You disappoint me Chris. The obnoxious Philly fan is a myth perpetrated by the out of town media. You should no better. Booing Santa . . . come on. It was 40 years ago and the young idiot playing Santa was obviously loaded and making a terrible embarrassment of himself. Booing that guy was, if anything, a defense of the spirit of Christmas.
Philly fans behave the same way as all northeast cities' fans do, passionate and knowledgeable, they know when and how to both cheer and boo (I recall some very nasty boos in Boston before the game 5 turn-around). I suspect that the players appreciate it over performing in front of cow bell ringing knownothings and LA fans out to enjoy a sunny day.
As for Rollins, what you didn't print was that he called the fans "frontrunners," a label not fitting a group that packs the arenas for all four pro teams despite more than 120 combined seasons without a championship. Most surprising was that Rollins was rarely, if ever, booed before that comment. After the fan trashing on national TV, Rollins was afforded dozens of opportunities to explain his remark or limit it to only those fans who do misbehave. He never did. Surprisingly, none of his teammates stepped up to public ally disagree, certainly not the sycophant sultan of swing and miss, Ryan Howard, who sat next to Rollins smiling on the Best Damn while the latter made the comments. While I am generally not the booing type, I boo Rollins on TV, and will not pay for tickets to see players who insult their fan base. Luckily the baseball gods have seen fit to allow the Phils to win while both Rollins and Howard fail to back up the arrogance exhibited on Best Damn. It is a shame that Rollins has made it that much less enjoyable to watch what may be a championship team. Even if you are an idiot, Jimmy, pretend that you aren't so grown men can participate in the fantasy affair that is pro sports.
Finally, I think it fair to cite the positive responses by Philly fans. Notable among the displays of kindness is the fans' reaction to Mitch Williams after surrendering the Joe Carter home run in '93. Williams was traded within weeks. Upon his return to Philly as a visitor the next year, he was welcomed with a warm ovation. Presently Mitch is an analyst for the local Comcast network and is easily the most well-liked sports analyst in the city.
Another example is the response to Pat Burrell's struggles. After signing a $15 million a year contract, Pat went through 4 terrible years of .225 averages, bad swings, and crappy defense. Yet for the first two of those years the fans continued to applaud any sign of effort. Pat didn't get booed until his third year of the contract and that treatment stopped after one year. How about a bit of recognition for those displays of support. Displays that you would not likely have seen in Boston or NY, and possibly not even in the white picket fence baseball heaven that is St. Louis.
