Other Fans Typically Annoy Me

Last night, I was in attendance as the Phillies played a makeup game against the Padres, even though it looked as though the makeup was even jeopardy of being rained out. In fact, when I got off the subway, it was raining a bit. Thankfully, the drizzle let up before the first pitch and the game went on without another drop from the sky.

In hindsight, I kind of wish it would have rained. Not because the game itself was bad or anything — it wasn't, the Phils won 9-4 — but because of the people surrounding me.



You see, I got tickets to the game from my cousin. He called me up and told me that his friend had an extra ticket, and he told him he could invite someone. Naturally, my cousin asked me to go, knowing full well I'd never turn down a chance to see the Phils in person for free. What he neglected to tell me was that his friend had gotten the tickets as part of a group discount with a whole bunch of his churchgoing friends. Two and half full rows of section 307 were bought and distributed to a bunch of Christians who all go to the same church. Then there was my cousin and me, Christian Bible-thumpers, not so much.

For starters, I have no problem with people or their religious beliefs. I don't care for those who force their beliefs on others, because really, what business is it of yours what other people care to believe? Anyway, I wasn't annoyed last night by the fact that these people were all religious. I didn't even hear a single remark about religion or beliefs or any of that. What annoyed me about this group was the fact that throughout the entire freakin game, people were getting up in the middle of innings, in the middle of pitches, standing up to yell across the row to their other churchgoing friends, discussing everything under the sun besides the actual game, and generally just not giving a shit about baseball.

It's a shame too, because last night's game was the tits. The Phils jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to some big hits by Pedro Feliz, Jayson Werth and Jimmy Rollins (Chase, too).



Cole looked like his 2008 playoff self through three innings, breezing through the San Diego lineup (which sucks) and seemingly regaining his confidence after a very shaky first half. He did hit a stumbling block in the fourth, struggling with his location in the inning and routinely falling behind the San Diego hitters. As a result, he was elevating his pitches again, and the Padres put up three on him to make it a one-run game.

Thankfully, Ruben Amaro ignored all the objections from outsiders and signed Raul Ibanez, because the next at-bat, he helped the Phils get all three of those runs back and then some with another clutch hit, this time a two-run double.

From there, it was all Phils. Hamels settled back down, getting through seven innings of four-hit ball with six strikeouts.



With the exception of that awful fourth inning, he looked like the Cole Hamels we've all come to expect prior to this up-and-down season. It's simple for Cole, really: If the guy keeps his pitches down, he's the dominant ace that went undefeated in the postseason last year, winning both the NLCS and World Series MVP. If he loses his concentration and begins to elevate the ball, he gets hit. Something tells me he'll be focused down the stretch and just fine. At least he better be.

As for the Padres, well, Kevin Correia was extremely unimpressive, as the Phils knocked him around for nine hits and eight runs. In all, the offense was rejuvenated, cranking out 14 hits, with every starter getting at least one hit except for Cole. Jayson Werth and Pete Happy led the way, each getting three knocks on the night.

It was a pretty nice night. Except for the annoying section I was sitting in. And the dollar dogs. I ate four of them, but man, it seems like every time I go back there for Dollar Dog Night, the hot dogs get worse and worse. Them shits were gross last night. Step it up, CBP staff.