Jimmy Rollins Didn’t Like the Atmosphere Last Night

Screen Shot 2011-10-03 at 8.14.59 AM

I'm sorry, what?

Ladies and gentlemen, Jimmy Rollins: [quote via John Clark]

You could hear a pin drop out there. Fans were a little uptight. It was not a good atmosphere.

 

There's more:

Screen Shot 2011-10-03 at 7.39.14 AM
Screen Shot 2011-10-03 at 7.39.14 AM

I'm fairly tired, so I'm just going to wipe my eyes in case I read that wrong – wipes, adjusts lighting, squints – Yep, he said that.

Let me offer up a few explanations as to why, Jimmy.

The record-setting crowd of 46,575 had the wind blown of its sails when A) Cliff Lee blew a 4-0 lead, B) the lineup went down in order in innings 3, 4, 5, and 6 – three of which came against the Cards' bullpen, and C) you got picked off trying to steal second with Chase Utley batting in the seventh. 

I'll keep going.

It was cold, wet, and late. Major League Baseball started a baseball game at 8:37 on a Sunday. Most people in attendance likely had to wake up less than six hours after returning home. I'd imagine it was difficult to muster up the energy to applaud Ace #2 getting his elevated fastballs sprayed around the field in the Cardinals' hit parade. I'd also imagine it was difficult for the 46,575 in attendance to get excited watching the lineup bend over for the gaggle of misfits that trotted out of the Cards' bullpen. For the second time in just a few hours, one of our teams was imploding before our very eyes. That’s not fun. It’s less fun when it’s 11:30 on a Sunday night, damp, and chilly. And it’s even less fun when the guy who got picked off with two outs in the seventh has a problem with it.

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78 Responses

  1. It’s getting harder and harder to like J-Roll™ nowadays. His comment about no hometown discount in free agency was something that put a sour taste on the weekend.

  2. Could it have been his Homerun trot on the double that was his enough to have been a triple?
    The ball bouncing in and out of his glove up the middle allowing runner to advance.
    Making the 3rd out getting picked off?
    Or the fans feeling like the team was going into a collective slump like they did again the Giants last year.

  3. Well said Kyle.
    J-roll and his teammates need to look at themselves.
    Swinging like madmen at any pitch that terrible SL bullpen threw at them.
    This lineup’s bats and focus can get cold real fast.
    They were patient and took pitches the first 3 innings and then they were swinging like they could not wait to get the game to end.

  4. I have always been a fan of Jroll’s and usually love following him on twitter but last night really put a bad taste in my mouth. To have a record setting attendence in the cold and rain on a Sunday night in this economy and you complain b/c it was too quiet??? It was rocking the first two innings when they were actually playing well! Need to look in the mirror JRoll- you did not lose the game b/c it got quiet…you lost b/c you guys assumed you were going to win after the second inning and got WAY too complacent and then were shocked when you were losing so you paniced. JRoll’s comments last night were bad along with Cliff Lee saying he thought he had the game after the second inning- both shows a little too much overconfidence. Hope people went nuts on his twitter and facebook pages.

  5. i mean.. he’s right. maybe he’s going about it the wrong way, but he’s right.
    jimmy is actually batting well this series, let’s not kill him for a tweet, please.
    i was at the game saturday and the crowd was DEAD until the inning howard hit the homerun

  6. 1) Hey jimmy, you better fucking just enjoy playing in front of 45k+, b/c when you leave after this year, you will be playing in front of 15K… enjoy it while you can assface!
    2) And note to fucking self jimmy! maybe you should hit like a fucking leadoff hitter and not do your best ryan howard impression! you had 2 doubles, but just about ANY other field you would have had a long fly ball if it wasnt for the fence! start hitting line drives you douche! God i can not WAIT till you are gone! Fans can only “give themselves” something to cheer about so many times! why dont you give them something to cheer about!
    3) the MLB schedule FUCKED up big time! does ANYBODY like being up till 1AM monday morning! worst idea EVER! SUNDAY NIGHT ANYTHING!

  7. I get why people are annoyed…but as someone at the game, I have to say it was a lame crowd. As soon as the lead went, it was dead. That can’t happen. LaRussa got exactly what he wanted when he chewed out the home plate Ump – Lee stopped getting calls and the crowd support went away. Phills need to own it, but so do the fans.

  8. I’m on his side. It was louder in my living room trying to cheer for a rally than it was at the stadium. A bunch of us commented on the fans being lame last night. And don’t jump on Jimmy’s back for getting picked off, he’s the only one hitting the ball with any kind of authority last night. I feel a hate fest on Jimmy right now because he won’t take a hometown discount.

