PHILADELPHIA (KYW NEWSRADIO) — It's the 20th anniversary of the opening of Citizen Bank Park, the beloved home of the Phillies that helped reinvigorate the fan base at the start of this century. When it comes to the landscaping of the ballpark – everything that's green and living minus the field and the Phanatic, that is the vision of Pam Hall, who was the Phils Director of Landscaping for nearly 20 years, before she passed away in 2019.
"She was hired by the Phillies as a project manager for the construction of [Citizens Bank Park], said Hall's widow Janis Risch. "So she knew that ballpark like no one. She saw it from the ground up."
Hall is responsible for the beautiful gardens you see at CBP, as well as the shrubbery on the batter's eye.
"So when you see the pink geraniums hanging over the outfield and over the bullpen, that's her legacy," said Risch. "She picked them and she planted them. And her team did a great job keeping them looking really great all the way through the October playoffs."
Hall loved working for the Phils. With a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, Risch said this job gave her the chance to stretch her abilities.
"Pam, she just had the most beautiful garden [at her home] in the whole neighborhood," said Sean Forman, who is a neighbor of Risch's in Philadelphia. "It had an incredible yard, flowers all the time and she was out there working on it … and I think also being both a woman and an African American woman working in baseball, she was something of a trendsetter as well. I don't know exactly if she was the first person to have a landscaping role in that setting, but she definitely was out of the ordinary for the baseball industry."
Hall also hired a lot of students from Saul High School and mentored them, something she also enjoyed doing.
"The Phillies were a fabulous home for her," said Risch.
That included the 2018 season, when Hall had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch on Mother's Day for breast cancer awareness.
Hall practicing for her ceremonial first pitch with her father.Janis Risch
She got to take a photo on the field with then-Phils manager Gabe Kapler that day.
Hall and former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler.The Philadelphia Phillies
There were other examples, such as employee relay races, when she got to wrap late Phillies executive David Montgomery in toilet paper.
Pam Hall wraps former Phillies President David Montgomery with toilet paper during Phillies employee relay races.Janis Risch
"They were a great family and she felt really, really welcomed and respected there," Risch explained, "and that was really important to her."
Risch admits she's not a sports fan. Instead, Risch says she's a fan of sports fans, such as Hall and others who love Philadelphia teams. After being together for 32 years, Risch spent the early days of the pandemic going through nearly two decades worth of Hall's Phillies mementos to sell online, money she then turned into donations to help folks who were unemployed during the pandemic.
One item Risch decided not to sell was a baseball from the 2008 World Series. Eric Hinske -- who is the Tampa Bay Ray that Brad Lidge struck out to clinch the series -- hit a home run in Game 4 off the brick wall in center field into the shrubbery. Hall retrieved the ball and Risch held onto it for years, before giving it to a colleague and big Phillies fan, Brad Maule, who also happened to be in attendance at Game 4 of that series.
Since 2008 was several years in the rearview, Maule used the well-known website Baseball Reference to confirm it was Hinske who hit it out. Baseball Reference is run by Forman.
Baseball-Reference's Sean Forman and Brad Maule at Sports Reference's headquarters.Janis Risch
"It's a classic use of our website," said Forman. "It's exactly what [I created it] for."
Once Maule had the baseball, he decided he wanted to hand it off as well, but not to another Phillies fan. Instead, to the guy who hit the home run.
"I don't remember what compelled me to do it, but I looked up to see what Eric Hinske was doing at the time," said Maule.
In 2020, Hinske was working for the Diamondbacks, and Maule was able to get his email.
"Brad sent him a really smart and clever email," said Risch. "That kinda hooked Eric Hinske into reading the rest of it."
Maule sent the ball to Hinske, who was happy to receive it, as he discussed with Arizona Sports shortly after.
Risch said it felt great to know that.
"I think part of what was making me feel good was reconnecting Pam's things to people who brought new value and new life to it," Risch explained.
Risch thinks Pam would be really amused by the story of this baseball. Maule believes Hall would appreciate it, and said giving it to Hinske was the right thing to do.
"The ball is a cool keepsake …. but in the overall story, I think it had a higher purpose to be with the guy who hit it and have the story that kinda came with it, and Pam is the one who made that happen," Maule said. "And Janis conveyed it to me and I conveyed it to Eric Hinske, and it was just sort of a fun little trip that that ball went on."
