Phillies up security with new metal detectors

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Phillies are trying out a new security measure, having installed metal detectors at one of the entrance gates to Citizens Bank Park.

With all that's been going on in the world we live in, it seemed inevitable that sooner or later we would all have to be going through metal detectors and/or wands at a sporting event.

For Phillies fans, that era will begin to take root Monday night... but for now only at the Right Field Gate.

Security Operations Director for the Phillies Sal DeAngelis explains, "It's no secret that events, like the Boston Marathon happening, made league security experts look inward and say, if we need a little help with our security procedures, what can we do? And this is where Major League Baseball went and all clubs will be doing this by next year."

In this crazed new world of terrorism, slowly but surely all major sports venues are looking at revving up their security measures.

As part of a Major League Baseball pilot program, the Phillies' Citizens Bank Park has installed metal detectors at the Right Field Gate.

But DeAngelis says, unlike at airports, "you don't have to take off your belt and you don't have to take off your shoes. The only thing we ask that you take out of your pockets is a camera, a cell phone, and keys, place them in a dish to pass through, and then you walk through the metal detector."

The metal detectors will be operational through the rest of the Phillies season. And by next year, they will be permanently installed at all gates, requiring all fans to be subject to metal detector screening.

Of course that's likely to slow down fans entry into the ballpark.

"They're only going to be fast when our staff becomes experts on this and our fans are educated on what to expect when they come to the ballpark," DeAngelis said.

So if you are planning to enter through the Right Field Gate, plan on it taking it a little longer than usual to get inside.