In Appreciation Of The Phillie Phanatic

i am torn about this world series. on one hand, i DO NOT want to see the red sox win because i am sick (read: jealous) of boston and their sports success, but on the other hand, its not the red sox themselves that i hate, its the bostonians i have ire for. i also want to see BOTH the rockies AND their fans suffer as much as possible, so this puts me in a baseball conundrum: who do i root for? i should also add that as much as i hate red sox, and boston fans for that matter, i know that they are good fans...some of the best sports fans in the whole country, and i respect them for that. now i am really confused!

this summer i saw my fist baseball game at fenway park. for any baseball fan, visiting fenway park is like visiting a holy shrine. it was amazing to have seen a game there. it was an eye opening experience, not only into how baseball is played at fenway, but it was a new window into the pathology of the red sox fan. you people are nuts!!! but you are good sports fans, i gotta give you that.

seeing a game at fenway is like seeing a game nowhere else. seeing games at CBP is great. phillies fans are good baseball fans, but we aren't anywhere on the level of a game at fenway. sure, we are unique and have our own philly style which totally rocks and i wouldn't trade it for anything, but boston fans at a game in fenway are like nothing else. BUT, the one thing where we totally kick their ass is:

THE PHILLIE PHANATIC.

the phanatic rules. he is the best. no one can beat him. hell, no one can even touch him. the phillie phanatic is in a league all to his own. and he is ours! no one else may understand him, but we do. the phanatic is our fenway park. he is the totally unique thing you get when you see a philies game. that can't be manufactured (well, granted he is a mascot who was manufactured, but you know what i mean). you can't manufacture fenway and you can't manufacture the phanatic.

my thoughts turned to the phanatic this evening during the world series. somewhere around the 6th or 7th inning, fox cut to the crowd and there was some green blob (i am assuming he was some sort of "green monster") with his hand on some dude's shoulder trying to pump the crowd up. the only problem was, this dude had a look on his face that said "what is this...thing...and what is it doing with its hand on my shoulder?" when i saw that i thought to myself, "what, is this guy nuts? if the phanatic had his hand on MY shoulder at a pivotal part of a world series game, i would be going ape-shit! that would be the greatest honor one could bestow on me in CBP!" this is how much i love the phanatic: i want him at my funeral. i feel we are cut of the same mold, me and the phanatic. we share the same sense of humor me and him. i feel he is my intellectual equal :)

now, this MAY be because i had a phanatic growth chart in my room growing up, or it could just be a coincidence. you decide.

Sunday Baseball

since i can't watch the phillies on my TV, although i am thinking about getting the 1 month MLB TV package for september, i decided to do the next best thing: watch the little league world series. the little league world series is a blast to watch. the kids actually play an entertaining style of baseball and i am always amazed at the skill level of these 11 year old kids. i mean, some of them put up video game numbers. you always get a kid who bats .600 and hits a ton of homeruns or some pitcher who throws 3 no-hitters in a row while striking out 16 (its only a 6 inning game). and, did you see the catch that kid made the other night? that was stellar!

more impressive, in an odd sort of way, is the list of "favorite MLB players" as given by the walpole, ma team, the regional qualifier from the new england region:

Vlad Gurerro (3)
Derek Jeter (3)
Mike Lowell (1)
Jason Varitek (1)
Jonathan Papelbon (1)
Big Papi (1)
Albert Pujols (1)
Ryan Howard (1) - that kid rocks, by the way
David Wright (1)

notice anything interesting about those names? keep in mind, this is from the new england team, the one from walpole, ma, the geographic center of red sox nation. 3 kids said derek jeter? are you kidding me? what would bill simmons say about this? granted, (as i am typing this they just ran a clip of carlton fisk talking to the team and having some kid tell him jeter was his favorite player, but that the red sox were his favorite team...fisk has no idea how to respond...i think this kid should be worried about his safety when he returns to walpole, ma. he clearly has not taken his loyalty oath) the red sox were mentioned (4 mentions: lowell, varitek, papelbon, papi) more times than the yankees (3 mentions: jeter), but still. i just kinda find it amazing ANY yankee could be mentioned.

clearly, though, there is only 1 correct answer: ryan howard. congtrats, kid. you passed!