NL EAST CHAMPS!

Mike Schmidt on Philly Fans

Good piece in today's Daily News that quotes Schmidty on his (past and present) feelings toward Philly fans.

Here's an excerpt:

"Philly fans are very passionate about their time at the ballpark," [Schmidt] wrote. "They want to be in a dominant winning environment. Their sports teams and those team's players are a large part of their daily existence. Kids watch and listen as their fathers live and die with their teams.

"They don the jersey of their favorite player. They hear cheering, and that ugly sound of booing that becomes a normal, accepted element of their sports lives. The sports teams in Philly offer an escape from the daily grind of Philly life. A high percentage of the population of Philly read the sports section, listen to talk radio, and react accordingly at the games.

"The reason why [Angelo] Cataldi and [Howard] Eskin and others make a good living is because they know how to push the 'hot' buttons. Most times, this is at the expense of those on the field who all, no matter what the sport, work their tails off behind the scenes, like no fan could imagine, to bring them a winner."