Elmwood Park Zoo Extends Half-Price Admission to Montco Residents

Families across Montgomery County can now visit the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown and receive half-price admission through the remainder of 2025.

Senior leadership with the Norristown Zoological Society, the zoo's nonprofit, announced the new offer for Montgomery County residents during a media event on Wednesday, March 26. Joining zoo officials for the announcement were the zoo's board of directors, Norristown municipality leaders, and Montgomery County commissioners.

According to an NBC10 News Philadelphia report, Montgomery County residents can receive half-price zoo admission. These half-price tickets are available on the zoo's website or may be purchased on-site with proof of residency.

Generous contributions from the late Frank Engro, who is survived by his wife Paige, made this half-price admission possible. The Engros' support also helped the zoo build and open the state-of-the-art Frank and Paige Engro Veterinary Health Center and a new welcome center on the property in 2024.

According to the Patch of Norristown, completion of the animal hospital and welcome center represents only one stage of a proposed three-phase redevelopment that could bring several changes to the Elmwood Park Zoo. The zoo is partnering with the municipality of Norristown on plans to develop new wildlife exhibits, including building a bridge over Stony Creek to permit easier visitor access to open spaces on other parts of the zoo's property, which could be developed in the future.

Learn more about the Elmwood Park Zoo on its website.

Philly fans have a special place in their heart for homegrown players. Some of our favorite players ever came from other teams, but the guys who started their careers in Philly, who we saw go from rookies to superstars in front of our eyes, get that extra bit of love. But who are the best homegrown Phillies in team history?

We are not talking about players born in Philly. If you want the best baseball players ever who grew up in the local area, we already have you covered here. This list is for the guys who started their careers as members of the Phillies. Either by being drafted here, being traded as a prospect, or signing as an amateur free agent.

Unfortunately, that leaves a lot of guys off the list. Steve Carlton is a legend, but he did not start his career in Philly. Bryce Harper is one of the best hitters we have ever seen. But he signed here as a free agent. The same goes for guys like Zack Wheeler, Cliff Lee, etc. If you want a list of the best Phillies who came here via free agency or trade, you can check out the article below.

Related: The All-Time Roster Of Phillies Players Acquired In Free Agency

Some of the positions were easy to pick. There were some tough choices. Also, a few positions that exposed just how bad the Phillies have been at acquiring amateur talent in their history. But there are some truly great players who got their start here.

So who is the best left fielder to come up through the Phillies system? The best relief pitcher? Starting pitchers? We picked the best players from each position.

.264/.350/.391/.742 

71 HRs, 405 Runs, 415 RBIs, 25 Steals 

This was tough between Darren Daulton and Carlos Ruiz. Daulton was the better hitter, but Ruiz was better behind the plate and accomplished more in his time here. I went with Chooch as my pick. He caught 4 no-hitters, including a perfect game. There are a few catchers better at the plate than him, but none can touch what he accomplished behind it.

Also, he was part of the greatest commercial ever.

.258/.343/.515/.859 

382 HRs, 848 Runs, 1194 RBIs, 12 Steals 

The answer was obviously Ryan Howard. Over a 5-year period few players were more terrifying at the plate than him. He got called up too late, and an injury ended his career too soon. So his career numbers look less impressive than they should. But Howard is one of the best hitters in Phillies history. His 2006 season was magical.

I did consider Dick Allen, who also got his start here, and who by the end of his career played more at 1st than anywhere else. But he was mostly a 3rd baseman in Philly. And I think I'd pick Howard over him even if he did play 1st here, just for the sheer impact of Howard’s prime years. 

.275/.358/.468/.823 

259 HRs, 1103 Runs, 1025 RBIs, 154 Steals 

The Infield is going to be way too obvious for these choices. It is debatable if Utley is the best player of the bunch from those late 2000s Phillies teams. But Utley is far and away the best second basemen in Phillies history, homegrown or not. The next guy down would probably be Juan Samuel. Samuel gets underrated a bit. But he doesn’t come close to touching what Utley did.

Utley had a pretty good debut in the Hall of Fame vote this year. It gives him a decent chance to be the one member from that 2008 team to get into the Hall of Fame.

.264/.324/.418/.743 

231 HRs, 1421 Runs, 936 RBIs, 470 Steals 

For my money, the best player from that team. He was the heart and soul of the Phillies. He also leads the franchise in hits. People who look at spreadsheets instead of baseball games are going to keep him out of the Hall of Fame. Which is a shame. Jimmy Rollins is one of the greatest Phillies players ever, arguably the 2nd best shortstop of his era behind Derek Jeter, and among the most fun players to watch on a baseball field.

The guy had a season with 30 homers, 41 steals, 20 triples, and 38 doubles. He won an MVP. Jimmy Rollins was a damn good baseball player who gets overlooked for some reason.

.267/.380/.527/.908 

548 HRs, 1506 Runs, 1595 RBIs, 174 Steals 

Again, the infield was way too obvious. Mike Schmidt is not just the greatest Phillies player ever, he is the greatest 3rd Baseman period. 548 HRs, 10 Gold Gloves, 3 MVPs, and the MVP of the Phillies first ever World Series.