  9. @ Phil- So wait, because Jimmy got a couple hits it excuses him from getting picked off? How does that make sense? Can YOU perform well in one area of your job, then turn around, make a huge, VERY costly mistake, and not take shit for it? If so, please send me an application. I want to work where you do.
    I was there last night. FUCK Jimmy. That place WAS rocking. But here’s the thing Jimmy- we can sense how you guys are feeling. When you are pumped up, we get pumped up even more (see Pence, Hunter). When you are treating a game like it’s a fucking Spring Training game, we’re gonna have a hard time going nuts. Uninspired baseball begets uninspired cheers. It is not our job to carry you- it is YOUR job to give us something to cheer about. And guess what? When you do, we are the best fans in the world. Most of the other guys on the team realize that, you obviously don’t.
    I defended J-Roll when he called us frontrunners (as hard as it was). I defended him with the hometown discount comment (can’t blame him). But I’m done. Fucking done. Good riddance Jimmy. I’m sure Billy Beane will sign you out there in Oakland. He likes high OBP guys, especially leadoff, so he’s really gonna lov- wait. Nevermind.

  10. Well said Kyle. I was at the game last night and I actually didn’t have a big issue with the crowd (as I sometimes do). The only exception to that would be the Lee lap dogs who gave him a standing ovation for that crummy performance that could turn out to be the turning point in a short series. I thought the crowd had a good amount of energy in the first couple innings considering the circumstances. The only thing I would say is – let’s not kill Jimmy for getting picked off there. Down 1 run with 2 outs and 2 strikes on Utley (who has very little power anymore) I want him being aggressive. I was calling for him to steal. Obviously, he messed it up, but it was the right idea. Chase has a clean count to start the next inning and walked, so they were actually in a better situation to tie the game there with man on first, nobody out.

  11. LOL at you schmucks bitching about a “hometown discount”. He’s from Oakland, CA. Not to mention, The Phillies pretty much have a license to print money. None of you asshats would give your current employer a “hometown discount” if a much better offer comes along.

  12. 8:37 game in the misty rain on a sunday night with Cliff Lee not being Cliff Lee will do that to the crowd

  13. You know, I was going to give J-Roll™ a pass because he was just calling us out that we were the Phickle Phans that we are… But Phuck him!
    Hey Jimmy, Bowa, Schmidt, Rose et al would be busy wondering how he can make it up to us and do nothing but win from now on instead of being a twitter bitch. So put the tweeterer down and STFU and win, Win, WIN!!!
    And WTF I lost all respect for Old Man La Rusta. WHAAAAAAH we don’t like the stike zone, WHAAAAH. He should have been ejected. You know if it was Charlie doing that he would have been also fined and suspended. Hey Bud Selig, stop sucking La Rusta’s geriatric shrivel-dick. Baseball owes nothing to him. What did he do besides manage a bunch of juice-heads? I lost all respect for La Rusta after last night. The strike zone was consistent and same for both sides until he started his whining.

  14. Shut up JT, you have no f*cking clue what you are talking about. He made a base running error. It happens. Albert Pujols made two last night and he is an exceptional base runner as is Jimmy. And like the poster said below you, having Utley draw that walk with no outs was a better position to be in. I actually don’t know why A. they were running on Yadier Molina or B. they were running while trailing. I guess Manuel’s rationale was that if Jimmy gets thrown out we lead off with Utley who is an on base machine.
    That place was not rocking, it sounded like all of you had sands in your V. I think the problem actually is that most Phillies fans are front running college kids now and not actual fans that are going to boo and scream and yell when the team deserves it.
    And yes, you should have defended him when he called Phillies fans front runners because they are. 99% of the people in those stands probably don’t even know who Adam Eaton is let alone Doug Glanville or Travis Lee. And I’m sure you only know who Billy Beane is from seeing the movie last week. He preaches a lot more than OBP, and Jimmy Rollins is a player he would love to have on his team.

  15. Oh, right Phil. He does preach a lot more than OBP. He also preaches slugging percentage. SO much more. And no, I haven’t seen the movie- I actually read the book years ago. Because I am not one of the front running fans.
    You were sitting in your living room- how can you really know how loud it was?
    And how can you say it worked out better that he got picked off because Chase walked? Who knows what happens if Jimmy doesn’t get picked off, but I will ALWAYS consider it costly when you have an out that shouldn’t be. If the pitch would have been thrown and he was caught stealing, fine. That’s aggressive and fine with me. But you can NOT get picked off. It shows his head wasn’t in the game (is it ever, truly?). He bitches about the fans not being into it… how out of it do you have to be to get picked off? And we’re not getting paid millions to be there! I’ve seen Jimmy do that same thing far too many times. I saw him hit that double in the first, and basically crawl around first base. He BARELY made it to second on a play that Victorino would have been pushing possibly a triple.
    So, Phil. You follow Jimmy. You follow him right to the west coast this offseason. The rest of us front runners will continue selling out CBP every night and pumping up the players who actually appreciate us.

