New Flag, Same Old Opening Day Loss
April 6th, 2009 by Matt
Since 1975, the Phillies are 9-25 in Opening Day games.
Make that 9-26.
Derek Lowe turned the Phillies bats to mush, and Brett Myers served up some gopher balls early to send the Phillies to a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
The evening started off in grand fashion. The players walked in from centerfield on a red carpet that looked a lot more like a red tarp. Ashburn Alley was PACKED with fans waiting for the Phillies to pass by them on their way to the field.
Paratroopers delivered the first ball, and World Series architect Pat Gillick threw out the first pitch.
By the time the game began, the fans were whipped into a nice frenzy. It didn’t last long, however, as Brian McCann unloaded on a Brett Myers offering in the top of the first to stake the Braves to a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Myers gave up solo homers to Jeff Francoeur and Jordan Schafer, and the boobirds reared their ugly heads.
I am a chronic anti-booer. It’s not that I don’t think fans have the right to boo. I just think it is largely counterproductive, as it rarely seems to have a positive effect on the team. Booing creates division between the fans and the players, and diminishes what was built up during the postseason run last year. For fans to be booing Brett Myers in the top of the second of the first game of the season after the euphoria of the 2008 season is just nuts. If these are holdovers from the glut of 2008 bandwagon jumpers, I hope they get off quickly.
Unfortunately, I think the core issue is that fans expectations are too high at this point. Instead of chilling a little and allowing 2009 to unfold for a few games or weeks, instead, fans are still in playoff mode. If you are a Phillie, and it’s the top of the second inning of Game 1 and you’re the defending champions, and the fans start booing, there is only one thing that could possibly be going through your mind.
“You’ve GOT to be fucking kidding me. They’re booing?”
Bottom line, fans sound like idiots booing in the second inning of the first game of the season following a World Series win. There is no counterpoint to this, by the way. You have the right to boo, and I have the right to call you an idiot, and Jimmy Rollins can call you a front-runner.
Back to the game. Derek Lowe made the 4-0 lead seem like 40-0. While much of it was Lowe’s doing, the Phillies were happy to oblige. They saw just 14 pitches between the 7th and 8th innings.
In the 9th, the Phils had a legitimate chance to steal the game. Both Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez had swings as the potential tying run. Both hitters struck out to end the threat, Howard looking and Ibanez swinging. Howard’s out was the more egregious, as he stared at a sure strike. When you can crush a ball a mile and you represent the tying run, you just can’t stare at strike 3.
This game is hardly cause for concern. We can second guess Charlie’s lineup (Werth 2nd while Victorino was 6th?) and bitch about a generally listless effort from the home team, but this game will mean as much to 2009′s final outcome as last year’s 11-6 loss to the Nats on Opening Day meant to the World Series run. In other words, nothing.
The only aspect of this game that bears watching is Brett Myers’ performance. He settled down after the second inning, but we’ve been down this road before. Myers’ 2008 season was a disaster early on due to excessive long balls. Tonight was a repeat of early 2008, with Myers giving up early homers to put his squad in a hole. Brett was either too amped up or lacking faith in his curveball. Either way, his next couple of starts bear a close watch.
Loading ...
Nice recap, Matt, and spot-on analysis about the booing. You’re right, some of the fans in attendance last night were still in playoff mode, but they’re probably the same fans who only started showing up to games last September. Their only frame of reference is winning, playoff-atmosphere baseball. The sooner those shirtless lunkheads and talkative, pink jersey-clad ditzy dames vacate the premises, the better. They’re not there to watch the game, they only want to cheer when things are going well and boo when they’re not.
Are you sure the booing is only from fair-weather fans? I thought booing was a tradition in Philadelphia. I don’t like it, either. And I’ve only been a fan for a few years, but I’d never boo my team. I want to support them, not jeer them! Maybe if I thought the players were apathetic, but I give them the benefit of the doubt that the same competitive nature that got them to the big leagues makes them want to perform well.
I’m generally an anti-booer, and I would have preferred a booing moratorium last night too. However, think of it this way: Imagine how loud the boos would have been if the Phillies did not win the World Series last year. I tend to think it would have been much worse.
Tiffany, booing is a tradition to the misguided contingent of locals who confuse being a “Philadelphia fan” with being “tough.” They revel in the reputation of Philadelphia fans as no-nonsense, and they allow it to define them. They think booing is something that, as a Philadelphia fan, they’re “supposed” to do. These are the same idiots who go to Flyers games and yell for the players to “hit somebody” when the team is on the power play. They don’t understand that the season is a marathon, that not every play can be a goal, touchdown, or home run, so they react to everything on a strictly emotional level.
I do think last night’s booing was from fair-weather fans. There’s no way a true fan could be that frustrated after barely two innings.
Doc, good point, although from the stands it was a pretty lusty boo. I don’t know how much worse it could have been. I didn’t see anyoen chuck anything at Myers. I suppose that was a plus.
I do think there are appropriate times for booing. A player not hustling, a player disrespecting their team or the game in some other way (showing up a teammate after an error etc.)