All the bad stuff you’ve heard about Philadelphia, site of the next three World Series games, is absolutely true.
The people in that town would give The Finger to their own mom. That’s how bad that town is.
It’s just incredible how ruthless and rude Philadelphia people are. They love their Phillies, but even Jimmy Rollins had a run-in with the fans earlier in the year and they started booing him. It’s crazy.
When I was in Philadelphia earlier this postseason with Cal Ripken Jr., Dennis Eckersley and Ernie Johnson for TBS, we got booed. We were just doing our show out in center field and people were walking by saying “You fat piece of [bleep]. . . . Tell Cal he’s gay. . . . Ernie Johnson sucks.”
I’m like, “Who the hell are these people?” We’ve got no part of baseball.
We’re doing the game and TBS stuff and these Phillies fans are just f-bombing us to death.
They are angry people. It’s going to be tough, because they are very vocal, foul and can maybe cause havoc on some of the younger guys, but I don’t think they will give the Yankees any problem. The only problem will be for these Phillies fans, when they lose. The Yankees will shut them up.
I put Philadelphia, Cleveland and Oakland atop my list for the worst fans in baseball, with Philadelphia No. 1.
You know what? I understand there are a lot of good people and good fans there. But I went to the NFC championship game several years ago between the Buccaneers and Eagles. I was sitting in a luxury box with a buddy of mine and a friend of his who owned the box. I was rooting for Tampa Bay, and the owner of the box got really mad at me and told me to get the hell out of his box. He was serious.
Tampa Bay won the game and advanced to the Super Bowl and we were walking to the car, and people were throwing bottles, breaking car windows and kicking car doors. So all the Tampa Bay fans were getting Eagles jerseys and putting them over their Buccaneers jerseys so they wouldn’t get beat up. It is unbelievable. That is how bad the fans are in Philadelphia. It’s not Brotherly Love in that town — it’s Brotherly Hate.
And that stinks for the true good fans in Philly who are respectable and do the right thing. The idiots take away from the good fans they have there, because I think Philadelphia does have some good fans.
Andy Pettitte has pitched many games in hostile situations, so he’s not going to get flustered by these fans. He’s probably one of the most peaceful men you’ll ever meet in your life, and he’ll just block it out. That is what you’ve got to do. A veteran guy will block out all the negative stuff he’s going to hear and concentrate on his own game.
As for the ballpark, it is a bandbox. If the weather is warm there will be a lot of home runs hit.
It’s going to be insane how many home runs are going to get hit. I can go 10 rows deep there in batting practice.
That’s how bad it is there. It’s not a good park in which to pitch. The only way you have a chance is to keep the ball down. It’s probably the easiest ballpark in which to hit a home run.
I’m still thinking Yankees in five.