  16. Jimmy does appreciate Philly and the fans. He called out Phillies fans when they were being pu$$ies. My friend even texted me from the game last night and said this crowd sucks. Billy Beane preaches a lot more than OBP and slugging % in Moneyball, which further leads me to believe you’re lying about reading it. And what does reading Moneyball have to do with whether you’re a front runner or not? I’m sick of this rain and Eagles losing excuse to why the fans were being punk a$$es last night. I remember a time when Phillies fans would be at a regular season game in the rain down by 4 runs and would be cheering for their team to come back, so stop acting like you know what your’e talking about.

  17. I wasn’t there, so I can’t speak for the crowd at the park, but I know exactly what turned the crowd at the house sour and miserable: Jerry Fucking Meals. How many times did Cliff Lee strike out the side in that disaster inning but they just kept going because all his strikes were called balls. But when a pitch to Chase Utley is a fucking mile off the plate it’s strike 3. When are these assholes going to start doing something about these umpires?!?!?!?

  18. He just wants the fans to get LOUD! No big deal. Yes, we all know why everyone was quiet as the game went on. I want the crowd to be as loud as possible, too, especially in big spots, and especially during the bottom of the 9th. Should he have said it? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t right.

  19. I agree with mk. Jerry Meals is a terrible ump anyway, but for the first few innings he was actually good last night. I think that all changed when La Juica called him out on TV last night. Someone probably told him about it and he was being overly conscious on borderline pitches.

  20. No, Mike, he should say it. He’s probably going to get booed now, but I bet the fans will start getting into the game for the rest of the post season, assuming they win(not saying they won’t, but I am not counting my chickens before they hatch).

  21. See… I would normally tear Jimmy Jerkoff a new one for a comment like this, but I can’t. I can’t, because I was bitching about this the ENTIRE game last night. Before the lead was blown, even. I will never, ever, ever understand the mind-set of the Philly sports fan.
    Let me just say, I am not the type to cheer every single second of every single game. I actually find the constant banter and unfounded sewage that flows out of the mouths of ‘phans’ about horrible umpires that call a pitch down the middle a strike, and a pitch 6 inches off the plate a ball quite repulsing.
    Let me also say that yes, it was fucking cold last night. And wet. I had a standing room ticket, so I was dry, but being on your feet from 2 1/2, almost 3 hours before first pitch, in the cold, and barely being able to move because it’s so packed… Yeah, it’s hard to exactly go apeshit after every single pitch.
    But the thing that bothered me, moreso last night than any other time before for some reason, was the way that the crowd would go from a deafening roar, to quiet enough to hear a pin drop in a matter of, literally, 2 seconds. Every inning. Almost every batter.
    Coming back from every half-inning break, you couldn’t even hear yourself think. It was amazing how into it the crowd was. And it held through the first 2 innings, when their explosion of absolute man-power threw 4 on the board, and Cliff Lee’s pissing excelence got him out of very, very bad jams in both said innings. But it seemed like after the 3rd or 4th inning, that raw energy coming back from every commercial break would simply die after the first pitch that didn’t go the Phil’s way. I’m talking literally… If the Phillies were batting, and the first pitch was a srike, the place completely died. If the first pitch to a Cardinal was a ball, the same thing would happen.
    It’s baseball, people. It’s a long, LONG fucking game. Your home-team feeds off of that animal-esque raw emotion that is Philadelphia sports-fandom. Every, single, man-crush worthy player that makes up this World Fucking Championship-bound dream team makes it known that they feed off of your emotions. They love it. The varying-ness of emotion throughout the game, especially when trailing on the board, over single pitches that aren’t even put into play is in fact the equivelent of quick flashes of a naked Pamela Lee and naked Betty White to a 13 year old boy yet to feel the sweet, wet goodness of his first… well, you know where I’m going.
    So, while there are many, MANY things to burn Jimmy at the stake over, especially during this, his final (God willing) year in Red Pinstripes… Simply expressing what I thought obvious, that the “Phans” just weren’t ill last night, isn’t really one of them. At least in my opinion.

