Game 162: The Good, The Bad, and The Unexpected

Today was Game 162 day across Major League Baseball.  I mentioned on the blog that I was going to go to the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals game in DC--a game that was relatively meaningless.  For some reason I felt like as a Phillies fan I had to be there.  I have watched every single game the Phillies have played this year, and I wanted to be around for the final game of this tumultuous season.

Well, I went.  And here is the story:  The Good, The Bad, and The Unexpected.

The Good
It was a 1:05 game, and the weather was sort of good.  I say sort of because it was really humid, but it turned out to be overcast (no real chance of rain) so the sun wasn't beating down.   I took the day off of work to go, which was nice because it is the middle of the week.   I decided to go this weekend, so I bought a ticket from StubHub.  Admittedly, I am kind of particular when it comes to my seating preference at Nats Park while watching the Phillies.  My seat was five rows behind the Phillies dugout.

This was my ticket.  I wanted to be really sure I kept it away from open flames so the Natitude would not ignite.  I was successful.

I got to the game around an hour early, not realizing that they don't take on field batting practice for day games.  There goes that chance for autographs.  Still, the players did come out for stretching and fielding practice about a half hour before the game.

There's Kevin Frandsen stretching, and Darin Ruf and Juan Pierre running in the background.  I have a huge liking for Darin Ruf, so I was hoping he would come over and sign, but he didn't.  He kept running to sidelines like he was going to, but he was just trolling us and he ran back the other way down the field.  Oh well.

Michael Martinez signed, though! Unfortunately he left just before he got to me, but I wasn't heartbroken.  Who is Michael Martinez, you ask?  Exactly my point.

Here is Charlie Manuel signing my ball!  He is a great guy and really friendly with the fans.  An unfortunate thing though is that the threw the ball back up to me and the ink smeared a bit.  Eh, can't win 'em all I guess.  It was still really cool that he took the time to sign a few balls.

More good:  Teddy won the president race today!  It's a long standing tradition at Nats Park that Teddy, Jefferson, and Washington all have a running race between innings in the middle of the game.  Teddy has never won--but today he did! The crowd was going wild.  It was also a special day for him because the giveaway was a Teddy lapel pin.  It was Fan Appreciation Day at Nats Park.

My seat was great, the weather was good, I got Charlie Manuel's autograph, had an easy time getting to the game (anyone familiar with getting in and out of Washington, DC on a weekday will really understand what I mean by that), and I got to see some of my favorite players up close.  Plus, Teddy won and I was there to see it.  If that isn't history then I don't know what is.

The Bad
The Phillies scored a total of 8 runs in their three games against the Nationals this series.  The offense just was not there, but really should we have expected anything else?  Lack of offense has been a theme this season, and once again the Phillies are without their core players.  Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are out of the line up, injured.

All eight runs were produced by Darin Ruf.  Yes, one man was responsible for every single run scored in a three game series.  While that is good for him, it is bad for the Phillies.  Obviously run production works best when it's spread out over an entire team, not just one person.

The Phillies lost the game.  They couldn't end the season on a high note, and use a big win to carry momentum going into next season.  They finished 81-81, even at .500.  Last year they won a record 102 games, so that is a net loss of 21 wins from 2011.  Even with injuries that's bad.

Our $50 million dollar contract closer couldn't "close" a game where he wasn't going for a save.  He ended the season on a down note as well.

There's Ryan Zimmerman, rounding third base after hitting a homer.

The Unexpected
I mentioned today was Fan Appreciation Day at Nats Park.  All throughout the game they had fan giveaways, and I have to admit they went big.  They gave out flat screen TVs, iPads, and round trip plane tickets to several fans who showed the most "Natitude."  They threw things into the crowd between almost every inning.  They did it right.  Not that any of that was unexpected, but it's part of where I am going with the final part of this post.

It started on the Washington Metro going to the game.  At every stop there were more and more...Nationals fans getting on the train.  Where were the Phillies fans, I wondered?  Few and far between.  This is something that I didn't expect.  For the first time ever when I've gone to the game where the Phillies visited the Nats it wasn't a "Citizen's Bank Park South" atmosphere.  There were mostly Nats fans there, even behind the Phillies dugout, in section 115, 116, and 117.  Traditionally those sections are chock full of Phillies fans, while Nats fans were rather scarce.  Today I was sitting between Nats fans, with Phillies fans pretty much spread out.

Now I know that this game really had no meaning, and that it was a day game, and Fan Appreciation Day, and all those other excuses, but Phillies fans never used to care about those things so much.  They usually show up in droves.  Today was not the case, as was made evident by the very loud cheers and chants of N-A-T-S, Nats, Nats, Nats.

The stands were packed with folks wearing red and white--Nationals red and white.  Winning really does make a difference in attendance, doesn't it?  Keep in mind this was the season where the Phillies sellout streak was broken.+

This was the scene after the Nats won.

And then after the game many of the Nats players threw tons of t-shirts and other Nats giveaways into the crowd.  The picture above shows Gio Gonzalez getting ready to launch a shirt.  Gio is a very cool guy, who really engages the fans.  You can tell they love him, and he loves them.  It was a jubilant celebration of an exciting season that was and postseason possibilities that might be.

More unexpected stuff right here: after the game I sat there in my seat and watched the Fan Appreciation stuff going on.  Watching everyone having a great time, knowing the Phillies lost the game, and knowing that for the first time in five seasons we won't be going to the playoffs and that the season was done really got to me.  We switched places with the Nats this season and now they are the victors.  I felt really, truly sad.  The finality of it all hit me, and for some odd reason I found myself not wanting to leave the ballpark.  Almost like if I didn't leave, all of it wouldn't be real and that there would be Phillies baseball played tomorrow.  But alas, no Phillies baseball will be played for another 132 days until Spring Training.

The sense of sadness I experienced was so unexpected. I know what some of you might be thinking: "it's just baseball, get over it."  Well, I will get over it, but to me it's more than just baseball.  I haven't missed a single game this season, regardless if I watched on my iPad or listened to the radio broadcast.  It's become such a part of my life over the course of the season, so I think that played a part in the sad feelings.  Now I will have all sorts of free time at 7 o'clock, since there won't be Phillies baseball this October.

So there you have it, the good, the bad, and the unexpected from my trip to the game today.  I am glad I went!