Monday, September 27, 2010

Amen To That!!


The Mob Mentality of Philly Fans never ceases to amaze.

Tonight at Nationals Park, well after The Philadelphia Phillies had clinched their 4th consecutive National League East Title;

Well after The Phillies Team celebrated on the field and donned the customary "Champion" Caps & Shirts;

Well after Manager Charlie Manuel's team left the field to spill champagne all over each other in the visitor's clubhouse;

And well after even the media covering The Phillies latest Division Title went inside as well--their fans STILL WOULD NOT LEAVE THE SOUTH CAPITOL STREET BALLPARK.

They wouldn't calm down. They didn't shut up. They wouldn't go away.

They continued to swarm around the 3rd base concourse and Center Field Plaza areas of Nationals Park as if they owned it. Even the turning off of the stadium lights didn't temper their spirit. And the fact that Johnny Holliday and Phil Wood were still broadcasting on MASN--didn't quell the histrionics either. MASN's Nats Extra Post-Game Show may well have been drowned out by Philly Fans lingering in Center Field Plaza.

America's Worst Fans invaded Nationals Park this evening and turned it into a home game for the visitors once again. Officially, only 14,309 posted up on a rainy, dreary night. But we are here to tell you, the great majority of those in attendance were Phillie Fans, not Nats Fans. The Philly Faithful cheered the announcement of Philadelphia's Starting Lineup. Of course, they booed Washington's. They roared with delight the very moment Roy Halladay stepped out of the bullpen after his pre-game warm ups and walked slowly to the visitors dugout.

And they began chanting "Let's Go Phillies!! from the very first pitch.

And they didn't stop. Not once.

Strangers in their very own ballpark, Our Washington Nationals didn't have a chance tonight. They were beaten soundly by the better team. D.C.'s Team also played one of the worst top of the 9th inning's ever competed on South Capitol Street. How in world were no errors charged by The Official Scorer when both Nyjer Morgan and Adam Dunn made defensive miscues that allowed extra runs to score--we may never now?

But we do know this for sure.

Heading to the elevator lobby in Club Level tonight well after this game had ended--clearly throughout Nationals Park was heard: "Let's Go Phillies!! Let's Go Phillies!!"--never letting up.

As the elevator door opens, The African Queen and I see a fellow Die Hard Nationals Fan inside. Happy to see another Nats Fan still in the park (a rare commodity tonight), our friend nods his head back and forth while showing his frustration of what was being witnessed and heard.

"No Comment!!", I stated in response to his gestures. "Amen To That!!", he replied.

"Amen To That!!

Now, that's the proper response.

All three of us just had to laugh about everything going on surrounding this particular game because there is truly not much more to say about this one--which is nothing good.

Final Score from Nationals Park were Roy Halladay pitched a complete game shutout for his 21st victory of the season--clinching the playoffs for Philly: The Philadelphia Phillies 8 and Our Washington Nationals Zero. No one wants to see an opposing team win a championship in their very own park. The fact that The Philadelphia Phillies were the opponent made this evening that much more uncomfortable. The Phillies are a good team, no one can take that away from their very talented group of players. But having to put up with their obnoxious fans, once again, is getting pretty hard to take. They were unruly on Opening Day, 2010 at Nationals Park and they were again so tonight as The Phillies wrapped up their latest title. Washington's home schedule going virtually full circle this season. Philadelphia to begin and Philadelphia to end.

Make no mistake about it, we NEVER WANT TO SEE The Philadelphia Phillies win another title at Nationals Park EVER AGAIN because it's simply not fun to watch.

As our friend had stated so correctly: "Amen To That!!"

All Photos Copyrighted--Nats320--All Rights Reserved

15 comments:

Edward J. Cunningham said...

What you saw tonight is why many Nats fans will not miss Stan Kasten.

Bradley Herring said...

Perhaps when your team gets better, you'll understand why Phillies fans stuck around. They've endured Nationals-style failure for decades, and they're now basking in the glory of winning. Say what you will about their loudness and sometimes drunken revelry, they have something Nats fans have never shown: passion.

Don said...

I watched the game on MASN last night and the chanting bothered me I can't imagine what it was like in the stadium. The 9th inning was a disaster, actually, I take that back. The final out was a disaster, the first one went pretty quickly.

I wasn't disappointed that we lost, I was dissappointed that the team seemed to give up, you could see it in their posture in the field and at the plate.