  22. See… I would normally tear Jimmy Jerkoff a new one for a comment like this, but I can’t. I can’t, because I was bitching about this the ENTIRE game last night. Before the lead was blown, even. I will never, ever, ever understand the mind-set of the Philly sports fan.
    Let me just say, I am not the type to cheer every single second of every single game. I actually find the constant banter and unfounded sewage that flows out of the mouths of ‘phans’ about horrible umpires that call a pitch down the middle a strike, and a pitch 6 inches off the plate a ball quite repulsing.
    Let me also say that yes, it was fucking cold last night. And wet. I had a standing room ticket, so I was dry, but being on your feet from 2 1/2, almost 3 hours before first pitch, in the cold, and barely being able to move because it’s so packed… Yeah, it’s hard to exactly go apeshit after every single pitch.
    But the thing that bothered me, moreso last night than any other time before for some reason, was the way that the crowd would go from a deafening roar, to quiet enough to hear a pin drop in a matter of, literally, 2 seconds. Every inning. Almost every batter.
    Coming back from every half-inning break, you couldn’t even hear yourself think. It was amazing how into it the crowd was. And it held through the first 2 innings, when their explosion of absolute man-power threw 4 on the board, and Cliff Lee’s pissing excelence got him out of very, very bad jams in both said innings. But it seemed like after the 3rd or 4th inning, that raw energy coming back from every commercial break would simply die after the first pitch that didn’t go the Phil’s way. I’m talking literally… If the Phillies were batting, and the first pitch was a srike, the place completely died. If the first pitch to a Cardinal was a ball, the same thing would happen.
    It’s baseball, people. It’s a long, LONG fucking game. Your home-team feeds off of that animal-esque raw emotion that is Philadelphia sports-fandom. Every, single, man-crush worthy player that makes up this World Fucking Championship-bound dream team makes it known that they feed off of your emotions. They love it. The varying-ness of emotion throughout the game, especially when trailing on the board, over single pitches that aren’t even put into play is in fact the equivelent of quick flashes of a naked Pamela Lee and naked Betty White to a 13 year old boy yet to feel the sweet, wet goodness of his first… well, you know where I’m going.
    So, while there are many, MANY things to burn Jimmy at the stake over, especially during this, his final (God willing) year in Red Pinstripes… Simply expressing what I thought obvious, that the “Phans” just weren’t ill last night, isn’t really one of them. At least in my opinion.

  23. Phil, YOU said that I must have just seen the movie last week. A front running fan would do that and then turn around and preach their knowledge of it. I didn’t do that. I read the book years ago, and mentioned Billy Beane in a post. You are the one who made it a big deal. And you’re wrong, the gist of Billy Beane’s philosophy for offensive players IS OPS. He, and his staff, found those two numbers were the best predictor of future production. And they were right. From that, they could then come to other conclusions. But it does start, and is based around, OPS.
    What the fuck stadium were you in where, in later innings, with the Phils down by 4, raining, the fans were cheering? You fuckin kidding? The ones that stayed at those games were booing, not cheering. And I was one of them- I will never leave a game early. Ever. But you’re insane if you think the stadium was still full and the fans supportive.
    I didn’t say the crowd last night was the best ever. But there is a reason, and part of it is in the same area of Jimmy’s body as where his comment came out. His head. It just wasn’t in it. You are being paid millions to be in it. We’re paying hard earned money to come watch the game, and you talk about US being out of it? WE’RE the ones responsible for keeping the Phillies in the game? Like I said, fuck Jimmy Rollins.
    And that’s coming from a staunch Jimmy supporter for years. But this is it. This is his way of telling us he has checked out of Philly and is only playing for that contract now. Good riddance Jimmy. Good luck with your 5 year deal.

  24. See… I would normally tear Jimmy Jerkoff a new one for a comment like this, but I can’t. I can’t, because I was bitching about this the ENTIRE game last night. Before the lead was blown, even. I will never, ever, ever understand the mind-set of the Philly sports fan.
    Let me just say, I am not the type to cheer every single second of every single game. I actually find the constant banter and unfounded sewage that flows out of the mouths of ‘phans’ about horrible umpires that call a pitch down the middle a strike, and a pitch 6 inches off the plate a ball quite repulsing.
    Let me also say that yes, it was fucking cold last night. And wet. I had a standing room ticket, so I was dry, but being on your feet from 2 1/2, almost 3 hours before first pitch, in the cold, and barely being able to move because it’s so packed… Yeah, it’s hard to exactly go apeshit after every single pitch.
    But the thing that bothered me, moreso last night than any other time before for some reason, was the way that the crowd would go from a deafening roar, to quiet enough to hear a pin drop in a matter of, literally, 2 seconds. Every inning. Almost every batter.
    Coming back from every half-inning break, you couldn’t even hear yourself think. It was amazing how into it the crowd was. And it held through the first 2 innings, when their explosion of absolute man-power threw 4 on the board, and Cliff Lee’s pissing excelence got him out of very, very bad jams in both said innings. But it seemed like after the 3rd or 4th inning, that raw energy coming back from every commercial break would simply die after the first pitch that didn’t go the Phil’s way. I’m talking literally… If the Phillies were batting, and the first pitch was a srike, the place completely died. If the first pitch to a Cardinal was a ball, the same thing would happen.
    It’s baseball, people. It’s a long, LONG fucking game. Your home-team feeds off of that animal-esque raw emotion that is Philadelphia sports-fandom. Every, single, man-crush worthy player that makes up this World Fucking Championship-bound dream team makes it known that they feed off of your emotions. They love it. The varying-ness of emotion throughout the game, especially when trailing on the board, over single pitches that aren’t even put into play is in fact the equivelent of quick flashes of a naked Pamela Lee and naked Betty White to a 13 year old boy yet to feel the sweet, wet goodness of his first… well, you know where I’m going.
    So, while there are many, MANY things to burn Jimmy at the stake over, especially during this, his final (God willing) year in Red Pinstripes… Simply expressing what I thought obvious, that the “Phans” just weren’t ill last night, isn’t really one of them. At least in my opinion.

