Braves 10, Phillies 3
June 28, 2014 (Afternoon game)
(Randy's Perspective)
After catching the Orioles on Friday night and spending the night at a hotel near Camden Yards, Penny, (her sister) Peggy and I got on the road early Saturday for Philadelphia, where we had tickets for an afternoon Phillies game against the Braves. It was a short trip - would have been less than an hour and a half from downtown Baltimore to Philadelphia had we not stopped off in Aberdene, Maryland. (There's a separate blog about the Ripken Complex in Aberdene.)
En route to Philadelphia, my thoughts drifted to all the stories I’d heard about Philadelphia's allegedly rude fans. Most of the stories involved the Eagles. Have you read (or seen) Silver Linings Playbook? A pivotal plot point takes place in the parking lot of the late Veterans Stadium, and it is an ode to Eagles fans.
But I also have read about Phillies fans pelting Richie (Dick) Allen, the home team's best (and only, for awhile, I think) black player in the 60’s. It is one of many, many stories of bad behavior by Philadelphia fans that range from the 1940’s to the almost present. The stories are all over the World Wide Interweb, soooo... they're ... true.
I even found an “apologetics” (tongue-in-cheek explanations, in this case) docu-style video about the infamous 1968 game where Eagles fans pelted Santa Claus with snowballs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWvza6en5Rg
Of course, stories tend to take legendary lives of their own as they grow and grow, Pinocchio-style sometimes. For example, I've actually heard stories about how the football fans at my beloved alma mater, the University of Georgia, can be rude. Fans of other schools, especially those in the SEC and Clemson, will tell you outrageous tales about how their feelings were hurt while attending a football game at Sanford Stadium. They fall into such a pack mentality, those delusional other teams' fans.
I know the rude Georgia fan stories can't be true, because we, the alumni (especially) of UGA, are an extraordinarily polite group of people. Enthusiastic on occasions, such as when we score against Florida, but genuinely polite. ... Florida fans, on the other hand, are obnoxious and rude, they drink far too much and they're disrespectful to women. The same is true for South Carolina fans, who are a truly insensitive clan: rapscallions, one and all. And don't get me started on what it's like to go to Tennessee.
A friend of mine, a Marshall University graduate named Bill Bissett, once told me: "I went to our (Marshall's) game in Knoxville. I couldn't believe how nice the Tennessee fans were."
"Yes," I said. "Put on a red-and-black hat with a 'G' on it, and then give me your assessment."
So, the obvious point is: one person's "rude fan base" might be another person's fun-loving party crowd. Fan behavior is often a matter of timing and taste.
One more factoid. Penny has told me on occasions that she thought the crowd in Atlanta last season at the Braves game we attended was "a little intense and scary." She said, "They were really into the game."
"Well, sure," I, the lifelong Braves fan, said. "But we're never out of line."
That bottle-throwing montage that took place at Turner Field in the Wild Card game against St. Louis two years ago was a rare, out-of-character experience. And it never would have happened had the ump not called the worst Infield Fly out in baseball history. That ball almost left the yard. The ump was running in the middle of left field (toward the wall) like Carl Lewis on his best day, and he was waving his arm to signal infield fly. ... It was stunning. Braves fans plead temporary and justified insanity regarding their behavior.
So, back to Philadelphia. After a lifetime of reading and hearing about fans in Philadelphia, I was anxious to take in a Phillies home game.
In fairness, I should say that I actually have a different type memory of Philadelphia fans. I remember the 1980 playoffs and World Series when Tug McGraw came in to close what seemed like every playoff and World Series game. McGraw would stride in from the bullpen, and Veterans Stadium would, as my Georgia buddies say, "go ape shit." McGraw mowed them down, the fans were on their feet and yelling the whole time, and the Phillies beat the Royals in six games to win the series.
It was indeed, fun to watch. And the Phillies fans were good, loud fans. But, of course, almost everybody loves a winner.
Well, enough about that. I can give you a short wrapup of my impressions of Citizens Bank Park and the Phillies.
In fact, the series was a four-game Braves sweep. So I was happy.
And the jury's out on Phillies fans.
Wait, one other thing. I don't often look forward to seeing a mascot. I would very much like to have seen the San Diego Chicken at his (its?) best. But other than that, the Phanatic is probably it.
