We are closing in on Opening Day for baseball, and the Phillies will begin the regular season next Thursday at home against their division rival, the 6-time defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves. The crowd of 45,000-plus will certainly be at a fever pitch.
And the Braves are already worried.
Atlanta manager Brian Snitker was a guest on 92.9 The Game radio, and was asked about playing in front of Phillies fans, and where they rank among MLB’s most hostile away crowds.
"It is Philly, where we're going, that is by far the most hostile crowd," Snitker said. "I know after the playoffs last year, my wife's like 'I don't care what you guys are doing, I'm not going back there'."
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
"I tell her don't wear anything with Braves on it either because you're a marked person. And that home team, they don't seem to mind that [it's] our wives -- it's our wives, girlfriends, and families. You know what I mean? Inappropriate stuff being said around the children and things like that and nobody seems to care."
He didn’t mention any particular incident involving his wife and Phillies fans. If it were really that horrible, he likely would’ve provided a detailed account of just how bad the CBP faithful can be.
Let’s take a spin around the rest of the division for comparison: Nationals fans don’t care; their team stinks. Marlins fans aren’t even there. Mets fans are plenty vocal, but some are too busy blistering their own underachieving players to direct any vitriol toward the visitors.
Philadelphia Phillies
Complete coverage of the Fightin' Phils and their MLB rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
I’m really not sure what it is with the Braves and fans. This isn’t the first time a member of the organization has lamented hearing from paying customers.
In an interview with Instagram account MLB Fits last September, Braves ace Spencer Strider said his one beef with baseball is fans in the stands making noise while he’s trying to pitch.
“Absolutely, there should be no fans," Strider said. "Get rid of the fans, it's too loud. It's too loud, everybody be quiet. We don't need the cheering, we know you're watching. I don't need the fans.”
Strider signed a $75 million contract 18 months ago. The main reason he’s being paid eight figures to play baseball is because people pay money to the team to come and cheer him on. Get a grip.
Snitker, Strider and the rest of the Braves should probably concern themselves more with what’s happening on the field when they play at Citizens Bank Park. That could be the problem. Their postseason has ended with a pair of thuds the past two years right here in South Philadelphia.