  25. Jimmy knows he’s out of here after this postseason. He’s going to say what he wants and not care. He wants the fans fired up. His tweet has certainly done that.

  26. Sorry, Kyle… My computer must be Ill this morning… I have absolutely no idea why that posted three times…
    On a side note, does changing absolutely every F to a PH while talking about the Phillies mean you know what you’re talking about?

  27. Yeah, Jimmy obviously didn’t have his head in the game. I think he needed to not get on base 4 times to not have his head in the game. You sound like an idiot.

  28. Playoff crowds often suck. You have the frontrunners and the people who are just there because they want to say they were there.
    Jimmy was right. That crowd was pitiful.
    Are they the reason the team lost? No. Cliff Lee’s inexplicably small performance was the primary reason.

  29. At that moment, Jimmy did NOT have his head in the game. If he did, he does not get picked off. It just doesn’t happen. Have you ever played baseball? Ever been on first base? Ever been picked off? I have. And guess what, each time it happened, I was thinking about something else. Whether it was what I was going to do if the ball was hit to short, that I needed to adjust my cup, or I saw a girl in the stands who was hot. I’ll tell you this though- I’ve NEVER been picked off when I was doing what I was supposed to and paying attention.
    I go back to my earlier analogy, Phil. If you were productive in one area of your job, then screwed up because of a mental error in another place, would the people who review your performance just say “ahh, he did well with that, so this is fine?” No, they would NEVER do that. If your job does, like I said, please get me an application. And even more so than that, if you screwed up then were asked about things and put blame on someone else, how long do you really think you’d last?
    You say we should blindly cheer for the team to pick them up and help them win. You say the ones who don’t aren’t true Philly fans. You sound like an idiot for that. You realize this is Philly, right? The greatest sports city in the world, yes. But NOT a place with blind followers. We know the game, and we will get on you for not playing it the right way. And yeah, when you as a team have zero energy (when we started the game loud as ever, so they should have been pumped from before the first pitch), it will translate to the fans at some point. It just will. Show me a city where that doesn’t happen. Please.

  30. “Does anybody have a pin? Because I could hear one drop right now!” – Me, circa the 6th inning in the 400 level last night.
    The crowd, in general was dead, but at least I can say I tried. Actually, I can’t. I have no voice this morning.

  31. can the cardinals can win 3 games working the umps over as a policy coming out of the clubhouse, pounding out 12 hits against our starters and using every journeyman in that p.o.s. bullpen to no hit the Phillies for the last 7 innings of ball games…no they can’t, get a grip all you whiny pussy’s.

  32. Yup, and the Phillies couldn’t lose to that piece of shit lineup the Giants had last year, right? They were also much better than the Rockies in 07. How’d that turn out? The better team doesn’t ALWAYS win.
    I can’t believe this. You guys are bitching about the lack of a great crowd, and then you blindly follow the Phillies when past generations would have been all over them for blowing that game. Seems a little hypocritical to me. Yes, they are a good team. Yes, I am confident they will win the series. But if you think it’s a guarantee that the Phils win the series, you better step back and look. Any team that makes the playoffs can beat any other team, and the Phillies are NOT above that. You can’t play uninspired baseball and win championships. That’s how the Phils played for 7 innings last night. That scares me.

  33. No. I am in no way saying to blindly cheer. For Christ’s sake… It was a ONE RUN game last night. One. Single. Run. Keeping interest in a one-run game isn’t blindly cheering. It’s what you’re supposed to do as a fan.
    I hear and read fans constantly talking about how much better we are in this city than places like Yankee Stadium, St. Louis, Chicago, San Fran, Atlanta… I hear the argument that fans in those cities are fair-weather. I laugh when I see Yankee Statium empty going into the bottom of the 8th, because the Yankees are down by 5. I get sad when the Phillies play in Florida, and 4/3 of the 12,000 people there are Phillies fans.
    I agree with the sentiment that Philly has some of the best fans in the country. I agree that the passion our fan base puts into just about all of our sports goes unmatched. But when 46,000+ are literally riding a giant emotions sea-saw over every single pitch in a one run game; when you go from absolute mayhem, to Sunday morning in church, and back every 5 seconds… Yeah, it’s going to be hard for a team who feeds off of emotions to do something productive.

