Frontrunners? Who? You?
Jimmy Rollins says Phillies fans are frontrunners. Well, are you?
Frontrunners? Who? You?
Todd Zolecki
Jimmy Rollins called Phillies fans frontrunners last night on Best Damn Sports Show Period.
Yeah, Phillies fans kind of took offense to that.
“They’re frontrunners,” Rollins said. “When you’re doing good, they’re on your side. When you’re doing bad, they’re completely against you. For example, Ryan (Howard) is from St. Louis. St. Louis, it seems like they support their team. They’re encouraging.”
It's an interesting topic, and I actually see both sides because I'm one of the few people who interacts with both parties.
First, Phillies fans have every right to boo. They've been through hell (and whatever sub-level and sub-sub-level there is to hell). They've witnessed one world championship in 125 years. They've seen years of bad baseball, bad trades and bad decisions. But they still pack the ballpark. They still watch on TV. They still buy jerseys, foam fingers and Phillies Christmas ornaments. They still fly to Clearwater, Fla., every spring. They still fly to balllparks across the country to watch their team play. They still support a team that has lost more games than any other team in professional sports history. But they're fans, and fans get emotional. They're not booing because they want the Phillies to fail. They're booing because they very, very badly want the Phillies to be what they always hope they can be.
It's just that most players don't see it that way. They're not from here. They weren't around for 1964. They weren't around for Black Friday or Game 6 in Toronto. They don't care about Ed Wade's inactivity at the trade deadline or busts like Andy Ashby and Lance Parrish or Bill Giles calling Philadelphia a small market team. They weren't around for those things. They don't know about those things. They don't care about those things. They're just trying to win today. They just know that their fans are booing Pat Burrell and Mike Lieberthal during Opening Day introductions in 2006. They just know they're booing Ryan Howard, who leads the league in home runs and RBIs and won NL MVP honors two years ago. They just know they're booing Tom Gordon before he throws a pitch. They just know they're in first place in the National League East, and they're getting booed at home even when they're winning.
They hear those boos and they're like, "What the hell?"
Fans hear Rollins' remarks and they're like, "What the hell?"
Ironically, Rollins is one of the players least affected by the boos. Other players wilt in Philadelphia. Rollins hasn't wilted one bit. But yesterday's uproar -- hey, I'm in LA, I only know it's a "big deal" because everybody back home tells me it's a big deal -- only illustrated the differences between fans who grew up in Philadelphia and the players who grew up elsewhere but play here.
I don't see those differences changing anytime soon.
I watch Philly sports from a long way away: Nashvilee TN. Watching Sports Center every night the game isn't on locally waiting for the score. I am known at work as the crazy Philadelpia sports nut. I support them unconditionally when I could just as easily support the Titans or the Preds(I have lived in Nashville for 14 years) and I haven't lived in Philly for 37 years.I curse and boo the T.V. but then it's over. Tension and release. Perhaps Jroll was just releasing a little tension. go Eagles.— cupper- LOL I agree Will.i.Am. This has become classic Philadelphia comical. A millionaire speaks his mind and the folks go nutz. The call to boycott the Phils is way overdue about 10yrs to late. Flyers have moved up for really trying to win value. For the other 3, tuned down the fire years ago. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Just think football seasons coming up fast. Oh goodie!!!!— STIII
Like , This whole article and issue is a joke. It just gives some fans more reason to boo our players. Thats why we can not keep great players here because one bad anthting and we are ready to give them hell. Go Head Boo Jimmy and its not going to hurt him he is paid. The only people who are going to be hurt are the fans because you are hust proving his point. And Todd is a jerk for posting this article!- rollins is correct, philly fans are the most negative fans in the country. anyone who disagrees either hasn't left the city in their life, or you are an idiot. philly fans booed the 1981 phillies, the world champion phillies and now they want to boo the league mvp from the NL EAST Champs. So don't throw around this attitude that the phillies should win a championship if they don't want the attitude. every one of you loved when rollins opened his "big mouth" and told the world that the phillies were the team to beat in the NL, and now you hate on him when he opens his mouth and tells everyone that there are some ugly fans in philly. get over yourselves and support your team. and stop blaming this on a contract dispute, there is no contract dispute, he isn't asking for more money. stop making things up.— mets_collapse_is_funny_to_me
