‘I got dirty looks’: What it’s like to be a Phillies fan in Astros country
“Some co-workers are making fun of us for throwing batteries, and I’m making fun of them for banging on trashcans,” said die-hard Phillies fan Erin Gough, who moved to Houston this year.
Matt Lanza is in an odd position: He’s a Phillies diehard in Astros country, with kids who were born and raised in Houston.
So when Lanza asked his 4-year-old the team he wanted to win the World Series, Franklin hesitated. Then the boy said he wanted the Phillies to win. Then he changed his mind and picked the Astros.
“He’s struggling like me, too,” said Lanza, a meteorologist with Space City Weather. “It’s not easy to follow Philadelphia teams when you’re down here.”
After much consideration, Lanza is neutral: He can’t bear to root against his Phillies, and he doesn’t want to deny Astros manager Dusty Baker his first World Series win.
Lanza comes by his Phillies fandom honestly. He was born in Atlantic City and raised in Somers Point. When he put down roots in Houston in 2012, he decided to adopt the Astros, too. (Juggling both fandoms became easier in 2013, when the Astros moved from the National League to the American League.)
”When I moved here, the Astros were awful, as bad as you could ever be,” Lanza said. “But I liked the way they were building things in their minor-league system. I said, ‘This team’s going to be good in a few years.’”
That prediction came true. The Astros made it to the World Series in 2017, 2019, 2021, and this year, and won it all in 2017 (albeit with an asterisk).
Though he’s a professional prognosticator, Lanza isn’t sure what to predict for the Series.
“My heart is probably Phillies in seven, but I think my gut is Astros in six, just because the Astros are such a juggernaut,” said Lanza. “I’m rooting for seven games.”
Mary DeNicco, who grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and Pottsville and moved to Houston seven years ago, has no such divided loyalties: She’s pro Phils, through and through, despite the occasional derision or questioning look it earns her from Astros fans.
“I got dirty looks. I got a couple of broom comments — they think they’re going to sweep us,” said DeNicco. “The Astros is their team; baseball is what defines them, especially with the last couple of years. They’re a little cocky.”
Though DeNicco, who used to work at McFadden’s, a bar inside Citizens Bank Park, doesn’t have tickets to any World Series games yet, she’s hoping a connection can help score some.
“I’m thinking about going, but I’m worried about not enjoying it,” said DeNicco. “I’m really loud, and I’m afraid I’m going to get beat up.”
Erin Gough brought her lifelong Phillies fandom with her when she moved to Houston this year. It didn’t bother Gough, who grew up in Harrisburg, when her husband, Erik Peterson, bought an Astros hat. But now that it’s the postseason, Gough made Peterson remove it from their home.
“He can wear the Astros hat 340 days a year, but not when the Phillies are playing the Astros. I made him keep the hat in his office. I don’t want it in the house,” said Gough, who painted “Let’s Go Phillies” on her apartment window and decorated it with red and white lights to make her allegiances clear.
She’s taking some heat for her Phils love, but, in true Philadelphia spirit, giving it right back to the haters.
“Some coworkers are making fun of us for throwing batteries, and I’m making fun of them for banging on trash cans,” said Gough, referring to the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal, in which the team stole signs then signaled each other by making noise on a trash can.
Soon after graduating from Northeast High in 1991, Kevin Sinclair joined the Navy. When the Phillies won the National League Championship Series in 1993, he was stationed in Norfolk, Va., where out of 400 people watching baseball, Sinclair was one of four Phils fans. It prepped him well for his current life in Houston.
“I am greatly outnumbered, and that’s OK,” said Sinclair, who’s also a big Eagles, Sixers, and Flyers fan. “I’m used to it.”
With the World Series and the Eagles in Houston for a game Thursday against the Texans, Sinclair, who does not have tickets for any World Series games, is in heaven.
“I keep getting goosebumps,” he said.
Sinclair missed being in Philadelphia for the 2008 World Series and its aftermath, but he has a feeling he’s going to be getting on a plane for a parade this year.
“It’s going to be shock and awe for Houston,” Sinclair said. “I literally have visualized it happening — me getting on a plane. When we win, and we will win, I’m going to take the Regional up with my buddy who lives in West Chester. I see myself walking through the Broad Street Line. I’ve dreamed of this all my life.”