  34. But Joe you are turning the tables on how it actually happened. It’s not that the team was playing inspired and the fans were quiet and the players lost their edge. The fans were into it from the start, feeding the team. The TEAM played uninspired for about 3 straight innings, and THEN they give up the lead and it’s one run, and they STILL play uninspired. It is going to be really hard to stay upbeat that whole time.
    That said, it’s not like the Cardinals took the lead and the fans were dead the rest of the game. No, everyone was not up on their feet every second going wild. But at the start of every Phils’ half inning, and when the hitter was announced in the 8th and 9th innings, everybody WAS loud, trying to help them get that run. But it will disappear quick when guys are check swinging or swinging at bad pitches. There were other times where the fans went nuts, too. It just wasn’t 100% of the time. How dare we.

  35. Well said Joe.
    And the pendulem is starting to swing the other way for me about Jimmy’s twits. It’s true that the fans were too fickle, but what he should have tweeted about was how Jerry Meals was the reason for that. Thing is Selig would come down hard on Jimmy if he did that; meanwhile he’s OK with Asshole Tony doing his bitch and whine on National TV live.

  36. Stop bashing Jimmy, because he is right. The place was absolutely dead for the majority of the game. The team played bad across the board. Face facts. Just move on to game 3

  37. I know we’re all a bit tired and cranky this Monday morning after a day like yesterday, but where the fuck is all this outright vile hatred for Jimmy coming from all of a sudden? He made a mistake. And he made a snide comment. If it was precious boy Chase who got picked off or made a comment about the lack of energy in the crowd, there wouldn’t be HALF of the outcry on here. Where’s all the hate for Chase every time he grounds into a double play or hits a weak popup, which is pretty much every game he’s played this season?

  38. Quiet crowd = no home field advantage. That being said, i was not there last night but it was noticeably silent after the 2nd inning.
    unfortunately the game was late and it was cold, BUT it is playoff baseball and people need to get up for these guys and help them get back into the game. last year against the Giants and the year before against the Yankees I said the same thing. Crowd needs to bring its A game as well.

  39. JT, I specifically remember turning to either my dad or brother in the 3rd inning, and stating my concern, because it was getting so quiet, and it was only a 4-run game.
    And as far as the whole getting loud and getting quiet thing every half-inning goes… Come on now, buddy. You can’t blow the roof off of the place when a batter is announced and then completely shut up when the first pitch of the at bat is a called strike. THAT is what happened last night. No lie. Every half-inning, if not every batter. The place would absolutely erupt, and then get absolutely quiet on the very first pitch that was called in the Cardinals’ favor.
    I understand that Cliff Lee gave up the lead. I get it. It’s hard not to get quiet when the excelence ends up running down your leg instead of finding the pot. It’s understandable. My issue is simply with the fact that it went from typical CBP explosion to absolute and utter silence EVERY at bat, after a single pitch, most of which had absolutely NOTHING to do with the outcome of the game.

  40. He made a mistake when he failed to admit the team’s faults in his tweet. It appeared as if he was blaming the nonvocal fans in attendance for the loss.

  41. Joe, I think we are almost on the same page. I was pissed at Jimmy, because I’m a Philadelphia fan and I felt insulted by his words, when I was there, and I was one of the ones screaming my head off and waving my towel like crazy all game. Then I was pissed off at Phil cause he came at me with personal insults, which is just a dumb way to try to argue.
    The stadium wasn’t as loud as it should have been. There were various reasons (one being, I believe, that SOME of the luster of postseason baseball and the special moments is getting dulled. It’s natural, we’re getting used to these moments. Human nature). But, one poster just said if it was Chase saying it we wouldn’t react this way. But that’s the point. It’s not Chase saying it. It’s never Chase saying it. It is ALWAYS Jimmy. And when we are paying you (we buy tickets, hence we pay his contract) millions, and you CONSISTENTLY don’t run balls out (he might have been able to stretch that first hit into a triple if he wasn’t dogging it around first), and you get picked off, down by one, late in a playoff game, I’m gonna be pissed at you. If Chase said that, if Howard said it, if Pence said it, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But Jimmy consistently doesn’t give it 100% on the field, and then he’s gonna call out the fans for not giving it 100%? No. That just does not work. Chase does give 100%. Ryan and Hunter, too. Jimmy doesn’t. So he has no room to talk.
    I agree the getting loud then quiet thing was abnormal, weird, and disappointing. But there were a multitude of factors that contributed to that.
    I agree with you, Joe, that the crowd could have, and should have, been better. I just had an issue with Jimmy being the one to call out the fans, and then Phil for his comments to me.

  42. J.T. I agree with you about Howard and Pence, but do you honestly believe Chase has been giving 100% this season?

  43. Yes, I do think he has been giving 100%. That’s my personal opinion, because I still see him run every ball out, go all out and dive for balls at second, etc. Then again, I’m one of the ones who has bowed down to Chase. So if you think he hasn’t been giving 100%, I’ll try to pay attention from now on. If I see what you see, then my stance on that would change.
    However, having said that, understand I don’t relate giving 100% directly to statistics or performance. You can give 100% and be in a 2-for-37 slump. You can be on a hot tear, one of the best players in the league, and not give 100% (see Rollins, Jimmy, circa 2006-2008). It’s about the attitude you play with. And I hate Jimmy’s.

