After the Phillies dismissed the Braves in the 2023 NLDS, I wrote a “fond” farewell to the Braves and their fans, in which I pointed out how soft the fans are and lamented that General Sherman didn’t do a good enough job in destroying the city.
Little has changed since then.
We didn’t hear quite as much from Braves fans the past two seasons because after their unsustainably good offensive season in 2023, regression bit them hard, and they were afterthoughts in the National League East division race.
With the Braves leading the East for most of 2026, it has emboldened their fans to re-up their level of insufferableness and once again show us that they’re the softest and whiniest fans in baseball.
There have been two times this season when Braves fans have been especially Braves fan-ish:
The All-Star Game and Home Run Derby
This year’s All-Star Game and related festivities were held in Philadelphia, and while the All-Star Game itself sucked, the Home Run Derby was fantastic. Not only did Kyle Schwarber and Jordan Walker have an epic duel in the finals, but the event was brought to another level by the Citizens Bank Park crowd.
For those who like professional wrestling (and who doesn’t?), think about the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan match at WrestleMania 18 (Or X8 as they called it for some reason). It wasn’t a technical masterpiece, which was to be expected considering the wrestlers involved. But it was an amazing spectacle partly due to the Toronto crowd being so into the match and giving immense reactions to everything that transpired in the ring.
Hulk Hogan was supposed to be the heel (bad guy for you non-wrestling fans out there), but because the crowd was so behind him (Anyone else find it weird that Hogan, using one of the most patriotic American gimmicks ever, was so beloved by Canadians?) he started playing it up. And the Rock followed suit, using more heel mannerisms. The result was one of the most memorable matches in wrestling history.
Much like the SkyDome crowd, the fans at the Home Run Derby understood the assignment. They loudly cheered for Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, and booed pretty much everyone else. Thankfully, Jordan Walker understood what was going on, and played up his role as the bad guy, making his comeback victory all the more spectacular.
Most people recognized that it was amazing and acknowledged the fans’ role in making it so. But there were critics who thought that the Philly fans were detracting from the event and ruining it. And they didn’t appreciate when the crowd booed just about every non-Phillie the following night at the All-Star game itself.
As it happens, many of them were Braves fans.
Why were Braves fans so annoyed? Perhaps because the All-Star Game was in Atlanta the year prior, and the game and crowd have been almost completely forgotten. That isn’t surprising, since we know from the 2022 and 2023 NLDS, Atlanta fans aren’t the loudest or most boisterous group.
It seems that there’s only one thing that truly gets them excited and that’s when the stadium prompts them to do their Coordinated RacismTM.
Remember when the Braves were supposedly trying to phase that out a few years back? That didn’t stick, because as it turns out, Braves fans REALLY enjoy doing it.
When the MLB commissioner was asked about it, he basically shrugged and said, “It’s the South, what can you do?”
Wheeler vs. Acuña
Ronald Acuña, Jr. hit a home run off of Zack Wheeler last weekend and did his usual over-the-top celebration. Obviously, Wheeler nor the fans in attendance didn’t like it, but find me a pitcher or fanbase that does enjoy when an opponent hits a home run and celebrates while rounding the bases.
Wheeler was asked about it after the game.
Pretty benign, right? He was asked a question, and said he didn’t care that much, while throwing in a mild passive-aggressive dig at the end. (Also notable: Wheeler won the game and struck out Acuña the next time he came up.)
Braves fans immediately started calling Wheeler a crybaby for some reason. It’s not like Wheeler went on an unprompted rant about Acuña, specifically calling him out. He was asked a question and gave a simple answer.
For some reason, Braves fans have decided that Kyle Schwarber watching his home runs for a few seconds at the plate – or Rhys Hoskins’ famous bat spike in 2022 (You’d think they’d want to erase that from memory) – are the same thing as Acuña flailing his arms and dancing a jig.
It’s ironic that the Braves fans are the ones defending Acuña considering their team used to employ Brian McCann, who appointed himself as the defender of the unwritten rules of baseball. (Oddly, McCann became very quiet as a member of the 2017 Astros when he supposedly didn’t like how they were cheating.)
You know else didn’t seem to love everything Acuña did? Former Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman. Freeman might just have a different perspective on things since he’s earned a few World Series rings, while the only time the Braves have won the World Series recently is when Acuña was out.
It would be great if a Phillies player could hit a home run this weekend and pimp the crap out of it. Then we’ll see exactly how much the Atlanta fans enjoy when players do that. Just make sure there’s no college football on so that Braves fans are actually paying attention.
Trivia
Last week’s answer: Trea Turner had the most hits in the 2023 NLDS with eight. Nobody answered correctly.
This week’s question: Who is the only Phillie to have two multiple home run games at Truist Park?
Addtitional thought about the series
Oh, you want me to discuss the series itself? Well, these teams just played four games last weekend, so it’s not like there are going to be many surprises. Hopefully if Andrew McFarlane faces Acuna again, he’ll mix in an off-speed pitch or two, because the “nothing but high fastballs” approach didn’t work out so well last time. And it would be great if Jesus Luzardo can duplicate his effort from Monday.
The Phillies pretty much need to sweep to have any hope of winning the division. They could make it easier on themselves if they go back to the patient approach at the plate that they utilized for most of August, rather than the “let’s swing at everything” approach they’ve gone with pretty much ever since.
Maybe lead by example, Bryce? It feels as if just like everyone else, Harper has realized that Luis Arraez is not the lineup protection we hoped for, and he’s trying to do too much again.
The Phillies will be facing three of the same starting pitchers from last weekend, which could go either way for them. Yes, it usually helps to get a second look at a pitcher, but lots of players have gotten lots of looks at Chris Sale, and it hasn’t seemed to help them all that much.
