Phamily ties still strong

By Sam Fran Scavuzzo
Collegian Editor
October 10, 2007

The people I am related to are my family; people at La Salle have become my family; but the family that needs me the most right now is the one that resides at Broad and Pattison in South Philadelphia. Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Harry Kalas and the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies are a part of my life which I am too proud of to cast aside. Even though I personally have not had the pleasure to meet any of these individuals—or any other Phillie ever—I feel like I am more than a fan. The Phillies and I are linked like Oreos and cream, scotch tape and glitter or the bookstore and outrageous prices.

“Uncle Charlie” Manuel serves in the role in my Phillies household which his name would suggest. Forty-seven year old (and Ernest look-a-like) Jaime Moyer is my wacky dad. Hamels, Ryan Howard and Tadhito Iguchi are my good-natured, multi-racial brothers. Hall of Fame broadcaster Kalas, with that voice as sticky as a Tastykake, is my wizened grandfather. So when the Phillies won the National League East crown, to me, it was like dad finally getting that promotion.

Sure, our family sometimes lets us down. For the entirety of my Phillies family history, heartbreak permeates the ether. My brothers often cause my normally pale countenance to become beet red like the colors they wear—anger and embarrassment are two of the many emotions this baseball team caused me. Yet through whatever disappointments the Phighting Phils have phorced me to endure, I can’t help but remember the good times. When a team doesn’t make the playoffs for 14 years, it would appear that it is difficult to find the good in a situation. However, when you’re hopelessly in love with them as much as I am, it’s not too tough.

There were the bigger national moments that a SportsCenter anchor will talk about. Events like Bobby Abreu and Howard winning the Home Run Derby, Curt Schilling starting for the National League All-Stars, Kevin Millwood throwing a no-hitter or John Kruk being goofy while facing Randy Johnson—all are fine highlight reel clips. But they are not why I am a Phillies phaithful.

Smaller events stick in my mind. Watching Dave Gallagher pull back a home run in the mid ’90s, Garret Stephenson, Matt Beech and Gavin Floyd (among others) making me think they were going to be Cy Young Award winners, and Omar Olivares—a pitcher who was adequate at best—hit a grand slam all gave me hope that the playoff and World Series promised land was more than just a phairy tale.

“It’s like the family is breaking up,” said Olivares in an article by The Courier Post.

Although Aaron Rowand may not be back, most of the rest of the Phillies will. It would be easy to call the team an untalented fluke, but would you do that to family? I don’t write sports articles for Collegian often, so maybe I’m not as objective as some, but I think this playoff appearance—albeit a brief one—is the first in a long line of October runs. Remember, the Phillies won their division three times in the 1970s before beating the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series.

For the next few months, the Phillies can go back to normal families, but when pitchers and catchers report to Florida in February, they must remember the family that won’t leave them: The fans.

scavuzzos1@lasalle.edu