What’s This Player Worth To Phillies Fans?

Life as a Phillies fan is looking better than it has in ages!

Take last season for example: the end results didn’t exactly jive with everything you knew about the game, now did it? And that’s exactly the point in watching … that’s why baseball is in the true fan’s blood. No, the best team doesn’t always have to win, and do you know why? Well, because the world would not be worth living in if that was the case. And maybe, just maybe, the supposedly “losingest team in baseball” can bring home the big trophy for their thick-and-thin fans every once in a while (which they did on that most glorious of October nights). Despite all their losses and tough seasons, they’ve actually played for something bigger than themselves and eventually won it all!

Now, this is what pisses me off about phony fans: They’re brought up to believe that their team has to win each and every time. They’ll argue about who’s a better team, who’s a better player, why some player belongs in the Hall of Fame, or whatever other stats they can incorrectly throw out there. And do you know what? Sometimes, in sports, the unexplainable happens. Sometimes the underdog deserves to win, which is always followed by those same fair-weather fans coming out to the park afterwards with their just-bought jerseys and “Let’s Go Phillies, Let’s Go!” rants (man, I’d love to throw some red paint on those jerks, PETA-style).

The real fan, however, watches sports to be entertained — to get away from it all for a while! Why you ask? Well, life can be pretty tough when you’re faced with hard choices and challenges every single day. Philadelphia’s a rough town to succeed in (that’s why I moved to Florida) and most of its residents worry about their jobs, their families, their friends, careers, and mortgages. Sports are what we learned to watch when we get home from a long day of pulling stones for the man, or when finally reaching the end of a long, hard workweek. This is the drug we use when we need to get away from our lives for a little bit. Every human being on this planet needs this sort of escape from time to time, and sports fill that void almost perfectly for the people filling the City of Brotherly Love’s stadiums.

However, escapism is only one reason to watch baseball — I get that! I think most of us have chosen allegiance to the Phightin’ Phils because of an innate, tribal urge to self-identify with something larger than ourselves. It’s also worth noting that humans have always joined together for massive public celebrations that involve rout, rout, routing for one team over the other, while dressing up in the same outfits and singing the local chants at the top of their lungs (this is how we socialize/get down). I mean seriously, this might just be all guesswork on my part, but something has to explain my fanatical devotion to a corporate-owned sports franchise (in which I’m not receiving any of its proceeds).

So, the Phillies have now learned a winning formula (and I hope it continues for a long time): you MUST pick up a player if/and only if they will be of some value to the team as a whole, AND the team at large will enjoy certain benefits (more runs, homers, saves, trophies, etc.) because of that trade. Important to note here: this is the equation that the Eagles just “didn’t get” when they picked up Terrell Owens, who’s only good at tearing a team apart due to his selfishness and “look at me” attitude! Hopefully, Charlie Manuel will keep the “good stuff” coming … and it looks like the team has been doing just that from where I am sitting!

So the answer to the title’s “How much is a player worth?” question is this: as much as the club is willing to spend to get the job done just enough to win another World Series Title (nothing more and nothing less)! I know it’s not that simple, but the point I’m trying to make is this: if you’re going to blow a lot of money on a new player, at least make sure he fits in with the rest of the guys and that he always gives you his 100% every time he takes the field! Now what is that exact dollar amount? Who knows … this winning thing is kind of new to me (go ask the Yankees … they seem to buy their way to those flag trophies)!