  44. you can’t hate on Jimmy for getting picked off, the situation called for it. With 2 outs and 2 strikes on Utley and a lefty on the mound Jimmy was going on first movement (a very common baseball strategy). He was trying to get into scoring position and by getting thrown out he gave Utley a new count in the next inning. It was the right baseball move at the time. However, it’s inexcusable for him to criticize a crowd that has backed him for 200+ sellouts after they manage to get 1 hit in the last 7 innings. Jimmy has been locked in so far this postseason but he has a way of irking the fans that needs to stop. I hope he has fun next year playing in a half-full stadium every game…then maybe he’ll realize what a quiet stadium really feels like.

  45. Getting picked off is never the right move. You’re right, the situation called for going on first movement. Guess what? The Cardinals knew that, too. So they did a pick off. Very common in that situation.
    Do you want Jimmy to go on first movement with 2 out and 2 strikes with a lefty on the mound every time? Because this is all that will ever happen. Ever. Because every pitcher will make that move. So, it’s not as simple as go on first movement. Through the course of a year, you’ll just give away many outs doing that.

  46. Hey Jimmy – the 45,000+ fans had only one less hit off the bullpen than you did. And we got picked off one less time as well. Its called accountability: take some.

  47. You guys don’t seem to get it. Jimmy’s been around this fanbase for 11 years now and knows better than anyone how much of an advantage it can be when the crowd is on the team’s side. Silent crowds takes away a HUGE part of homefield advantage. Don’t just sit there, get into the fucking pitcher’s head! It’s what we’re famous for. I’ve been saying for a while now that the atmosphere is completely different from before all the division titles. The fans at CBP are so fucking complacent it’s sad. I got what Jimmy was trying to say, and I don’t blame him one bit for saying it.

  48. J.T. –
    Did I ever say I want Jimmy doing that every time? No I said the situation called for it: 2 Outs, 2 strikes to Utley with a lefty-lefty matchup on the mound and a tremendous defensive catcher who makes it virtually impossible to steal if you don’t go on first movement. Jimmy was trying to make a play by getting into scoring position for Utley knowing that if he did get picked off that Utley would get a new count and be able to lead off the next inning. P.S. Jimmy didn’t go by himself, that first movement steal sign was given by Charlie. And if that is such a common thing for pitchers to know why doesn’t that happen every time players do that? You’re crazy if you think that through a course of a year it’s even close to 50-50

  49. But, Dave, we WERE in Carpenter’s head. He gave up double-walk-walk in the first and my section at least (I think others, too) were chanting “three days rest! three days rest!” at him. It continued in the second. The fans were just as into it and knowledgeable as ever. They just lost their edge for significant periods of time, after taking the cue from to team that it was to be an uninspiring night. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did. But it’s not that the fans were never into it. It’s hard to stay upbeat when your horse shows some mortality, and when you see 4 straight innings without a hit by your team (the first two of which, the fans were still going nuts).

  50. Freddy- and so most times you’re gonna get away with it. But what manager knows the “book” and manipulates the most in MLB? Tony La Russa. I’m just saying, in that situation, even though it called for it, I don’t risk that pickoff happening. I just don’t. You disagree. That’s your opinion. Agree to disagree?

  51. J.T.
    Agree to disagree. I like to be aggressive on the basepaths, especially with how the Phillies can go through these hitting slumps and you need to manufacture runs.

  52. anyone ever consider the Eagles game being part of the reason fans were so quiet. Eagles win that game I bet the place would be a lot louder with a lot happier fans.
    Every real Phillies fan is an Eagles fan….you are shitting me if you like one team that plays 1/4 mile away from the other. That’s like going to East high school and cheering for West in sporting events.
    Phillies are win or bust. No excuse will be acceptable with the 170mil payroll. But our hopes are sky high for the Eagles….and crashing down.
    Think 2007 Phillies postseason or 99 Flyers…that’s how the Eagles are treating us right now.. and it carries over.
    When you have Cliff Lee on the mound against a guy who you rocked early off 3 days rest…and the team loses….after the Eagles get embarrassed by the Gnats and 9ers…your not exactly gonna be happy. The Weather doesn’t help.
    But it’s pretty ridiculous for Jimmy to say that. He’ll have his 30k at opening day in oakland and 12k by that weekend and enjoy it because he’ll have another 6 million in his wallet..

  53. When did we get so thin skinned in this city? We boo players and call them out all the time and a player calls us out as fans and this is how you react? Instead of making dumbass excuses, how bout we go out to CBP next time the phils play (which will be this season) and yell from the 1st pitch to the last out. PS, Kyle your blog was so much better before you became such an ignorant prick.

