Cabrini after the long night at Citizen’s Bank Park.
With the rain delays and bad traffic, the Cabrini community still knew how to make Cabrini Night a successful one.
