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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

UPDATE

As it turned out, the video that Jimmy Rollins taped was not played on the stadium video board, but on television. Which meant that the fans were treated to Rollins' appearance without a warmup.

When the lineups were announced before the game, there was a mix of boos and cheers.

When Rollins took the field before the game, there was pretty much silence.

When Rollins successfully fielded a ground ball in the top of the first, there were some boos.

When Rollins came to the plate in the first inning, the noise was pretty loud and, again, pretty evenly split between boos and cheers. When Rollins lined out to right field, there were boos again.

In all, a pretty big shrug.

********************************

Jimmy Rollins and the Phillies have cooked up a little surprise for the fans tonight at Citizens Bank Park. It is a video message from Rollins to the fans in the wake of his comments last week calling them "front-runners," and the resulting firestorm.

Rollins taped it in the dugout before batting practice.

"They came up and asked me if I would do it," Rollins said. "At first, I was like, 'That's pretty cheesy.' But the producer wanted to do it so I was like, 'All right, sure, whatever. I'll go along with it.' "

Asked if it was an apology, Rollins said it was not. He said, "It was, 'What do you think is going to be the reaction to your first at-bat?' "

His response, paraphrased, was apparently something on the order of: everybody has a right to their opinion, everybody has a right to cheer or boo, but in the end, everybody just wants the team to win.

Or something.

Speaking later to reporters, Rollins was unrepentant. Asked if he regretted the incident, he said, "No, not at all."

And he again talked about how booing has, in the past, affected some of his teammates to the point where "they're halfway defeated before they get up there" to the plate.

He also added that potential free agents have come up to him in the past and asked about the Philadelphia fans and said things, "Most of 'em, you can't repeat." Rollins said that players have said they don't want to put their families into this kind of situation, "That's just the truth."

That should get some play.

More later.

Posted by Rich Hofmann @ 6:45 PM  Permalink | 43 comments
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Comments
Posted by ChrisInConshy 06:58 PM, 08/19/2008
I guess Jimmy missed me when I went to those hundred or so games in the late 90s at that dump of a stadium to watch a team that won 65 games a year.
Comment removed.
Posted by Jim C. 07:01 PM, 08/19/2008
"Rollins said that [otential free agents] have said they don't want to put their families into this kind of situation, "That's just the truth."" That's your reality check Philly fans. Think Rollins is making this stuff up? You're crazy.
Posted by scars73 07:02 PM, 08/19/2008
He is just digging a deeper and deeper hole! I can't believe he is telling free agents not to come here! Is this guy serious?
Posted by beeron 07:51 PM, 08/19/2008
Chris I agree. I went to games at the Vet back when they sucked, and it wasn't cool to be at a Phillies game. There was no McFadden's back then. But I still went and cheered them on. Rollins disgusts me. I'm not sure I am going to go to another Phillies game as long as he is on the team.
Posted by searcher 08:31 PM, 08/19/2008
Hey Jim C. get up off your knees while you worship these cry babies and maybe you'll see the reality the slacker sports hero. You are perfect example of a sicko-phantic whose does anything to appease players who look for the easy way. Jimmy might be having an off year but we all pay attention to his LACK of attention. It is a man with little integrity and few ideas that blames his lack of effort on others.
Posted by Bake McBride 08:46 PM, 08/19/2008
what a cluster. Only in Philly, with our masturbatory fans who have nothing else to do.
Posted by main liner 08:47 PM, 08/19/2008
this is pathetic. j-roll needs to learn how to swallow his pride. if he had just apologized the day after on TBDSSE instead of trying to "clarify" his remarks, this would all be dead. j-roll is officially a punk & as he said, "you can't be no punk in philly". and if you let fans half-defeat you before you get to the plate, your not a professional & i dont want you on our team
Posted by main liner 08:49 PM, 08/19/2008
and in regards to the free agent comment: j-roll is just digging deeper & deeper to try to prove his point. there isnt a single player who would turn down philly if they were offering top dollar.
Posted by tjd 08:50 PM, 08/19/2008
scars73, that's not at all what he said. He did not say he's telling potential free agents not to come here. Reading is fundamental.
Posted by oldphilly 09:27 PM, 08/19/2008
So Rollins thinks booing your own teams players before they even did anything in a game is not cool. Hmm... sounds fair to me. You people crack me up, you'd think he said something nasty about your mother or something with all the venum spitting out in these comments.
Posted by KGKoons 09:52 PM, 08/19/2008
DP hitting Rollins did not win this 100th game: wasn't that what he promised???? No, it was not Jimmy or Ryan, or Chase and Pat who won the game, it was Ridge and Werth. Is Jason Donald far behind in making this team next year???????
Posted by Chainsaw 10:01 PM, 08/19/2008
I wish Jimmy had kept his opinions to himself, but can anyone really argue that what he said is not true? Phillies fans are too quick to boo, and it really doesn't accomplish anything - other than to make the player feel like he and the so-called fan are opponents. I'm not sure what a fan gets out of booing - does it make him feel like he's a big man because he has the fortitude to boo? Does it prove that he is a knowledgeable and discerning fan? Is his life so miserable and empty that booing makes him feel good about himself? Does he think that a player doesn't know when he screws up?
Posted by WallStreeetExaminer 10:11 PM, 08/19/2008
It's no secret that a lot of players refuse to play in Philly. Remember JD Drew? OK, he's a wuss. The fans are not the whole problem. Some of the players deserve the booing, some don't. Let's face it. There are a lot of overpaid prima donnas in professional sports. Philly fans can spot them a mile away. Then of course there's the real problem. Lousy ownership. The booing is mostly misdirected anger at the clowns who own and run the team. There's no excuse for booing a guy because he didn't play well, as long as he hustles. That kind of booing probably happens more than it should here.
Posted by WallStreeetExaminer 10:11 PM, 08/19/2008
It's no secret that a lot of players refuse to play in Philly. Remember JD Drew? OK, he's a wuss. The fans are not the whole problem. Some of the players deserve the booing, some don't. Let's face it. There are a lot of overpaid prima donnas in professional sports. Philly fans can spot them a mile away. Then of course there's the real problem. Lousy ownership. The booing is mostly misdirected anger at the clowns who own and run the team. There's no excuse for booing a guy because he didn't play well, as long as he hustles. That kind of booing probably happens more than it should here.
About David Murphy
David Murphy joined the Daily News as its Phillies beat writer in February of 2008. Born in Upper Merion and raised in the Poconos, he attended college at La Salle University before taking jobs with the Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Sun-News and the St. Petersburg ( Fla. ) Times.

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