Phillies news and links — The Phillies shouldn’t partner with Uber

Good morning, cats and kittens. I was at the Phillies-Reds game last night, and let me tell you: it was worse than watching it on TV. Between the strikeouts and the cold rain and the CONSTANT, WEIRD WHOOPING/HOLLERING, I MEAN WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT, it was pretty miserable. Also, many of the delicious new food items at Great American Ballpark that were advertised in the lead-up to opening day were not ready yet. The reuben dog, the nacho dog, the rueben goetta burger, none of it was making an appearance until May, which was strangely not mentioned in any of the press clippings! It was a huge bummer for me, a connoisseur of reubens. So I tried another new food item, the banh mi, which is one of my favorite kinds of sandwiches. But this banh mi? It was terrible. It was so, so bad. Get it together, Great American Ballpark!

Phillies lose to the Reds 2-0

Oy vey. Read David S. Cohen’s recap of this game for the full story, but woof. It was so bad. Thirteen strikeouts, a ton of one and two-pitch at-bats, and a great Jerad Eickhoff start wasted. Granted, it was cold and wet at GABP last night, but that happens every single April. Put on a scarf and take a few pitches, boys. And this stat will just kill you.

Gaaaaaaaaah. He’s Cole Hamels 2.0! He’s the great pitcher who never gets any run support! WHY MUST WE REPEAT THIS KIND OF HISTORY AND NOT THE WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS KIND OF HISTORY?!

Odubel Herrera ninth inning steal was probably unnecessary

With two outs in the ninth inning of last night’s game, Odubel Herrera decided to steal a base. He was called out, and the game was presumably over. BUT NOT SO FAST! Pete Mackanin decided to challenge it, and even though I desperately wanted to get out of the hell scape that Great American Ballpark had become, it was delightful to watch Reds fans get upset over it. I’m sorry! Maybe that makes me evil, but I don’t care. They had already set off the fireworks to celebrate the win when the call was overturned, and I have never heard such a large, collective groan from such a small number of people. No one was happy about it. I, meanwhile, was cackling at the top of my section, ready to sprint for the exit as soon as the Phillies struck out. Which they soon did.

So what did Pete Mackanin think about Odubel’s steal?

To be a fly on the wall during that chat.

The Phillies shouldn’t partner with Uber

The Phillies have partnered with Uber to offer $2.15 rides for the home opener on Friday, and while I’m all for people getting to and from the ballpark without having to put their drunk selves behind the wheel, Uber is an unquestionably horrible company. They’ve been embroiled in scandal for months now. Let’s review! They barely pay their drivers decent wage, and insist on hiring them as independent contractors so they’re not obligated to provide them with things like health insurance. They constantly try to avoid local laws governing their business practices, and even built an app to specifically fool law enforcement. Google has sued them for stealing their self-driving car research (self driving cars are terrifying and terrible, by the way). They apparently use psychological techniques to manipulate their drivers. Oh, and their widespread corporate culture of sexual discrimination and sexual harassment, and their smear campaign against the woman who decided to make it all public.

All that is happening with Uber, and yet the Phillies think it’s okay to partner with them. The Phillies as a business are okay with partnering with another business who has done all of those things. I am not okay with this. No one should be. And you know what? If the Phillies want to be the “traditional” franchise they always tout themselves to be, and a good tenant of the city of Philadelphia, they should make a good faith effort to support the businesses of that city and not Uber, which (again) is a shitty, shitty company.

Do better, Phillies.

*drops mic*