Sadly, we were disappointed. The Phanatic's appearances were rare, almost as if he were a prima donna, giving us only a few rare glimpses of his alleged genius.
Bummer.
I know the rude Georgia fan stories can't be true, because we, the alumni (especially) of UGA, are an extraordinarily polite group of people. Enthusiastic on occasions, such as when we score against Florida, but genuinely polite. ... Florida fans, on the other hand, are obnoxious and rude, they drink far too much and they're disrespectful to women. The same is true for South Carolina fans, who are a truly insensitive clan: rapscallions, one and all. And don't get me started on what it's like to go to Tennessee.
A friend of mine, a Marshall University graduate named Bill Bissett, once told me: "I went to our (Marshall's) game in Knoxville. I couldn't believe how nice the Tennessee fans were."
"Yes," I said. "Put on a red-and-black hat with a 'G' on it, and then give me your assessment."
So, the obvious point is: one person's "rude fan base" might be another person's fun-loving party crowd. Fan behavior is often a matter of timing and taste.
One more factoid. Penny has told me on occasions that she thought the crowd in Atlanta last season at the Braves game we attended was "a little intense and scary." She said, "They were really into the game."
"Well, sure," I, the lifelong Braves fan, said. "But we're never out of line."
That bottle-throwing montage that took place at Turner Field in the Wild Card game against St. Louis two years ago was a rare, out-of-character experience. And it never would have happened had the ump not called the worst Infield Fly out in baseball history. That ball almost left the yard. The ump was running in the middle of left field (toward the wall) like Carl Lewis on his best day, and he was waving his arm to signal infield fly. ... It was stunning. Braves fans plead temporary and justified insanity regarding their behavior.
So, back to Philadelphia. After a lifetime of reading and hearing about fans in Philadelphia, I was anxious to take in a Phillies home game.
In fairness, I should say that I actually have a different type memory of Philadelphia fans. I remember the 1980 playoffs and World Series when Tug McGraw came in to close what seemed like every playoff and World Series game. McGraw would stride in from the bullpen, and Veterans Stadium would, as my Georgia buddies say, "go ape shit." McGraw mowed them down, the fans were on their feet and yelling the whole time, and the Phillies beat the Royals in six games to win the series.
It was indeed, fun to watch. And the Phillies fans were good, loud fans. But, of course, almost everybody loves a winner.
Well, enough about that. I can give you a short wrapup of my impressions of Citizens Bank Park and the Phillies.
- It was a not a quaint downtown park, it's five miles south of downtown. But the feel was good. A nice complex, with Lincoln Financial Field and the Wells Fargo Center right next door.
- Driving access in and out was pretty easy on this day, and I would think it's good most of the time.
- We had lunch at a nice, in-house restaurant - Harry K's (for Harry Kalas). It has a similar feel to the Chop House in Atlanta.
- Ours was an afternoon game, with temps in the mid-to-high 80's, so the crowd was mellow. Most just needed a cold beer.
- The crowd booed a little, but not too much, when first baseman Ryan Howard made errors in consecutive innings. When he booted the second grounder, I thought, "This could get ugly." But it didn't.
- We were 30 rows up, midway down the first-base line. Of the people sitting around us, few were in a mood to chat. Now, it's not as if Penny and I force conversation on people, but since we're visiting every stadium in by-god America, we make a little attempt to strike a conversation with the locals. ... Most people around us, though not hostile, were not interested in conversation.
- There was one exception to the no-conversation group around us. A couple in front of us, Philadelphia natives, chatted briefly with us. Oddly, they never actually turned to look at us. They just engaged in some over-the-shoulder conversation. They told us Philadelphia is generally an ok place. And Phillies fans are not nearly as bad as Eagles fans, according to both of them.
In fact, the series was a four-game Braves sweep. So I was happy.
And the jury's out on Phillies fans.
Wait, one other thing. I don't often look forward to seeing a mascot. I would very much like to have seen the San Diego Chicken at his (its?) best. But other than that, the Phanatic is probably it.
Sadly, we were disappointed. The Phanatic's appearances were rare, almost as if he were a prima donna, giving us only a few rare glimpses of his alleged genius.
Bummer.
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