Eternal baseball truths... the wind will blow at Wrigley, the Monster stands over Fenway, and Philly fans will throw anything at anyone.

This is a dark day for baseball.

This is not new. Chuck Knoblauch got pelted with stick meats on Dollar Dog night at the Metrodome on May 2, 2001. ( "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an important, championship ballgame. If the trouble in leftfield does not end, the game will be forfeited and the Yankees will win. NOW QUIT THIS!" - actual quote from the PA.)

Top 100 Metrodome Moments, #47: The Knoblauch Incident

to be fair, the real problem was that any other left fielder could have deftly returned hot dog fire directly at the perpetrators. but at that stage of his career, poor Knoblauch had no better chance of achieving that than he would throwing a fielded grounder from second base to first.

speaking of "returning fire," my pal tells a story of a Phillies fan and a Mets fan jawing at each other at adjacent urinals in Philadelphia. one of them got particularly ticked off, and - well, let's just say he turned in the direction of his foe in midstream, as it were.

not missing a beat, the other fan.. yes, yes he did.

#anythingyoucando

Whenever I imagine people might actually not be garbage, I remember Philadelphia.

During WW2, when American workers were all pulling together to beat Germany and Japan, there was only one place where people couldn't keep there 5hit together and troops had to be brought in so that production would keep going. Philly.

For whatever reason, shitting on Philadelphia has long been a pastime for the terminally insecure.

For whatever reason, shitting on Philadelphia has long been a pastime for the terminally insecure.

Snowballs at Santa Claus is tough to live down, but booing Michael Irvin's career-ending injury also left an impression upon the sporting consciousness.

my sister-in-law's father worked at Veterans Stadium part-time for decades.

he once told us that the fans didn't boo Santa Claus per se - they booed a dopey halftime show that went way, way over the time and the fans wanted to see some more, you know, football.

said they already were booing before Santa came out, and his presence didn't change their attitude any.

just puttin' it out there.

my sister-in-law's father worked at Veterans Stadium part-time for decades.

Im having a hard time understanding how that wouldnt be your father in law.

Sister-in-law-in-law.

I have a (twin) brother who married a woman (born on the same day, but not year, as my wife) whose father worked at the stadium.

my father-in-law - my wife's father - did not.

you may not want to unpack legendary NHL goaltender Martin Brodeur's family dynamics.

;)

I want Howie's twin to come and give us the real story whenever Howie tells another personal anecdote.

he is my polar opposite in almost every way (which is why we get along so well, probably).

he'd never be bothered to check in on a baseball website, much less show up in person. we each have our own lanes.

Snowballs at Santa Claus is tough to live down, but booing Michael Irvin's career-ending injury also left an impression upon the sporting consciousness.

In fairness, hurling hot dogs is significantly better than just hurling on the girl in front of you.

Whenever I imagine people might actually not be garbage, I remember Philadelphia.

your welcome.

Snowballs at Santa Claus is tough to live down

shhh...noone tell him that santa claus isn't rea.....####....

booing Michael Irvin's career-ending injury also left an impression upon the sporting consciousness

eh...sure.

From the city that booed Mike Schmidt and Dr. J.

the eagles won the superbowl in 2017. we booed them off the field at halftime of the first game in 2018. because they were playing like dogshit. it's who we are; it's what we do. it's not personal....sometimes anyway....


i think learning from alex bohm's experience in philly is a good way to inoculate people to what playing in philadelphia is like:

Early this season Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm committed three throwing errors in the first few innings of a game against the Mets. Frustrating and aggravating enough for Bohm, whose personal standards as a professional athlete are extremely high.

But when Phillies fans gave him an ironic ovation after he fielded a ball cleanly, cameras picked up Bohm's reaction: As he walked past shortstop Didi Gregorius, he said, "I f-ing hate this place."
[...]
"What about this video that's surfaced? Have you heard about it, or seen it?" asked one of the reporters who crowded around Bohm's locker after the game.

"Yeah, I've heard. Look, emotions got the best of me. I said it. Do I mean it? No. It's a frustrating night for me, obviously. I made a few mistakes in the field.

"Look, these people, these fans, they just want to win. I mean, you heard it. We come back, they're great. I'm sorry for them. I don't mean that. Emotions just got the best of me"
[...]
instead of pretending he didn't say it, or that his words were taken out of context, or reaching for a justification or rationalization, he owned it. "I said it." He explained why. "Emotions got the best of me." He was gracious to the fans. "They just want to win. We come back, they're great.
[...]
When Bohm entered the next night's game as a pinch hitter, he wasn't booed. He wasn't cheered ironically.

Phillies fans gave him a standing ovation.

more than anything else, what philly fans want from players is to (act like they) care. and to speak english. and to be white. but also, the caring thing. that'll get you pretty far.

booing Michael Irvin's career-ending injury also left an impression upon the sporting consciousness

Given the multiple rape and sexual assault allegations against that guy, I'm totally OK with the crowd giving him a thumbs down in Roman gladiator style. But, since its the modern world he was fixed up and went on to make millions more talking about the sport he used to play. He has little to cry about.

I've seen three Philly sports things I actually thought were across the line:

1) Father son baseball game in the early 90s. Daulton was really sucking and when his 2-3 year old kid came up to hit off the tee and missed on the first swing he got booed. Booing toddlers is kind of messed up.

2) In the really high up seats at the Vet in the late 80s, you could get a ticket for so cheap that some homeless people came in to get a 3-4 hour sleep (think 50 cent seats many games....they weren't selling out). But, that isn't what was messed up. A couple were up there fairly openly having sex and someone came and kicked the guy in the ass while they were doing it. I mean, very bad form to publicly have sex in a sports stadium. But, definitely worse for private citizen to kick one of the participants.

3) 1986, early October....for some reason the Phillies had a game that late against the Expos to end the regular season (rain make-up? hard to remember now why). Tim Raines clinched the batting title getting 2 hits and after the game he went out and was tossing his game-worn stuff into the crowd (so strange compared to now, right?). He tried to toss his hat to a 10ish year old kid who was in the third row. An adult man jumped from where the seats were a bit higher and somehow managed to time his jump to catch the hat.......and then slammed head-first directly into the 1st or second row of seats. Kid was not only upset about missing out on the bat toss....but, seeing the guy pretty messed up (spitting blood out of his mouth and the like). That guy had a Mets hat on so you can't blame Philly for that guy (probably).

Fights between Phillies and Mets fans were so common I've blotted the details out....but, they weren't so wonderful either. The peeing story by Howie above reminds me of those days at the Vet decades ago.

instead of pretending he didn't say it, or that his words were taken out of context, or reaching for a justification or rationalization, he owned it. "I said it." He explained why. "Emotions got the best of me." He was gracious to the fans. "They just want to win. We come back, they're great.
[...]
When Bohm entered the next night's game as a pinch hitter, he wasn't booed. He wasn't cheered ironically.

Phillies fans gave him a standing ovation.

And yeah, this is why Philly fans are kind of awesome. They appreciate genuineness. Bohm owned that and made himself well-loved.

A couple were up there fairly openly having sex and someone came and kicked the guy in the ass while they were doing it. I mean, very bad form to publicly have sex in a sports stadium. But, definitely worse for private citizen to kick one of the participants.

So judgmental - probably just your typical Philadelphia consensual exhibitionist masochistic threesome.