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Braves’ Brian Snitker declines to explain what made Citizens Bank Park atmosphere ‘concerning’

Two weeks after making comments to an Atlanta radio station about the “rough” Philly crowd, the manager soared his family for the season opener.

The Citizens Bank Park field before the Phillies' opening-day game against the Braves on Friday.
The Citizens Bank Park field before the Phillies' opening-day game against the Braves on Friday.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Brian Snitker led the Atlanta Braves to Citizens Bank Park for opening day, but his family stayed home.

Two weeks after Snitker told Atlanta radio station WZGC that the atmosphere in Philadelphia during the playoffs last season was “rough ... to the point where it was concerning,” the Braves manager spared his family for the season opener Friday.

”My wife’s babysitting and the grandkids are in school,” Snitker said before the game. “They wouldn’t be anywhere, honestly, other than home.”

» READ MORE: Phillies vs. Braves: Who’s chasing whom? The subplots that make up baseball’s best rivalry.

Asked what made his family feel unsafe at the ballpark, Snitker said, “I’m not going to get into all that. Let’s talk about today.”

Predictably, Snitker received some of the loudest boos during pregame introductions.

Despite winning the division in each of the last two seasons, part of a stretch of six consecutive NL East titles, the Braves were knocked out of the playoffs in back-to-back division series by the Phillies, with the deciding games being played in Philadelphia.