Philadelphia Phillies field report: Fans stick with their team

John Cowden doesn't care. So what if the Phillies are in the cellar? So what if they're not even breaking even? So what if a playoff berth, once seemingly destined, is now a faint chance? So what?

"You stay with your team no matter what," said Cowden, 68, of Woodbine, N.J., as he sat outside Citizens Bank Park on a hot August afternoon this week two hours before game time. "You don't leave your team when they're down."

The Phils are undeniably down. Many would say out. But while a few people may be staying home from the ballpark — on Monday, the Phils ended their 257 regular-season game sellout streak — fans like him are still showing up, still cheering, still washing down crab fries with beer and dancing for the stadium cam.

Because they know something about these dark times. "They make the good ones that much better," Cowden said.

And the pitiful standings notwithstanding, what could beat a breezy summer night at the ballpark, the sun setting behind the scoreboard, the smell of cotton candy in the air, the constant murmur of the crowd punctuated by the shouts of peanut and hot dog vendors?

There are still foam #1 fingers and kids in fuzzy green Phanatic dangle hats and everybody in their game gear standing as one for the national anthem.

"When a game starts, you forget the pain" of a dismal season, said Jack Cowden, 30, John's son.

Perched in one of the highest seats in the outfield bleachers, Bre Medevich, 27, of Harrisburg, said she drove more than two hours to catch Monday night's game.

Sure, it can get uncomfortably steamy up there, she acknowledged, but it wouldn't be a late summer game in Philly without our old friends hazy, hot and humid settling into the cheap seats with us. "I like the sweating," Medevich said. "It makes you feel you've earned your beer."

"The games are still exciting even if the year isn't," noted Anthony Azara, 41, of Hopewell, N.J. Also, fewer people in the park meant that people like Azara and his three sons were able to get seats.

Baseball, said Mount Airy's Linda Grey, breeds optimism. There's always a chance your team can rally. There's no clock shutting things down, no buzzer to fear. "You always hope until it's the bottom of the ninth and there's nothing you can do," she said. "Things can change at any minute."

Even during Monday's sloppy 6-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves, most Phils fans stayed in their seats — or on their feet — until the very end. There were a few rally caps near the first base line. An Atlanta Braves home run ball was tossed back onto the field, much to fans' delight

Bob Endy, 52, of Port Richmond, watched the last out while standing behind the field-level seats. A disappointing loss, but that was OK. He'd be back for another game this week