Philadelphia getting fired up about its baseball team

By Tom Ricchezza
Collegian Reporter
September 27, 2006

Baseball is supposedly America’s pastime, but you would never know it in the city of Philadelphia over the past decade. Empty seats outnumbered paying fans at most games during the final few years of Veterans Stadium. The only time there was any excitement and a large crowd was when superstars came into Philadelphia.

The only problem was that these superstars, more often than not, were wearing the jersey of the opposing team. Crowds came to watch Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds hit baseballs deep into the Philadelphia night to the amusement of the fans. They watched athletes assault the record books; however, these athletes were never donning red pinstripes.

For years, Philadelphians have heard management bellowing that this is a “small-market team” and that Philadelphia is a football town that will always support the Eagles first and everyone else second. The fans in this city have seen their share of talented players leave to play for other organizations that were supposedly more committed to winning. Curt Schilling left to win two World Series rings with two different teams. Scott Rolen left Philadelphia for “baseball heaven” in St. Louis.

Meanwhile, Phillies fans had to watch a sad collection of talent ranging from veterans like David Bell and Kevin Millwood, to rookies promised to be the next perennial all-stars like Brandon Duckworth and Marlon Anderson.

However, the events of the past few weeks have shown that baseball in this town was not dead; it was merely hibernating. Philadelphia has been proven to be a place where people are very supportive of their team, when the team does not consistently break their hearts. Management, hopefully, is finally seeing that when they can create a collection of talent and put a contending team on the field at their new stadium, the sea of empty blue seats can turn into a crowd of loud, passionate fans. All that was necessary was a little scouting and a willingness to spend money to make money from attendance.

Last Friday, the Phillies drew a sellout crowd of 44,737 fans, including the sales of more than a thousand standing-room tickets. PECO Energy could have powered the city with the electricity in the stadium that night. There was a sea of white rally towels, the night’s free giveaway, which added to the enthusiasm of the young crowd brought into the stadium by one of the many College Nights, and of course, the promise of postseason baseball for the first time in 13 years.

However, the past 13 years of futility were mostly forgotten among the crowd, which witnessed the promising future of this franchise that was on display.

Cole Hamels pitched magnificently, going 6.2 innings and striking out 10 Marlins hitters, while only allowing a single run in the process of getting his ninth win of the season. There is no doubt that Hamels is the future of this pitching staff, considering his recent successes, which include striking out 11 and carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in his previous start.

Chase Utley continued to prove that he is one of the league’s elite by going 3 for 4 with two runs and a run batted in as he continues to play the scrappy baseball that has made him a fan favorite.

And finally, Ryan Howard did exactly what fans have come to expect from the second-year phenom: he pounded a baseball into the seats with relative ease for the 58th time this season and then got the Barry Bonds treatment with two intentional walks. All of South Philadelphia probably knew when Howard was coming to the plate by the “MVP” chants that echoed throughout the building and hopefully will continue to echo into October.

The past few weeks should be a wake up call to the management of this franchise: if you can put a solid team with some talent on the field, this is a baseball town. The same enthusiasm that surrounds the Eagles every Sunday from September to January will be found in Citizens Bank Park on a nightly basis.

Lastly, the players assaulting the record books are the players wearing red. The young talent that people come to the ballpark to see is on the Phillies’ payroll. The seats are being filled with fans of the Fightin’ Phils, and they are waving white towels instead of white flags. Ryan Howard said it best after Friday’s 5-2 victory.

“We’re having fun right now. That’s the key,” Howard said.

And when the Phillies have fun and win, the fans will come down and cheer them on with the same enthusiasm that has become so contagious in these past few weeks.

ricchezzat1@lasalle.edu