A kinder, gentler Philly sports fan? Here’s hoping. | Editorial

Philadelphia sports fans booing the home team is as old as throwing snowballs at Santa. Maybe it’s the wooder or lots of losing, but booing and obnoxious exploits are part of Philly’s natural order.

Phillies fans jeered Mike Schmidt throughout his Hall of Fame career, even though he remains the greatest third baseman to play the game. Schmidt, in turn, famously said, “Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day.”

The boos — often fueled by booze — sometimes lead to boorish behavior. The rap sheet of ugly fan offenses is long. Examples include: Batteries thrown at players, a young fan intentionally vomited on, and an opposing fan’s cell phone thrown on the field.

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The embarrassing displays are not confined to baseball. Fans threw beer cans and trash on the ice at a 2018 Flyers game and hurled racist insults at a player last year during a Sixers game.

Eagles fans are in a league of their own.

Drunken tailgates and fights in the stands are part of any given Sunday. The debauchery at Veterans Stadium became so unruly that a judge and jail were brought in to hold Eagles court. Fans cheered after a Dallas Cowboys player suffered a spinal cord injury. Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers called Eagles fans “the rowdiest and the biggest trash talkers.”

And then there’s the tired tale of the time Eagles fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus. This infamous event occurred nearly 55 years ago but has long defined (and haunted) Philadelphia sports fandom.

GQ magazine referenced it decades later in naming Eagles and Phillies fans the meanest in America. A reporter from Germany asked head coach Nick Sirianni about it just this year. Philly can’t shake its gruff reputation.

It was against this half-century of negativity that Phillies shortstop Trea Turner returned home last weekend lugging a season-long slump. The Phillies signed Turner to a $300 million contract in the offseason, hoping he would help win the World Series after last year’s Cinderella run.

But Turner’s struggles have infuriated fans. Even his mom booed him. A low point hit last Wednesday. After the Phils jumped out to a 5-0 lead, Turner, who went hitless, botched a ground ball in the 11th inning that enabled the Miami Marlins to tie and ultimately win the game, 9-8.

After the four-hour game, Turner did two things known to win hearts and minds in Philly: He owned the miscue and worked harder. “I’m the reason we lost that game,” Turner said before taking extra batting practice until midnight.

Despite the candor and sweat, many assumed Turner would be greeted with a cascade of boos and unprintable invectives when the Phillies returned home Friday.

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But something unexpected happened in these angry times. Fueled by a positive campaign on normally toxic sports talk radio and social media, fans at Citizens Bank Park rallied around Turner. Every time up to bat, he got a standing ovation.

Instead of tough love, fans showered Turner with Brotherly Love. The support seemed to lift Turner from his funk. He brought a five-game hitting streak into Wednesday night’s game, including a three-run homer Saturday that erupted into more cheers and a curtain call.

Turner responded with an Instagram post that said, “Appreciate you all!!” and the Phillies posted a note on billboards that read, “Thank you, Philly.” Bryce Harper gushed about the fans and how he wished he played his entire career here.

Mark this date in Philadelphia sports history. Hopefully, it’s more than a blip.

Maybe, just maybe, Philly can bury its churlish reputation along with the Santa snowball-throwing incident. Let’s instead celebrate the weekend that Philadelphia sports fans confronted adversity with class.