  54. This could not have been more spot on. Good for you, Kyle! I was at the game, and it was not fun to be there, let me tell you. He needs to learn how to shut his big fat mouth. Maybe he should call us frontrunners again!

  55. one game. don’t be scared. our pitching matchups still make us the favorites and we are still scoring runs.

  56. I was at the game and the atmosphere was pathetic. You could hear a pin drop. This is the PLAYOFFS. People need to get their heads out of their ass for Game 5, if there even is one.

  57. I’m also on Jimmy’s side. It must have been an A-list crowd or something last night because the place was already fairly empty in the ninth, when we were down ONE RUN. Since when does a light mist send people for cover in a playoff game? Half the people around me were too busy tweeting and complaining about the Eagles to even watch the game.
    Once again, J-Roll is honest, and right. I don’t understand why people just immediately get defensive and tell him to get lost. Why do we need these athletes just sucking up to us all the time and saying we are sooooo great?

  58. I have one name for the people who think the crowd was justified in being so quiet late in the game:
    BURT HOOTON.
    In the 1977 NLCS, the Phillies’ hometown crowd got so much into Burt Hooton’s head that he gave up three consecutive bases-loaded walks.
    It would have been nice had last night’s crowd tried to make itself a factor in the game. The Cards’ relievers pretty much suck — try scaring them a little.
    Instead, the crowd CHEERED Cliff Lee after his pathetic effort. So soft.

  59. I have no problem with what Jimmy said, however, I do find it ironic that he bitched about the atmosphere he and his teammates made toxic with their anemic offense last night. And while I hate to make an accusation like this, but I can’t help wondering if the boys, on a subconscious level, went into fatcat mode, collectively thinking: “Hey! We’ve got four runs on the board and Cliff Lee on the mound! We’ve got this game in the bag!” Well, that clearly wasn’t the case as the Cards didn’t get the memo about rolling over and playing dead after falling behind early, just like the Phils recovered after Roy Halladay’s first inning hiccup Saturday. What’s done is done. Now it’s up to the Phils to counterpunch in game three and take home field back from St. Louis.

  60. Crowd WAS quiet, but maybe he points that out a bit differently next time. I didn’t expect a sweep anyway, let’s roll these motherfuckers out of their own park.

  61. Kyle, you are awesome but you’re wrong to talk back to Jimmy Rollins like that. Considering he is on the field, doing work, making the plays, and not blogging about it from his living room, his evaluation of the crowd’s energy automatically trumps yours.
    I think fans in the stands don’t realize how much of an influence we have on the guys out there on the field. They don’t play in a vacuum. The weather and the fact that the fans have to be up in a few hours in an unacceptable excuse for a poor showing of support. Sunday Night Blues doesn’t cut it, this is the playoffs. Maybe if Philadelphia didn’t split it’s focus on the self-imploding joke that is The Eagles, and showed full support for the Phillies, they could’ve pulled through last night. Anyone who wore a Birds jersey to The Bank is exactly what’s wrong with this city. Don’t bring your bad vibes and baggage to then one group of guys that can actually get the job done. Know your roll, people of Philadelphia, and play it well.

  62. Jimmy Rollins can go fuck himself. Along with everyone else who thinks a best of five series is over after just losing one fucking game. Perhaps the crowd was so quiet because die hard, blue collar PHANS like myself can’t afford the sky high ticket prices. I saw the crowd on tv and it was full of children who most likely had no idea where they even were and a lot of whores whose from match.com were trying way too hard to impress them.
    So anyone who thinks this series is over feel free to stand atop the Ben Franklin Bridge. I will even give you that extra push. Just jump off the fucking bandwagon already because you’re not needed.

  63. Lmao at people pissed about Jimmy saying what it was….we all saw it and we all heard it but because he said it, its a big deal….This city loves to do alotta things out of spite (including act like morons or drunken idiots at times) but when someone calls them out on it, they get their panties In a bunch….maybe they did get complacent, maybe not…only they know…but we all know Jimmy has no hair on his tongue and has always kept it 100% with us all since day one….and as far as I’m concerned he was the best offensive player on the field last nite so let him say what he wants…people wanna bitch n complain about something complain about the Eagles or the fact that its Monday OR the fact that the “Godsend” Cliff Lee blew a 4-0 lead (and don’t get it twisted because I def. Am a big Cliff Lee supporter, but the offense did spot the man a 4- run lead.) …if JRoll goes 3-4 with a walk, a HR, 2B and a couple SBs tomorrow you’ll all be singin a different tune…and Kyle…love ur blogs and ur points of view on a lot of subjects….we get that you don’t dig what Jimmy had to say…but reminding us all on every other blog after the first of the day is a lil too much..time to chalk it up and deal with it homie.

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