Phillies Fans Near Violence
July 28, 2007
Wow, welcome to the big leagues, John Lannan. As if getting ejected from his debut game wasn’t enough of a blow to the years of eager anticipation that preceded his premier, he has managed to raise absolutely violent ire among Phillies fans for the broken bone in Chase Utley’s hand. A search on Facebook returns the above groups, formed the next day. They blame him for single-handedly removing the Phillies from the playoff chase (no pun intended) and Utley from MVP consideration. I’m shocked at some of the comments I’ve seen, not to mention a group titled “John Lannan Must Die”! I mean, come on, people! Get a grip! It’s baseball! A game! Lannan is practically a kid who I’m absolutely certain did not want his debut to unfold in the manner it did and definitely did not hit batters on purpose. Geez! I can only imagine how stunned and upset his family would be to see these things. Ugh.
Luckily, someone formed a group, John Lannan Is An American Hero, to defend him. I’m not so sure I’d go so far as to say American Hero (see ‘just a game’ above), but I joined if only to help boost the numbers on his side. It’s all quite silly, though.
I look forward to his next start and watching his confidence improve and hopefully all this will be a slight memory a few months from now.
Posted in Players, Washington Nationals
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July 28th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
This is just a symptom of how ill American culture is. We don’t treat each other as human beings because we’re all in it for ourselves. At least, the mainstream is. Just look at the way our politicians talk to each other. Look at people like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh spewing their vile hatred every single day.
It’s sad to watch a society fall into such rapid decline, but this is the reality. And from what I see of parents letting their kids run around in restaurants and stores acting like savages, I only see the decline continuing.
July 29th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
It’s not a sympton of American culture (we’ve had rabid sports fans forever) it’s just Phillie fans. It’s who they are–obnoxious, rude and sometimes quite vile. Any trip to a Eagles game will confirm this. I guess losing over 10,000 games will do that to a fan.
July 30th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Wait. Let me get this straight. In Sunday’s Washington Post, Lannan admits to intentionally throwing at Utley and Howard yet you defend him? How is that not vile?
July 30th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Umm… Where exactly did he admit to intentionally throwing at them? Link? I read every WaPo article and saw nothing where he admitted to intentionally throwing at them, he said he was trying to make good pitches and the ball got away from him. That does not sound *intentional* by any stretch of the imagination.
Even if he had admitted that in an article on Sunday, you’ll note this was posted on Saturday. But I still think “Lanna must die” is far more vile.
July 31st, 2007 at 11:44 am
What are you, a lawyer? In Sunday’s Sports section, page E11 in the 3 Up & 3 Down box, it says “J. Lannan, Nats’ rookie LHP ejected in ML debut after hitting two batters. Later admits intent, saying those were the only pitches all game that went where he wanted.” This, on second reading, looks to be ragging on Lannan and the Nats (more candor than you’ll get from a lawyer, I’ll wager).
You probably haven’t been to many ball games. otherwise, you’d have heard fans yell “kill the bum” or the like directed at opponents or umps. Then you wouldn’t find remarks like “Lannan Must Die” so objectionable.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Harper, the “3 Up & 3 Down” section is humor. Or did you think that Dmitri Young’s contract actually extends to a third year automatically if he gains weight?
I mean, really.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:08 pm
Harper, Misschatter goes to more games than just about anyone I know… and if you had a sense of humor - you’d know that the “3 up and 3 down” section in the Washington Post is satire.