- i cannot stand that we as philadelphia fans (yes I am proud to be among you) get wrapped up in silly statements like this one. was he wrong? probably. todd makes a fair and balanced case for both sides. my issue is this: why wasn't there this kind of outrage when your organization let manny ramirez slip right through their fingers. what jimmy says should have no bearing on his play. having jimmy backed up in the lineup by the best righthanded hitter in the last 20 years would have a bearing on his (and the whole team's) play. does anyone wonder why all of a sudden jeff kent looks 10 years younger? it's because he's seeing fastballs at the belt and he's raking them since no one in their right mind wants to face manny. that could have been in our lineup. picture it phillies fans: rollins, utley, ramirez, howard, burrell, victorino, coste and dobbs. by far the best lineup in the national league. probably in baseball. it could have been had for a song. we are outraged by a stupid comment. why aren't we outraged by this?????— goawayfavre
- SPrae58: You are so off-base. Burrell had one good year, then went into a 3 YEAR slump. Yet, for the first year and a half, this city supported him, cheered him, gave him a free pass because they saw the EFFORT he put into trying to break out of his slump. And if had been to a single game this year, you'd have seen that Burrell has been the MOST SUPPORTED player in the lineup all year, despite the fact he has not hit well at home. They have ADORED Burrell this year, because he is rewarding their LOYALTY all that time he was struggling and they laid off him, and his LOYALTY in not ripping the fans when they finally got too frustrated and started to ride him.— acerulli
Comment removed.- Absolutely ridiculous. The franhise has won a single champioship in it's existence and that was 30 years ago. Since that time, we have endurered 3 decades of management focusing their effort on filling seats and not winning championships. Not sure why jimmy doesn't understand the fans of this city. He basically has gotten a free pass for a sub par season with only some token booing for not hustling and showing up late to games. He's in for it now.— gee1971
- Jimmy Rollins gets paid millions of dollars to play baseball. He's an entertainer. Get a real job.— p-diddy
- "There's a segment of Philly fans that prides themselves on being obnoxious and then they get upset when someone calls them obnoxious." ... ... ... This is very true. These people are known as "Eagles fans". And when one of the other teams starts winning, they show up at those games and bring their obnoxious Eagle fandom with them.— acerulli
- Just Jimmy-Being-Manny. Apparently money does not buy effort, and effort, apparently, does not buy support.— acerulli
- sptost "give the man some support." Are you series? This city has embraced Jroll and supported him perhaps more than eny other athlete in Philly over the last few years. We supported him with standing O's how many times last year during his MVP season? not just because he was playing great all around baseball but because of the way he played and approached each game. He had a confident, never say die attitude, that he brought to the ballpark and more importantly the home of every philly fan. Its not just production of a player that wins over philly fans its the passion and he just doesnt seem to have the same fire in his eyes this year and it shows.— TreeHaus
- To sptost: Why the should we support him? Because he ran his mouth (yet again) during a lackluster year in which he has been benched twice and has had a major attitude? We treated him like loyalty last year not only because he had a great year, but because he ran everything out and acted like a leader on and off the field. This year has been completely the opposite. Not only is he having a sub-par year but all of his antics are the real reason people aren't happy with him. He's been anything but a leader this year. He can't even ride on the freaking team bus. The most amazing thing about this is that the fans have actually been very easy on Jimmy this year. They haven't booed him as he comes up to the plate. Sure, he's heard it on a few occasions, but he's had it relatively quiet for all the stunts he's pulled. Well that is all about to change now. Jimmy, if you thought you had it bad before, wait 'till your next home game. And why don't you give a long hard thought on who exactly you're talking to. That's right, the people who are fans of a team with 1 championship in over 120 years. Fans of a team with one very short playoff appearance in 15 years. Fans of that same team who has the most losses of any professional sports franchise. Yes, those same fans that pay to pack the ballpark every single night to watch you and the rest of your underachieving team.— phillyfan412
- One of the reasons why we cannot win a championship in this city is the fans. When things are going bad - and even when they are good - we find a reasn to dig into our teams' and bash them like they have never won a game. The Eagles' have one of the best QB's in the history of the franchise and people still criticize him. The Phils' have suffered through an inept front office for years, but the players catch the brunt of the fnas' ire. All of the teams' in this city have suffered similar problems from cheap, slugfest owners, to lackluster rosters', and so forth. We need to stand behind our teams' - with a more positive attitude - or never, ever, see another championship in this town.....unless it's from the Soul, and that's not good enough!— lalaw9833
- Frontrunners huh Jimmy? Well at least we're running. Not jogging like you in your mope mode after a pop out in the infield. Your not Howard, and you'll never have a year again like you did last year. Stop swinging in bad counts and get on base and the rest will fall into place. As for the fans we're the ones who made you J-Roll if you don't like us go to St Louis & play for that choke artist Larussa. The fans there don't boo because they think they are watching golf.— Phils30
