Going Back To Philly... I Don't Think So.

Going Back To Philly... I Don't Think So.

Actually, yeah. We're not going to Philly. They're coming here. At least for two games. Then the Dodgers will head to the city of brotherly love in a hopeful 2-0 series lead. If it seems like we've been here before, we have. Not only last year, but in the history of Dodger baseball, the Phillies are a team we've seen a lot. So much so that Tommy has some beef with their god awful mascot.



Yes, that's Tommy Lasorda going after and kicking the Philly Phanatic's ass. What does he have to say for himself?

I hate the Philly Phanatic.

In fact, I am not very happy about mascots in general. I think they take away from the game on the field.

One of the worst incidents was perpetrated by the Phillie Phanatic. The Dodgers were in town to play the Phillies and somehow, it got ahold of one of my jerseys. It took the jersey, put it on a dummy and ran over the dummy again and again.

That type of a display should not be shown in ballparks, especially in front of children. It exhibits violence and disrespect.

I pulled the Phanatic aside and said, “Why don’t you run over a dummy with a Phillies jersey?”

I called the front office of the Phillies and told them how I felt. They can play with kids in the stands, but running over the dummy was simply wrong, and that kids would get the wrong impression. Apparently, they didn’t care.

The next time we were in Philadelphia, I confronted the Phanatic. I told it not to use my jersey anymore, and so the next time he did, I was forced to act. I went right up to it and body slammed it to the turf.

I often wondered how it got my jersey, and then I found out how. Steve Sax would give it the jerseys because my players thought it was a funny thing to do.

I never really thought about it before but I guess the Dodgers do have the best mascot in baseball. Tommy is really up there when I think about Dodger baseball along with Vin Scully. And realy, if you're not a Dodgers fan, you have to root for them simply so you can listen to Vin Scully call either the all L.A. World Series, or an amazing Dodgers/Yankees 1950's throwback World Series. Win or Lose, I'll be amazed to hear something like that.



But first the boys in blue need to beat Philly. I have to say, I'm a little worried. I really wish it was the Rockies we were facing, but it's just a matter of getting it over with. At least this time there's some respect in the experts picks. For the Cardinals series everyone was siding that it would be St. Luis that swept the Dodgers in 3 games. That didn't turn out to be very accurate after all. It's going to be a very tough series so you gotta route pretty loud.. Go Dodger Blue!