Philadelphia sports fans made headlines once again this week.
And this time, you should feel nothing but pride.
The story of All Star Week at Citizens Bank Park was not Jordan Walker’s incredible come-from-behind victory over the hometown slugging hero, Kyle Schwarber. It was not the American League’s 4-0 victory over the National League in Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic.
It was not Cristopher Sanchez’ rough inning of work, Jesus Luzardo’s pristine 4th, Jhoan Duran’s 9th inning cameo, nor anything Schwarber,
Bryce Harper or Brandon Marsh did in the All Star Game.
No, you were the story.
You ruled All Star week in Philadelphia.
Whereas most All Star games are attended by a wide variety of fan bases, both marquee events this week felt intensely Philly. This was a mostly rabid hometown fanbase looking to will all players wearing red and white pinstripes to ridiculous success while at the same time booing the lifeblood from every other player in existence, save for Philly-natives Mike Trout and Kevin McGonigle.
As a result, Philadelphia fans turned a meaningless exhibition into a sporting spectacle that crackled with electricity. It gave a staid and, sometimes boring event, a playoff-type atmosphere.
We should have known it would be like that once Harper and Schwarber announced they would participate in the Derby in front of their home crowd. We should have known the fans in attendance would use all of their powers to try to rattle opposing participants and will their stars to victory.
Why doesn’t every fanbase do this?
The booing in this case was, of course, all in the spirit of competition and good fun. And to the credit of Wilson Contreras, Jordan Walker, and every other participant, they all understood the fans’ assignment. They realized what was happening and, instead of making a stink and shrinking from the moment, used it to motivate them to perform well.
Listen to the admiration in Walker’s voice. Every player would want to play in front of a fanbase like ours. Even players who exist in the so-called “Baseball Heaven” of St. Louis.
And to be clear, no entity was safe.
Young people who dropped fly balls in the outfield during the Derby heard it, not that the “victims” cared.
These types of events are supposed to be entertaining. And while the All Star Game itself was a bit of a dud, with Phils hitters going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and the entire NL lineup mustering just three hits and 15 strikeouts, the atmosphere coming into the game felt rich.
It was fun watching the fans boo every Met, Yankee, Dodger, Astro, Diamondback and Brave participant in the starting lineups. There is no safe quarter in Philly.
If only every one of these types of events could have this much watchability. And it wasn’t the stars on the field who made all of this interesting.
It was you.