One thing I'm hoping they work on in the off season, swinging at the first couple of pitches. They have to stop doing this. I believe Holloday only threw 87 pitches after eight innings, you can't win ballgames by swinging at everything coming across the plate. Espinosa showed that on Sunday when he came back from the 0-2 count to walk.

Hopefully tonight will be better, we'll be in the stands on Wednesday for the last home game, let's shout down the Phillies fans for a change.

Unknown said...

Lighten up Nats fans. I live in DC but I'm a Phillies fan and was at the game last night. While the Phillies fans were certainly rowdy, I didn't see any excessivly disrepectful behavior. Worst fans you say? How about the DC sports fans who couldn't even muster more than a few thousand fans at your own ballpark. If you hadn't been playing the Phillies, the attendance would have been around 3,000 at best. So instead of complaining about Phillies fans overrunning Citizens Bank Park South, get some of your own fans to the game for once. And thank Phillies fans for helping to pay the bills long enough for the Nats to stick around in DC for a few more years.

Sweetpea said...

@Brad: There's a huge difference between being a passionate fan and being crude, vulgar, and disrespectful, particularly in another team's home park. If the behavior of Phillies fans is an example of what happens when a team starts winning, I hope the Nats lose forever. I never, EVER want us to be like those people - EVER.

NightOwl10 said...

Its called dedication and pride. What was so bad about us fans in the park tonight? We didn't break anything, there was no fights, and no chants contained profanity. I was front row behind the 3rd base dugout. Your security wouldn't allow the Phillies to come back out. I saw it with my own eyes. Maybe if they had given them 5 minutes to show their gratitude towards us die hards...we wouldve left earlier. Your team has an embarassing fan base. That would never happen in Philly. So stop whining and complaining about how were obnoxious, its called passion! We are the greatest fans in baseball. Period.

Screech's Best Friend said...

The passion is fine. The behavior many times is not, simple as that.

Edward J. Cunningham said...

Someone from Philadelphia agrees with SBF

Deez Nats said...

@kyle: no profanity? What were the chants of "A**hole! A**hole!" directed at Morgan and Balestar?

Edward J. Cunningham said...

I'm convinced that if any OTHER team in our division were poised to clinch last night, and an equivalent number of fans had bought tickets to the game, you would have seen a significant attendance bump like the last weekend with the Braves. The story wasn't that X number of Phillies fans were in Nationals Park, but that many Nats fance chose not to come last night because of Phillies fans' behavior.

If the Nats are unwilling to use security to keep rowdy fans in order, unrowdy fans are not going to want to come to the ballpark.

Chris S. said...

Pfft, if it isn't OK to chant "***hole" when a pitched ball - wild or not - sails past Roy Halladay's head, I don't want to be a sports fan. That isn't rowdiness.

As for the rest, Latika Malik et al. continue to make too much out of a small percentage of misbehavers. You're perfectly welcome to judge the many of us on the actions of a few, but when you do it's you who look foolish, not us.

Unknown said...

@Edward..

Scared to come to the ballpark because Philly fans might be in it? Honestly, that can't be your argument. I did not see any Nats fans running scared when they saw Philly fans coming their way. I refuse to believe that people are afraid to come to their own stadium because another team might have some fans there.

Edward J. Cunningham said...

@Joe

Go to the Nats board. I can show you posts from Nats fans who have said they refuse to go to games against the Phillies because of the behavior of Phillies fans.

Unknown said...

@Edward

Excuses excuses... I went to school in DC for 2 years and went to Nats games all the time and the stadium was EMPTY. Philly fans are a scapegoat. Not to mention the weather was abysmal.

Chris S. said...

Isn't not going to the stadium because of Phillies fans letting those same Phillies fans win? And I don't just mean morally - I mean in terms of perpetuating the stereotype that Nats fans don't go to games and justify management's failure to produce a winning product.

Also, going to Nats games is more fun when there are Nats fans there too! One of the most entertaining things I ever saw at Nationals Park was - if I recall correctly - on May 16, 2009, the first game of a D/N doubleheader. (NATS320 coverage at http://nats320.blogspot.com/2009/05/billowing-clouds.html and http://nats320.blogspot.com/2009/05/defensive-lapse.html)

Specifically, early in the game I was standing in the upper deck concourse looking down at the 300 level somewhere near first base, and an enterprising beer hawker noticed that he was standing between a section dominated by Phillies fans and a section dominated by Nats fans. So he led them both in an impromptu cheer-off - and sold a LOT of beer. Genius! And good clean fun for both sides.