For years I’ve been listening to the national sports media whining about how awful Philadelphia sports fans are.  We’re over-bearing.  We’re rude.  We’re mean to our stars.  We expect too much.  Yawn. I’ve been tired of it for a while.  Last night, we Philadelphians got to show the nation alsports media how wrong they’ve been about us – and I’ve never been more proud to be a Philly sports fan.

In the second inning, with a runner on and the pitcher up to bat, we saw one of the best post-season at bats in Phillies history.  Down 0-2 in the count Myers laid off some  tough pitches, fouled others off, and ended up working a walk in 9 pitches.  The longer the at bat went on the louder the crowd got.  When Myers finally worked the walk, the place erupted.  This led John Smoltz to remark, “I’ve never seen anything this.”

That’s right, John, you haven’t.  Neither has the rest of the national news media.  Why?  Because it’s easier to do lazy journalism and throw out what “everyone knows” about Philly fans than to dig a little bit and figure out what the truth is.  Philly sports fans know the game, and we pay attention to what’s going on.  We know that when a pitcher takes one of the most dominant hurlers in the game to a 9 pitch at bat and works a walk it’s something that needs to be cheered as a great sports performance.  Never seen anything like it John?  We see it all the time because we know how to recognize both good and bad performances the way that few fan bases can.  Welcome to Philly.  Keep your eyes open and stay awhile.