by Philly fans SUCK. They take pride in being hard on their own players, being obnoxious towards other fan bases, and not winning anything. Trea Turner, who is arguably the best shortstop in baseball, was the prize possession last free agency. He took his talents to Philadelphia signing a mega deal (11 years, $300 million). With high hopes for the Phillies, Turner spent the greater part of his debut season struggling. Any other fan base in baseball would be cheering their superstar on and supporting him throughout the struggles since the grind of a baseball season is one of the hardest in all of sports. Instead, Philly fans decided to be Philly fans and began booing the guy at home games and away games when he was on the field. Turner was not playing up to the contract surely, but the man was aware of it and in multiple post-game interviews admitted to his struggles and wanting to be better for the team and the fans.
All of the sudden on August 4th Philly fans decided to stop being a-holes and gave Turner a standing ovation as a show of support through the year of struggles. What do you know, the guy has been one of the best baseball players in the league since this gesture was made.
The stats show from the day of standing ovation for the rest of the month. Insane numbers that Turner was putting up and has been absolutely mashing in September as well. He is hitting a home run in every game it feels like now. All it takes sometimes is for fans to show support. As much money as the players are making to play the game, they are still human. I hope Philly fans take this as a lesson when it comes to players in any sport who are struggling. Getting behind someone sometimes is the only cure that they need. Just stop being a-holes and enjoy the run that Philly is having in the sports realm. Plenty of good teams with big time stars and MVPs everywhere. Enjoy it.