MASN should sit on a beehive: Phillies 4, Nationals 3

I was all set to do a regular, traditional recap, which would talk about how the Phillies managed to beat the Nationals by just one run despite an impressive list of mistakes. I was going to talk about Odubel Herrera's continued growth as a hitter, with a hit and two walks tonight. Or Andres Blanco's 3-for-4 night, which included a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the game. Or Maikel Franco's outstanding defensive play in the third inning.

But I'm not going to talk about any of that. Well, other than just now. I'm going to talk about this:

The @masnNationals "Play of the Game" was Franco's slip and fall. What a bunch of assholes. #phillies

— Zeus Moscow (@LOLPhillies) April 27, 2016

What the fuck.

No seriously, what the fuck is that, MASN?

To recap an actual part of the game, in the top of the seventh inning, Maikel Franco hit a one-out double to the outfield wall. It very easily could have been out of the park, and Franco knew it. He demonstrated that he knew it by jogging up the first base line at a less-than-quick pace. When Franco made it to second, his feet didn't know it yet, and he tripped while rounding the bag and took an ankle-twisting spill onto the ground. He made it to second, though, because Michael Taylor missed the ball and ran into the wall, and had to go scampering for the ball. Franco was clearly in some pain, but he stayed in the game. You can see the entire play here.

That's what you chose as your play of the game. Did you highlight the part of the play where the Nationals player screwed up and allowed an unobservant player make it to second? I'm guessing no. You chose, as your play of the game, the part of the play where a player fell down and possibly injured himself.

How is that okay? Does it make you feel good to beat up on the Phillies like that? The Phillies, who made you lose so much in your early years? Though to be fair, the Phillies only partially made you lose. You yourselves, and the crappy teams of your infancy, were also at fault. But why are you still doing this? You've finished with a better record than the Phillies have for four seasons now. You'll do it again this year. You've won! You're better than the Phillies!

Are you *still* sore about how Phillies fans used to flood the stadium anytime the Nationals played them at home? That's really more of your fans fault than the Phillies, since when that happened, the Phillies were good and the Nationals are bad. Those two facts alone explain this phenomenon. But now that the Nationals are good, you *STILL* can't fill up that stadium of yours. Yeah, the Phillies fans have stopped coming for now, but that's just for now. Once the team is good again, you'll have to come up with something a lot more creative (and less stupid sounding) than "Natitude."

And that's the whole thing. Baseball, in this situation, is cyclical. You, the Nationals are good, but once Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg leave, you'll probably be bad again. The Phillies have been bad since 2012 - 2012!!!!!!!! - and they've been rebuilding. They will be good again, and when they are, I highly doubt that CSN Philly would feature something that utterly mean and tasteless on their broadcast.

You guys are gross. You have what I consider to be the worst broadcast team in all of baseball, and you just proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt.

I think this says it all.

@LOLPhillies A fake-tough franchise that continues to beg the Phillies for relevance.

— Noah Becker (@Noah_Becker) April 27, 2016