Phillies fans are bundled up and ready

By Jeff Gammage

Inquirer Staff Writer Lynn Shute sat in the last row of section 121 at last night's Phillies playoff game, bundled and ready, unfazed by whatever the elements might throw and — hey, wait a minute, was that a snowflake? Oops, no. Sorry. No snow. It must have been a stray piece of white lint from a rally towel. But fans at Citizens Bank Park came prepared last night not just to cheer the Phillies and chasten the Dodgers, but to battle sinking temperatures and a brisk, damp wind. Shute sat next to her 12-year-old daughter, Tori, both with hats pulled down tight. "I have two pair of pants, two sweatshirts, two pair of gloves, and a big double-lined jacket," said Shute, a longtime Phillies fan from Glassboro, N.J. "I think the excitement will keep us warm." But just in case, she and Tori also brought a big shopping bag stuffed with blankets, coats and handwarmers. "Backup equipment," Shute said. On the main concourse, a stiff wind raked cheeks and noses. In the upper levels, it was, well, worse. Baseball is a game made for summer, a time when the sultry climes of places like Los Angeles and even midsummer Philadelphia enhance the fans' enjoyment. It is Major League Baseball's fate to play its most meaningful games in the cold, at least on the East Coast. While last night's weather might not have been harsh enough to impede play on the field, it was sufficient to leave fans shivering. "Layers," said Bill Kronberger, of Northeast Philadelphia, uttering the simple, one-syllable word as if it was a profound Zen teaching. He and his friends were outside in a stadium parking lot before the game, keeping warm in a tent that was heated by a construction-site-style portable heater, and by ingesting the fuel that so many Philadelphia fans rely on: Beer. Others at the game seemed to have emptied their closets of all winter garb — hats, gloves, boots, scarves and sweatshirts, preferably red. "I'd rather be in the cold watching the Phillies in the playoffs than at home where it's warm, watching the Eagles lose to the Raiders," said Joe Rutkowski, of Plymouth Meeting, who was at the game with his friend, Frank Rohlfing of Warminster. And that was true enough, particularly among fans old enough to remember when — when the Phillies were awful, when the stadium was half-empty, when the team never went to the playoffs. So while the cold might chill bodies, it couldn't dampen spirits. "I'm prepared," said John Russo, who wore a big fur hat as he sold soft pretzels outside the ballpark. He was doing a brisk side business — no pun intended — in sales of red knit caps and winter gloves. Fifteen-year-old Tyler Foley came to the game from Levittown dressed for a summer day — blue jeans and a gray, Phillies Spring Training T-shirt that left his arms bare to the cold. So where was his sweatshirt and jacket? "I'm going to get all that stuff right now, in the clubhouse store," he said. By game time last night, Phillies fans had cheered themselves hoarse, and groaned themselves sick, watching their team battle to a 1-1 tie in the best of seven games National League championship series. In game one, the Phillies claimed an 8-6 victory as they faced the Dodgers for the second time in two years. Last year they eliminated Los Angeles on their way to a World Series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. But Friday night's game was a miserable 2-1 loss for the Phillies, who kicked the game away with a key Chase Utley error, poor fielding and a bullpen that can't seem to get anybody out. They could have come home to Citizens Bank Park holding a commanding two-games-to-none lead, with the next three games to be played in Philadelphia. Instead, they squandered a masterful pitching performance by veteran Pedro Martinez, failing to turn his two-hit, no walk outing into a win. Last night, the Phillies surrendered the high temperatures of L.A. for the climate of mid-October Philadelphia. Fans said temperatures in the low 40's were a small price to pay for the thrill of experiencing playoff baseball. Plainly, given the preferences of those around him, D.J. Hudson arrived at the game inappropriately dressed — wearing a blue Dodgers jacket and T-shirt. But he brought none of California's warmth, being an L.A. fan who lives in Frederick, Md. "It snowed at my house, so I'm bringing that, just to p--- you guys off," he said, attending the game with his girlfriend Tarah Drawbaugh. Snow? Don't say the word. It might come down from the sky. If it did, Amy Grady was prepared, with a hat pulled down over her eyebrows, a jacket tight on her back and a pink blanket in her arms. "I've got three \ on the bottom, five or six on the top," she said as she headed into the stadium with her son, 8-year-old Ben, who had wrapped a red-and-blue feather boa around his head. "We just know it's going to be really cold." Contact staff writer Jeff Gammage at 215-854-2415 or jgammage@phillynews.com.