Sports

Where the Hell Are the Real Philly Fans?

I am now officially looking for the pods at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. That is the only explanation for the mindless drones that are attending the home Phillies games this year.

I understand that the fans of the hometown Phillies are still all warm and fuzzy about winning the World Series last year, but this is getting ridiculous. The team is now 13-20 at home after losing their last four games. They just lost to the lowly Baltimore Orioles after getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays, with their Triple-A pitching staff. To put it in perspective, only the worst team in all of MLB, the Washington Nationals have less wins at home, with 11.

The reason I’m bringing this up now is that the fans actions are actually hurting the Phillies chances. Don’t believe me? Then let me provide an example of the lackadaisical play that the team has exhibited at home this year. Against the Blue Jays, the team committed an inexcusable sin of bad baseball and there was no reaction from the crowd. Joe Blanton was pitching for the Phillies and he walked Marco Scutaro. That’s not good, but what happened next was the part that shouldn’t be tolerated by the fans.

You see, after the walk Joe Blanton put his head down in disgust. Not unusual, but Blanton did it for an extra second too long. While Blanton was feeling sorry for himself (or maybe just wondering what on Earth he was thinking by growing that stupid looking thing on his chin) Scutaro took off for second base. While Blanton did eventually see him, nobody else on the Phillies was paying attention either. Neither 2B Chase Utley nor SS Jimmy Rollins was in position to cover the bag and take a throw from Blanton. So, Marco Scutaro may have gotten the first two-base walk in MLB history.

OK, technically it goes down as a walk and stolen base for Scutaro, but it was still appalling to watch. Such a display of laziness should never be tolerated in any sport in any city. But in Philadelphia, something like this usually leads to a player or players becoming the target of unrelenting criticism. This time? Nothing.

I am both stunned and shocked that the fans did not Boo the team off the field. I can’t believe that a Philadelphia fanbase would accept such a lack of effort and not react. This is not the Philly crowd that I have come to know and love. How is this possible?

I heard some people on talk radio saying that they did in fact boo the play. They also said that other people around them in the stands gave them looks and told them not to boo. One guy even said he was a season ticket holder and some woman in front of him, that he never saw at a game before, asked him if he was a new Phillies fan. No lady, you’re the one who is new to world that is Philadelphia fandom.

Booing is a right that I have written about before. If a player or team does not win, they should be booed. If a team or player does not show 100% effort at all times, they should be booed. And if a team or player does something incredibly stupid they should be booed.

I know this isn’t the norm in other cities, but it is in Philadelphia. We are a passionate fanbase and the uninformed out there misinterpret that as not being good fans. On the contrary, Philly fans are knowledgeable in all sports. We know the right way to play. We know that winning takes 100% effort. We care and we expect the players to care just as much.

This particular play was the worst thing I have seen from a Philadelphia athlete since the infamous “For Who? For What?” display of cowardly “Alligator Arms” by Ricky Waters in 1995. The fans booed that play at the time and it took Ricky a long time to win the fans over after that. He did, because he actually did care and he made sure to give a full effort on every play after that mistake. This play by the Phillies wasn’t booed and I can’t understand why.

I’m not saying that the fans not booing is causing the Phillies to have a losing record at home, but it isn’t helping them either. Even Phillies manager Charlie Manuel thinks the fans should start booing his team again. He said that the players are getting too comfortable at home and maybe it would be better for the fans to get on them a little bit. Charlie gets it. What he is also getting is pissed off at his team. He will be blowing his top any day now. Something needs to be done to get the Phillies from sleepwalking their way through their home schedule. Maybe we could just give the booing a try again.

This new infection of the “Nice” fans at Phillies games makes me sick. Yes, I cheer the team when the do something good or win. But I also boo the hell out of them when they do something bad or stupid. I won’t boo a play like when rookie John Mayberry, Jr. misplayed a ball last night that led to a run. He’s a rookie still getting used to the major league ballpark, so it wasn’t a lack of effort that caused him to screw up. He just didn’t catch a fly ball when he lost track of where the wall was. Most Philly fans aren’t mean, we just expect a certain level of professionalism out of the players on our teams.

The play by Blanton, Rollins and Utley deserved a hearty round of boos. The fact that there weren’t any, leads me to believe that a change is order. Fans need to hold players accountable for their actions. These new “fans” that are attending Phillies games and don’t like anybody booing are as fraudulent as the average Cowboys fan. I can’t stand either one and I sure as hell don’t want them in my home. It’s time for the real Philly fans to take back the stands. The best way to do that? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

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