There are other great Phillies 3rd Basemen. We already mentioned Dick Allen, but there is also Scott Rolen. Both were tremendous players for the Phillies, even if the teams they were on weren't so great at times. But neither comes close to touching the greatness of Schmidt.

.276/.363/.478/.840 

307 HRs, 880 Runs, 1128 RBIs, 37 Steals 

Finally, another position where there is some competition. It came down to The Bull, vs Pat "The Bat" Burrell, vs Del Ennis. I find it hard to put Del Ennis on here when not even my father got to see him play, at least when there are more modern players who are just as good of options. I grew up with Pat, and there are plenty of people I can talk to who watched Luzinski play. It was very close, but I went with Bull.

It might be understated just how good he was for them in the 70s. He was a bit past his prime by the time they won the World Series. But he finished 2nd in the MVP race in 1977. From 75 to 78, he was top 5 in RBIs, HRs, and Slugging. So I went with him. But I love Pat, and won’t argue with anyone who puts him here instead.

.308/.396/.382/. 778 

29 HRs, 1322 Runs, 586 RBIs, 234 Steals 

Centerfield was another one without much debate. They have one homegrown Center Fielder in the Hall Of Fame. It kind of takes the choice out of it. Richie didn't have much in terms of power. But he is a .300 career hitter who got on base nearly 40% of the time. He is also a legendary broadcaster.

There is also the fact the Phillies dont have very many other homegrown centerfielders who rose to greatness. Garry Maddox started with the Giants. Shane Victorino with the Padres. Cy Williams with the Cubs. You'd have to go back to the 1800s to find another name even worthy of mentioning. Maybe Johan Rojas, or eventually Justin Crawford, will change that.

.320/.379/.543/.922 

300 HRs, 1168 Runs, 1201 RBIs, 79 Steals 

The history of homegrown right fielders for the Phillies is as bleak as centerfield was. All the notable right-fielders you can think of from recent history started somewhere else. Werth came up with the Blue Jays. Bobby Abreu with the Astros. Callison with the White Sox.

I had to go back to the 20s and 30s. I can’t really say much about Klein. There is not even much footage of his playing days. But he won a triple crown and hit over 300 career HRs, 243 of which came in Philly. He is also in the Hall of Fame and hit over .300 with over 300 HRs. Kleinm is also one of a few players to hit 4 HRs in one game.

He is deserving of the spot. It just feels disappointing to include someone on the list pretty much no one reading this will have seen play. But he was the obvious choice here given the next best option was from the 1800s.

3.41 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 286 Wins, 2357 Ks 

The Phillies two greatest starters, Steve Carlton and Roy Halladay, did not begin their careers here. Leaving Robin Roberts and Ferguson Jenkins the only homegrown pitchers from the Phillies to make the Hall of Fame. But Jenkins only pitched two seasons here.  So Robin Roberts was the obvious choice to be the Ace of this staff.

3.43 ERA, 163 Wins, 1.18 WHIP, 2560 Ks 

Pitching with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee makes us forget how amazing Cole Hamels actually was. He is not a Hall of Famer, but is not too far off that mark.

His ERA here was 3.30. He was an Ace in every season except 2009, and his rookie season. Without Cole Hamels, the Phillies would not have won their second World Series. Cole is a Phillies legend, and should arguably be held up there with Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley.

3.70 ERA, 104 Wins, 1.14 WHIP, 1779 Ks 

The only modern player to make this list. Mostly because the current team has little in the way of homegrown talent. It is Nola, Bryson Stott, Johan Rojas, Alec Bohm, and Orion Kerkering. Everyone except Nola is way too early in their career to be worthy of a place on this list.

Nola is one of two homegrown All-Stars in the past decade. The other is Odubel Herrera, who we don’t really want to talk about. Nola has been great at times, baffling at others. But he is still easily among the best pitchers drafted by the team. I'd have to go back to the 1800s to find a better pitcher than him or Hamels. Nola is now here for 7 more seasons. He will likely pitch his entire career in Philly. He may end up holding a lot of franchise records. And he can always be counted on to take the ball, go at least 6 innings, and keep the team in it. 

3.99 ERA, 116 Saves, 1.39 WHIP, 575 Ks 

I am not just putting him here because he is my co-worker. Nor am I putting him here because I have to see how hard he still throws balls when he whizzes a Nerf ball down the hall and past my head during every commercial break. He genuinely is the best reliever who came up as part of the Phillies.

Brad Lidge, Ron Reed, Tug McGraw, Billy Wagner, Gene Garber, and Steve Bedrosian all started their careers elsewhere. As did Mitch Williams, Larry Anderson, Jonathan Papelbon, and many others. Not only is Ricky the best RP who came up through the system, but there is not too much competition. At least not among people who eventually got a chance to close.

Ricky Bo was an All-Star in 1996. He is 9th in Phillies history in saves. Oh, and the guy many people would agree is the greatest hitter in MLB history, Barry Bonds, has a slash line of .091/.231/.182/.413 against Ricky. Most pitchers pitched around Bonds. Ricky only ever allowed 1 hit to him, and struck him out 5 times.