Two additional Philadelphia fan stories (although football related):

My dad used to tell the story of going to an Eagles game at Veterans Stadium and being amazed at watching the fans boo the kids in the Punt, Pass and Kick contest.

For myself, I remember reading a 70's NFL survey in Sports Illustrated that polled the players on which team had the best stadium, best uniforms, best organization, etc. Here is the answer to which city had the worst fans:

1) Philadelphia

2) And No

3) One Else

4) Even

5) Came Close

Nice reputation, well earned.

Stephen Shaw

The Reds have only been spectacularly bad for the last few years, and the Bungles have returned to dull mediocrity. I had no idea that Philadelphia was home to a much worse team then either of our hometown embarassments. Finally, we have something to hold over another city's sports fans...

I turn 40 on Friday. Put another way, I have pushed the rock all the way to the top of the hill and I am starting to suspect what comes next. So I ask all of you to take whatever steps you can, spiritually or not, to help my favorite team lose against the Cardinals Friday night. That way, I will have a canker sore on the roof of my mouth that I can tongue for the rest of eternity, especially as that rock starts rolling down over me.

Not that Philly is good on that metric either, but the fact that the team has been around for so long obviously makes a big difference when it comes to simply counting losses. The very fact that Philly had a good decade (and a few random good years), won some pennants, and a World Series pretty much should take them off the list of worst team ever... Right now I'd say that should go to the Texas Rangers franchise (including their record as the Washington Senators expansion team). They've never won the World Series or even a pennant in their 46 year history. Their overall win/loss record is .467 - a bit worse than the Phillies' .468, and the lowest of any team in existence more than two decades (other than the San Diego Padres, another pretty bad team that at least managed to win two pennants). Here are some websites with the facts / stats if you want to look yourself:

http://mistupid.com/sports/worldseries.htm

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/

...that the 1980 World Champion Phillies included Pete Rose, forever banninated from the game for gambling. If you're up around central New York State, stop by Cooperstown and see how many times you see Pete Rose's name and depictions of his exploits there. For someone who will never be an official Hall of Famer, he's featured in the Hall more times than most players who are.

Before you condemn Philly fans with ancient surveys and that often trotted out Santa Clause incident from the 60’s, I would suggest that you come to Philadelphia to find out what being a fan means. 10,000 losses is surely a black mark for a pathetic franchise, but don’t paint the fans with the same brush. Despite the futility, Phillies fans have faithfully showed up for years in large numbers to a disheveled stadium (the new one is very nice however) to cheer and boo, cherishing those moments of fleeting success. The Eagles have an even more intense following. In Pittsburg, Florida, Arizona and Tampa they can barely keep the seats filled even after the Series wins. Besides, Boston and New York have very vocal and committed fans who do not hesitate to boo whenever they see something they don’t like. Real Fans!

It's Pittsburgh, not Pittsburg. If you're going to diss the team, at least spell the name right...and FYI, the Pirates had (and have) a pretty loyal following, but the ownership has shit all over them the last decade or so and refused to spend any money to field a decent team. The new stadium is nice, though...

At arguably the age when one gets most into sports as a child, the Philadelphia teams were at their best, so good in fact that I can't recall any other city ever matching what the Philly teams did over that twelve month Span.

It was October 1980 and the Phillies won the World Series. A few months later the Eagles made the Super Bowl. And in the Spring of '81 the Sixers and Flyers both made it to the championship finals. Sure the latter three teams failed to win the big game (or series of games) but they at least provided this fan one good year.

And that was all I really needed. Sure, I don't follow the Sixers nor the Flyers like I once did, but I still check the box scores and standings daily. See, I like the teams far more than I like the sports. And one day, perchance if one of them manages to win a championship, every Philly native will stand up and cheer and love it far more than most cities.

We love our crappy teams. What other city can say that?

Such an insightful artcile on the Phillies, but why add the telltale signs of laziness - the trashing of the fans who have never stopped supporting this mess of a squad?

Jesus, I would've expected more from Chris Berman. It has become easy to trash Philly fans, just based on one incident that ESPN lazily replays every year on a MNF broadcast. But, as Philly fans, we're used to it. We just cannot believe a weak piece of journalism on a tired topic keeps getting past the editors of this fine nation.

Yes, the Phillies stink. Worst team ever, and now we have the numbers that will finally shut up Sox and Cub fans!

But the reason you may think the Cubs or Red Sox hold that disctincton is simple...their fans whined about it non-stop for decades! We accept it, and we hope for something better. And, unlike Bostonians who rave about Boston but NEVER stay there to live, people from Philly actually stay in Philly. How many people have you met from Philly? C'mon, no matter where you are in America 48% of the people there are from Boston and 38% are from New Jersey. Because those places suck. And they know it, so they fled to (your community here). And all they do is tell you about the SAWX. All day. Every day. I swear, they were disappointed when they won the series! No more cross to bear, no more whining! You probably do not know anyone from Philly (and, no, South Jersey does not count).

Do we Philly fans boo? Yes! But so do you.

Yankees fans boo A-Rod. And Cleveland fans throw beers at Mark Brunell. And Pistons fans fight the opposing basketball team. And Stanford fans made fun of Steve Kerr's dead dad. And some college fans waved bananas at Patrick Ewing when he was a Hoya. But you never hear about that, because the Santa Clause snowball story is on! If any of those incidents happened in Philly there would be a memorial to the wounded players in the National Mall in DC.

We're a target for one simple reason - that snowball buillshit that happened back in the 60's. Why? The story is (a) old and (b) accepted and (c) easy to write. Oh, and (d) writers have deadlines and often little imagination. Much how a ten year old would write a story on the Constitution if they visited Philly. It's easy and the story has been written to death. So there is plenty of source material.

As for the Joe Carter HR, it is interesting that the man who threw the "fast ball" - Mitch Williams - remains a beloved player in the city. He lives in the area and works for local sports media outlets. How is Bill Buckner doing in New England? Oh, he had to move away?

Oh, and the Boston Celtics could not make a trade of consequence on draft night because no African American players wanted to play there. Apparently, the town has a rep for treating black player like trash. So no one would accept a deal to go there.

You didn't hear about that (unless you watch Wilbon on PTI). If that were Philadelphia, you would have. And I am guessing snowballs and Santa would've been mentioned.