On December 15, 1968 the Philadelphia Eagles were 2-11 tied at 14 with the Minnesota Vikings at half time when the team brought out jolly old St. Nicholas to give the team a boost. The fans took their frustrations out on Santa as they threw snow balls out at him and that became the reputation for Philly fans until the end of time.
Santa Clause was portrayed by 20-year-old Eagles fan Frank Olivo as an emergency Santa because the other could not make it due to a snow storm that covered Franklin Field and the seats in snow. Olivo entered the field to “Here Comes Santa Clause” and was joined by a 50-piece band. He was supposed to appear on a large Christmas float with eight life-sized fiberglass reindeer but it got stuck in the mud and Olivo was forced to go on foot. He began his journey across the field throwing candy canes to the fans and when he reached the Endzone fans started booing him and throwing snowballs and projectiles. Olivo conceded that the fans weren’t mad at him, they were mad at the team and rightfully so. Eagles public relations director Jim Gallagher said Olivo was the “worst-looking Santa I’d ever seen. Bad suit, scraggly beard. I’m not sure whether he was drunk, but he appeared to be.” We may never know, but what we do know is that the media will never let Philadelphia live that down.
Fast forward 54 years and it is April 11, 2022. The Phillies are down 3-0 to the New York Mets as Alec Bohm commits his 3rd error in 3 innings. The camera pans to him talking to former Phillies Shortstop Didi Gregorious and saying “I fucking hate this place. He ended up drawing 2 walks and scoring an important run in a 5-4 come from behind Phillies win. In the aftermath he was guided by veteran teammates Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos on how to handle the situation. Alec Bohm told reporters, “I said it. Do I mean it? No. It’s a frustrating night for me, obviously. Made a few mistakes in the field. Look, these people, these fans, they just want to win. You heard it, we come back, they’re great. I’m just sorry to them. I don’t mean that.” On the next night in the bottom of the 8th inning, down 2 runs to the Mets, Joe Girardi called on Alec Bohm to pinch hit and Phillies fans did the unthinkable: they cheered. Alec Bohm turned his season around and was a staple to the Phillies team who won the National League Championship in 2022. He even hit the 1000th World Series Home Run hit.
The Philly fan really only asks for accountability and the player’s best effort. If you show that then they will love you forever.
Just a little over one year later we found ourselves at a similar crossroads but different circumstances. Instead of it being a struggling young player trying to stay in the MLB it is an established superstar who just signed the second ever 300 million dollar contract with the Phillies. Trea Turner was a guy who absolutely killed the Phillies in every way as a National and a Dodger. He could hit the ball to all fields, make brilliant plays at shortstop, and hit the most back-breaking homer you could possibly imagine. In his first year in Philadelphia he came with the expectations of continuing to do that against other teams. Until August he did not. On August 2nd, Trea Turner hit rock bottom. He went 0 for 5 and committed a game costing error leading to a 9-8 loss against the Miami Marlins. That night Trea would speak to reporters saying, “I’m pretty disappointed. I feel like obviously I’m the reason why we lost that game.” He hit in the cages after midnight and went 0 for 3 the next game in a 4-2 Phillies win. When the Phillies came home, a social media campaign was brewing to cheer for Trea Turner, to show him some “Brotherly Love.” When he stepped up to the plate against the Kansas City Royals with the Phillies leading 2-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning, a sold out Citizens Bank Park stood for Turner. They continued to do this for every at bat. In his final at bat he ripped a ball to right field for an rbi single. After the game he said that swing was his best in a long time. He absolutely went off after that, clobbering a 3-run home run and a rbi double against the Royals in a come from behind win. In the month of August, Trea Turner hit .324, with 35 hits, 9 home runs, 26 rbi, and 23 runs scored in 27 games. He had a slash line of .324/.368/.676 and an OPS of 1.044. That’ll play. He has continued That torrid stretch into September as he homered twice against the Brewers and had 2 hits against the brewers in the series finale.
So did the standing ovation fix Trea Turner? Did it fix Alec Bohm? The answer will never be 100% certain as a yes or a no. These players work tirelessly every single day to get better at what they do. It could have been a coincidence. I would like to believe that is fans of the Philadelphia Phillies have a greater impact than that to write it off as a coincidence. The national media will act shocked that battery throwing city of Philadelphia would cheer for a struggling player. But it’s what we do. We got their back. As 330 million dollar man Bryce Harper once said, “It’s 46,000 and 26” and you better hope that your opposing team can handle that in October of 2023.
