Klugh: Philadelphia’s Phanatic history
From Justin Klugh at Baseball Prospectus on August 9, 2019:
Look; the Phanatic isn’t going anywhere. Imagine the Phillies losing their biggest franchise icon seemingly at random one August. Imagine the outrage at having the one truly immortal component to Phillies baseball snuffed out. Imagine sitting in the stands and watching some rebranded replacement weakly dance on the dugout. Imagine hearing “All right folks, here comes the Philadelphia Office Supply and Baseball Extremist, brought to you by W.B. Mason!” and imagine the bile crawling up your throat.
There is a lawsuit in play right now that could, technically, mean the Phanatic is capable of leaving the Phillies and becoming a free agent. But whatever happens, we’re not losing him. Because think about what almost happened the last time we were without him.
Nobody wins when two superpowers stare each other down across an ocean, waiting for an excuse to rain hellfire on each other, burn civilizations to ash, decimate landscape for generations, and blot out the sun with a toxic cloud. In the late seventies, scribes had brought the “neutron bomb” into the public vernacular, adding a new dimension to the tense, ongoing negotiations between the United States and Soviet Union. Talks had entered a “we won’t do it if you won’t do it” phase, but the lingering terror tainted to varying degrees the everyday lives of millions.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/52294/prospectus-feature-free-agent-phanatic/
Originally published: August 9, 2019. Last Updated: August 9, 2019.