Phillies

“The Phillies are Too White” is My Favorite (Partially True?) NLDS Coping Mechanism

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Oct 11th, 2024 · 9:49 AM EDT

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These made me laugh:

Phillies need a young Dominican in the lineup with a big gaudy chain, dreads and elbow armor that doesn’t match the color of their uniform

— Mike Meech (@meechone) October 10, 2024

I’m sick of it.

— Mike Meech (@meechone) October 10, 2024

This dude may have a point lol

“Give me someone who laid bricks for 16 hours day on their families farm, and walked 20 miles to baseball practice, and came here on a floating door.”pic.twitter.com/LZ6d3CnzKZ

— Paul C (@HurtsyIvania) October 10, 2024

It’s funny, but is it sad that I’m nodding along in agreement while laughing at the same time? Maybe it’s recency bias because we’re watching guys like Fernando Tatis Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez and Francisco Lindor rake this postseason. And yeah, two of the three aren’t exactly “young,” and Lindor moved to Florida when he was 12, but he fits the bill and is 5x the short stop Trea Turner is right now. Look elsewhere around MLB, too. Ronald Acuna Jr. won 2023 MVP. Elly De La Cruz is a 22-year-old All Star. Jackson Chourio, Julio Rodriguez, etc. The Phillies need a Ketel Marte to go up there and put the ball in play, get on base, basically bring some swag to the lineup.

The thing about the Phils is that it’s not like the roster isn’t diverse. The diversity just comes mostly from the pitching staff:

• Jose Alvarado – Venezuela
• Carlos Estevez – Dominican Republic
• Yunior Marte – Dominican Republic
• Jose Ruiz – Venezuela
• Cristopher Sanchez – Dominican Republic
• Ranger Suarez – Venezuela
• Edmundo Sosa – Panama
• Johan Rojas – Dominican Republic
• Nick Castellanos – part Cuban
• Taijuan Walker – dad is black, mom is Mexican-American

Maybe Phillies fans are scarred because while other teams were finding Jose Altuve and Jose Ramirez, the Phils were trotting out Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis, Odubel Herrera, and Cesar Hernandez. We needed another Chooch but ended up with Johan Rojas, who, ironically, put together more competitive at-bats against the Mets than Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and the entirety of the daycare. Is it any coincidence that we’ve gone backwards since Jean Segura left?

I agree with the cheeky jokers online. We need some diversity in this locker room next year. I want someone with some attitude, someone who is going to come in and smash a television in the clubhouse when guys aren’t locked in.

P.S. if you’re a white person who gets offended by self-deprecating white humor, go outside and touch grass