The Phillies and the Pirates meet for four games this week at Citizens Bank Park. While the best case scenario is the Phillies win the series, it is then O.K. to begin rooting for the fans of Pittsburgh to hope their hometown Pirates regroup and begin their journey to an N.L. Central Championship.
Besides the Pirates basically owning the Phillies over the last several seasons there is no real rivalry here.
Eagles vs. Steelers, this is an every few season match up where Philly fans hope we win so we don’t have to hear and be jealous about their 6 Super Bowl rings. Enough! We Know! We all watch and enjoy Terry Bradshaw, the greatest Steelers quarterback ever, on Sunday mornings and his countless ridiculous commercials. Have Pittsburgh fans taken notice of the Eagles best quarterback ever also working for Fox? Never mind. Let’s hope they haven’t. Keep reading.
Who else is there to cheer for in the Pirates division?
Does anyone really want to see the St. Louis in the playoffs again? Ever since that horrible 2011 October night with the Chris Carpenter shut out and the awful Ryan Howard Achilles injury the Cardinals have to be among the most hated teams for Phillies fans. Let’s not forget J.D. Drew deciding against signing with Philadelphia to go on and become an underwhelming over paid Cardinal. Not enough reason for ya? ROLEN!! (I was a big Scott Rolen fans so I won’t rip him)
How about the Cubs? The only thing in Philly more irritating than meeting a “life-long Cubbies fan” is a Red Sox or Dodgers fan. Sure, the Cubs are finally building a team that will eventually contend for a series but rooting for a Pennsylvania team is way better than a team from IllAnnoy.
The Reds are fine. They do a good job of trying to win every year but boring is boring and the Reds are boring. Griffey left years ago and they’re still in search of a personality. (Homer Bailey is the best name in baseball and one time he did get me a free Dominos pizza with his no-hitter.)
Who is left? Oh yeah, the Brewers. Eww. Ever since Burger Prince Fielder went to the Tigers this team has gone from “I don’t care” to “Nobody outside of Wisconsin cares” Ryan Braun used to be a great player and an even better role model until he got outed as a cheater and now the Brewers shouldn’t win anything until he retires. Once again – Eww!!
Let’s be honest – the Phillies are tough to watch.
There is still a lot of great baseball being played around the league. The Pirates started off a bit slow but are picking things up and have a real chance to be the National League representatives in the 2015 Fall Classic. Root for them. If you have the chance watch them. They are an energetic team that loves playing baseball. Remember when the Phillies were like that?
The Pirates have great uniforms and the second most awesome stadium in the league. AAARGH!!!
Chances are this won’t be a Red October so why not cheer for Black October?
On a related note – Phillies fans have not jumped off the bandwagon. While the fan turnout at Citizens Bank Park is not overwhelming, each night it looks similar to many other teams around the league. The White Sox, who are hoping to win the A.L. Central, played to an almost empty stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Phillies rank 19th in the league for fans in the stands. Washington and New York average about 4,000 more a game and the Braves about 4,000 less and the Marlins 6,000.Every fan that has attended a game this season knows the organization goes out of their way to make it a great time and even with a last place team it is a fun night at the park.
If you haven’t been to a game this season, get some tickets. Even if it is just for the Phillies Bunts Meet and Greet on June 28th. If you want I will sign your ticket and you can show it to your friends and they can make fun of you!
I will watch the Phillies (and Pirates) so you don’t have to!!Erik Whitacre
@erikwhitacre
Rooting for the Pirates would be like saying that you have an Am League team you root for. If you are older than 12 you can't have two teams.
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