Jimmy Rollins took a swipe at Philly fans last night on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.
“They’re frontrunners,” Rollins said. “When you’re doing good, they’re on your side. When you’re doing bad, they’re completely against you. For example, Ryan (Howard) is from St. Louis. St. Louis, it seems like they support their team. They’re encouraging.”
Ryan Howard nodded in agreement as Rollins spoke and I wanted to comment on all of this.
First of all, from a public relations perspective, there is no reason for him to say this. None. There is absolutely no upside to making these comments. Being completely honest with John Salley is not in Rollins’ job description.
Side note: MVP’s taking shots at Phillies fans? Shut up! Leaders in the clubhouse doing this? Just shut up. Charlie, get a hold of your locker room.
Secondly, Rollins is probably right, but he should know why. As to avoid pouring gasoline on the fire and drawing the ire of GCobb.com readers, I include myself in these statements. We tend to go sour on the Phillies quickly, but can you blame us?
Eagles fans? They will pack the Linc whether the team is 15-0 or 0-15. That’s a different story.
When I was in school in Boston, I walked by myself to Lansdowne St. by Fenway Park every Sunday to Atlas, a sports bar that had the NFL Ticket. This was 1998 and 1999. And almost every Sunday, a friend would say, “You are going alone?” or “Dude, they are awful, why are you going to watch?” If you read this site, you understand why I went. You had to. You just did it. It doesn’t matter, it’s the Eagles and you sit and watch. Is there a defensive end showing something? Anything? Is there a young draft pick playing who might be good someday? With the Eagles, you just go and watch. It’s an Eagles town and that’s just the way it is.
The Phillies are different. No true Philly sports fan wishes anything bad upon the Phillies. The fan base truly wants them to win. But, based on the way the organization has treated us over the past, oh…100+ years, when there is a hint of the team going south, the boos will come. There is something about the Phillies that make them a fun and fantastic whipping boy.
They don’t spend money and when they do, they do it incorrectly (Adam Eaton). They don’t make the big trades and when they do, they do it incorrectly (Freddy Garcia). They lie to us and say they are a small market team. The organization has let the fan base down so often, we come to expect it.
So yeah, Jimmy, pardon the Delaware Valley for being a little up and down on your baseball team. One championship in 3,000 years (it’s true, look it up). coupled with awful moves and non-moves, doesn’t do a lot to inspire brand loyalty.
Jimmy, maybe we are baseball front-runners, but you haven’t been on this Earth long enough to know exactly how right you are. It’s a sensitive subject, you are better off keeping your mouth shut. The most frustrating part is that you should know this by now.
