The crowd made a difference in Philadelphia

Sometimes when a manager is asked a question, he gives an answer that he really, probably shouldn’t give. In the case of Brian Snitker, when asked about the crowd in Philadelphia and how they were going to act in the series, well, he probably riled up a beast.

Philadelphia is long known as the city with the chip on its shoulder. Much of that is by reputation that isn’t really deserved, sometimes it is very much deserved. Coming to Philadelphia, you will always hear the same stories repeated by a national announcer, over and over and over.

Booing Santa Claus.

Batteries.

Middle fingers.

Tasers.

Cursing.

Booing.

Booing.

BOOING!!!!

This weekend, there really isn’t much of a doubt that the crowd played a part in the Phillies’ victory over the Braves. We’ve seen the team have to celebrate the clinching of a wild card in Houston, winning the wild card series in St. Louis and wanted to have some of the fun. They took one of the games in Atlanta prior to this weekend’s slate of games, meaning the chance to clinch a trip to the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia was a very real possibility.

If you live around here, chances are that you either went to one of the games or you know someone who went. By now, you have heard from them what it was like at the stadium, the atmosphere and the surrounding groups of people joined in helping push their team over the finish line to the end. If you’re active on social media, chances are you have seen the reactions to what it was like inside of the stadium.

There was no moment in the two games in Atlanta that could rival what the crowd did to poor Burt Hooten back in 1977, but if you watched, there was a definite difference in the crowd in Philadelphia as compared to the crowd in Atlanta. Most of the time, the people watching Philadelphia were standing on their feet, cheering during each pitch, hoping the team would rally to take the game. When something happened that went the Phillies way, well, “explosion” can’t really do it justice to what happened inside of Citizens Bank Park.

That’s not to say that the crowds in Atlanta were poor. They were raucous just as much as the Phillies fans were, especially after having to sit through a rain delay in game two that lasted almost as long as the actual game. The difference, though, is mostly anecdotal.

Did it feel to you like the crowds in Philadelphia were standing the whole time while the crowds in Atlanta were sitting?

I’ve always been skeptical about how much a crowd can help push a team towards victory, but there seemed to be a little something extra in the ballpark this weekend. A little spark that did indeed help the team get those needed wins to avoid a return to Atlanta. Now those same crowds get to be on the national stage in the next round. It’s going to electric.