Phillies Fever Grips La Salle

La Salle has unofficially changed its colors to red and white as Phillies fever spreads to 20th and Olney.

For now, forget the Eagles. Throughout campus, the Eagles’ jerseys have been replaced with National League East Champion T-shirts hot off the rack.

And many students, faculty and staff are walking around campus with grins bigger than Citizens Bank Park.

“It’s amazing how it’s bringing everyone in the city together,” said La Salle junior Mike McDonald, who headed to Modell’s Monday afternoon to buy a Phillies’ t-shirt.

Members of the La Salle community were interviewed on Monday afternoon following the Phillies 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday, catapulting them into the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

Junior Kim Davidow, who went to the victory rally outside City Hall on Monday, said, “They are great team players, and they’re all in this together, and I think that will make a huge difference.”

“From the beginning, I saw that the Phillies were going far,” said La Salle security guard, Rigaud Brazela. “Nothing is impossible.”

Alex Williams, a La Salle food services employee, yelled, “You have your Phillies fan here!” as he raised his fists in excitement while taking a smoke outside the Tree Tops Café loading dock. An Albany, N.Y. native and a Phillies fan for 57 years, he said, “This victory is way overdue. It’s their time to shine.”

Andrew Neumann, a senior communication major and avid New York Yankees fan, stood in awe of the Phillies’ accomplishment: “Making up that many games in three weeks is nothing short of incredible, and they’re certainly the hottest team in the NL right now.”

Anthony Zorzi, a junior political science major, said that, on a scale of 1-10, he’s feels like a 12. He has followed the team since birth, and being a Phillies fan has finally paid off. He said, “It’s huge because there is such a championship drought in the city; it’s been 14 years since they made the playoffs. Like Jimmy Rollins said, ‘We are the team to beat’.” He plans to watch every game for the duration of the Phillies postseason life, and added, “I will live and breathe Phillies baseball as long as they are in playoffs.”

Anthony Bonagura, a 21-year-old senior, was at Sunday’s game, standing the entire time along with all the other Phillies fans in his section. When the Phils won, he joined in, what he called, “the absolute pandemonium” that broke out at Citizens Bank Park.

“It’s great for the city because Philadelphia baseball is no longer the laughing stock of the league,” said Bonagura, who is a sports newscaster on Channel 56, La Salle’s student-run cable television station, “The city has something we can rally behind other than the Eagles.”

Dr. Mike Smith, Director of the Graduate Professional Communication Program, said he moved to Philly in 1993, the year the Phillies went to the World Series. “Silly me,” he recalled, “I thought this happened all the time, so it’s been a long wait.”

The Phils’ victory even touched those who don’t consider themselves baseball fans. “I’m not a fan, but I’m happy for the Phillies because they haven’t won the playoffs for so long,” said Ross Wright, a freshman from Norfolk, Va.

Andy Kasprzak, a sophomore math major and die-hard Phillies fan, called Sunday “the greatest day of my life,” and added, “This is the ultimate time to be a Phillies fan.”

(This article was written by Michael Rodden and reported by other members of Huntly Collins’ Fundamentals of Journalism class: Vinny Marziano, Steve Perraud, Matthew Neder, Andrew Lewis, Dalia Nesmith, Katie Metzelaar, Julia Lendzinski, Megan Fitzgerald, Mark Miller, Tom Garvey and Geoff Nagle.)