SteveSilver.net

Barry, Barry Hostile

Last night I went to the Phillies-Giants game at Citizen's Bank Park and it was about what you'd expect- three hours of non-stop Barry Bonds abuse. Fans carried foam syringes, carried anti-Bonds signs, and booed him every time he came to the plate or out to his position in left field (where we were sitting). They even booed through Bonds' 713th career homer -leaving him one shy of Babe Ruth- although it didn't put a damper on the Phils' 9-5 win, their eighth victory in a row.

But the few poor SOBs who came to the stadium in Bonds jerseys got it even worse, though; after all, no one tried to do actual physical violence to the real Barry. One 300-pound guy, wearing a Bonds Pirates jersey, taunted Phils fans from the concourse until a fan attempted to shove aside a 70-year-old secuity guard to get at him. Other highlights were the "Bonds did it with beer and hot dogs" banner, and two drunken idiots in front of us, who had this two-man heckle:

Guy #1: Now we know why Bonds plays in San Francisco!
(Seven-second pause)
Guy #2: 'Cause he's gay!!!!!

I think Barry's ex-mistress- the one who ratted him out to the BALCO grand jury and to the "Game of Shadows" authors- may dispute that.

I think the best of the night, though, was when we were walking back to the car, and an obviously drunk fan in an SUV stopped at a nearby red light and started screaming, "YEA! WE WON EIGHT STRAIGHT GAMES WITH THE WORST MANAGER IN BASEBALL! WOO HOO!!!!" And the traffic cop next to us laughingly made fun of the guy for being drunk, as opposed to arresting him.

Anyway, the events of the weekend, in which the Phils swept the Giants but Barry got all the attention, have led to lots of righteous indignation in Philly, since all of the national news stories have made fun of how the notoriously hostile fans in the City of Brotherly Love were certain to be especially tough on Bonds. And they were. The Mean Philly Fans thing is a sterotype, but it's a stereotype because it's true.

An ingenious WIP caller on Saturday made my point for me. First he complained about how Philly fans are unfairly stereotyped as hostile, negative hooligans. Then, on his next point, he complained that Mike Schmidt (a first-ballot Hall of Famer) was never all that good, and never helped the Phillies win a game with any of his home runs. Then he concluded by talking about how much he loves taking his kids to the circus at Wachovia Center.

"What," I wanted to ask him, "do you go to the circus and boo the elephants?"

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 8, 2006 03:38 PM