Phillies Fans Deserve This Outcome

Here’s hoping Phillies fans enjoyed their time at Nats Park and their drive home from I-95 yesterday despite the Nationals stunning them this weekend.

There’s no question they expected victories by their beloved team this weekend, which is why they made the trip. Who can blame them? The Phillies have been playing well by winning 15 of their 18 games prior to their weekend series with the Nationals, not to mention they were the better team when one compares the rosters of both teams.

Funny thing happened. Not only did the Nationals came from behind to earn an 8-4 victory on Ryan Zimmerman’s game-winning grand slam Friday night, but they managed to tie the game on Ian Desmond’s home run with two outs in the ninth, and eventually, they went on to a 5-4 victory yesterday afternoon.

Phillies fans in attendance were stunned and upset that it could happen to them. The reaction by them was priceless.

They had it coming after the way they behaved this entire weekend at Nats Park. They were heckling Jayson Werth, and they were cheering whenever a National struck out.  There were cheers when a Phillie entered the plate, and the folks applauded whenever the Phillies homered or drove in RBIs.

What’s disgusting was when fans were chanting Werth’s name in the ninth when he was at the plate Saturday night. They were mocking him.

It’s one thing for Phillies fans to come to Nats Park and watch their team, but it’s another to taunt the home team. There is no place for this type of nonsense. It shouldn’t be accepted.

Most opposing fans are normally polite when they cheer. They don’t go far by acting like hooligans. Maybe Phillies fans can learn something from them.

It’s interesting Phillies fans act like this at Nats Park. It wasn’t long ago they complained about Mets fans behaving out of control at Citizens Bank Park, and how Mets fans outnumber them at their park. It’s hypocritical of them, and they have no business complaining anymore if other team’s fanbase act inappropriately at their park.

Phillies fans better get used to being disappointed at Nats Park. The Nationals are no longer Philadelphia’s patsies anymore. Not when they won five of the last seven games against the Phillies. That’s good enough to be 6-8 against the NL East leaders for this season, and they can have a winning season against them if they take 3 of 4 against the Phillies in September.

The Nationals are only going to get better with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper on the way. Plus, their farm system continues to churn out good players. They will spend the money to get the best free agents out there. Things are looking up.

This year is a start of the renaissance for the Nationals. To be 61-64 and a chance to have a .500 season, there is a lot to look forward. They will get better. Sure, they can be frustrating to watch when they fail in situational hitting, but overall, there are more good than bad with this team. The core players will get better as the years go on.

Maybe Phillies fans don’t realize it, but Charlie Manuel and the entire Phillies organization knows what’s going on with the Nationals.

This weekend has to be the best moment of the season for the Nationals. Not only was it neat to take the series against a great Phillies team, but it was the way they did it. They started off bad, but they kept playing and found a way to tie the game and win it in the end. That’s what winning teams do. They don’t give in after deficits.

Feel good for the Nationals for the way they want about this. They went through so much abuse by Phillies fans, but they did not let it bother them. They were professional by doing their job. It couldn’t have been easy for a young team to see so many people rooting against them at their park.

It does not speak well for DC as a baseball town with what took place over the weekend.

After what Nats fans saw on television this weekend, that should inspire them to come out of the ballpark and support their team when Phillies come to Nats Park. This will probably be the last time the Phillies fans get away with what they did. With expectations high next year, look for the Nationals fans to be out in force and drown out the cheers by Phillies fans.

Maybe in a few years, Nationals fans will make Citizens Bank Park into Nats Park North.

It would be a beautiful sight, and it would be refreshing for the current members of the team after dealing with Phillies fans for so long.

This weekend will not stop Phillies fans from going to Nats Park. They will be back next year, and they will be obnoxious. It’s what they do.

That’s what makes this weekend so sweet for the Nationals and their fans in attendance at Nats Park.