Nice-A-Roni? Polite Frisco Doomed as Baseball Also-Rans

It's precisely at this time of year when baseball fans dust off that ol' Leo Durocher chestnut, "Nice guys finish last".

San Francisco electronic media are apparently buying into that hook, line, and sinker(ball).
 
During N.L.C.S. Game One in Philadelphia, some Phillies fans held up signs disparaging Giants pitching ace Tim Lincecum and former Phil Pat Burrell. The Lincecum signage contained phrases such as "Hippy (sic) Trash" and "Wanna Smoke?"  To his credit, "The Freak" didn't freak out and ignored the rabble. He may even have sneaked a smile. It's obvious Lincecum grinned inwardly after narrowly besting the Phils in the series opener.
 
That should have been it, but it wasn't.
 
Along comes NBC Bay Area blogger Lori Preuitt. (DISCLAIMER ALERT) She and I draw our salaries from the same paymaster at GE.  Technically, we're colleagues. But in sports terms, we're far afield. In her blog from Sunday night entitled Philly Fans Are Mean, Lori wrote, "We''ll have to see if Giants fans return mean for mean. It isn't normally their style." She also posted pictures of the ballpark signs in question.
 
Hey Lori, hate to break it to you, but those Citizens Bank Park signs were lilac-scented prose compared to what COULD have been written. If Philly fans were REALLY mean, you would have seen words like "inbred", "crossdresser", or worse. You didn't. I didn't. Give the fans here credit for straddling the line, not crossing it. Also, please (see, I said please) don't confuse fun with mean. Starting today along the Embarcadero (yes, I've been to AT&T Park; LOVE the Cha-Cha Bowl for dinner), we'll see if Giants fans can summon a little "mean" of their own.
 
Let's face it, being Northern California kind, nice, and laid back hasn't won the Giants squat since their arrival in 1958. Some Philadelphia-style "attytude" could give San Francisco's punch-and-judy lineup a true edge (not that it'll help win them the pennant).
 
C'mon Lori. C'mon Giants fans. Learn from the world's most passionate fans here in Philly. Embrace your inner mean!
 
As "Doc" Halladay might say, it's funner that way. 

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