Is there anything more tired than the Philadelphia fan story? You know the ones Im talking about – they have to do with booing, Santa Claus, snowballs, D-sized batteries and talk radio.
Like I said, so, so tired.
But is there anything that gets a reaction more in the city than those tired, played out fan stories? It’s enough to make one wonder if we go to the games to watch the other fans or the games.
Look, we have been through all of that stuff on this site before so we’re not going to get into again. As mentioned, it’s tiring and boring and dumb. Worse, it’s a cheap way to get reaction.
But since we’re asking…
Charlie doesn’t need you to motivate his players. He’s doing just fine with that all by his own damn self, thank you very much. If you want to boo, that’s fine. He really doesn’t care about that. But the motivation part… he has that covered.
This all stems from some comments Chuck made in his office before Tuesday night’s game against the Marlins. With the camera from The Charlie Manuel Show there to document the pre-game bull session, Charlie joked about how the fans ought to give them the business a little bit. After all, last year is over.
“I notice sometimes if fans are near our dugout and talking to our players, they always want to talk about last year,” he said. “That’s good. I want them to keep coming to the games. But I want the fans to start telling them they want to win this year, too. Of course they love us and everything, but maybe they should get on them a little bit.”
Then he laughed.
And then we laughed.
And then we went upstairs to the press box to write about it.
After that it's out of our hands...
But apparently a few readers didn’t quite have the comprehension to get the joke or the sense of humor to know that ol’ Chuck’s sense of humor is the way it is. The truth is, Charlie is funny. In fact, he’s really funny. He can tell some stories, man. Good ones and some of them I wish could be repeated for a mass audience because they are really good. Things about playing in Japan and for his manager Billy Martin ... man, that guy can tell some stories.
Good stuff.
Nevertheless, something got lost in translation this time.
“I was just throwing something out there, that maybe you wanted to laugh or that you thought was funny or whatever,” Charlie said. “I won't do it anymore... I'll just answer yes and no. But believe me, I didn't mean anything about the fans... I love the fans. The fans shouldn't have to motivate our team.”
Seriously, why do pro athletes need motivation? With the level of competition and the gangs of people waiting to take someones job and the money involved, there is plenty of reason to be motivated. Screaming fans and screaming coaches and managers motivating multi-millionaire pro athletes is just silly talk.
Besides, he was just having a little fun. Kind of like when he was told about the resurgence of the starting rotation and the fact that the group had an ERA of 3 heading over the last five games heading into Wednesday night’s game.
“That’s good,” he said. “I want it to get to 1.
“What the hell?”
What the hell, indeed.