My First Phillies Blog

Welcome to my first Phillies Blog. Let me preface by saying, I'm not a baseball expert or historian, nor am I the greatest writer. All I'm trying to say is don't expect a huge amount of stats, a complete analysis of the 1915 Phillies, or even coherency at times. I'm just a big Phillies fan who loves the team and hopes to someday work for them in some capacity (i.e. broadcast, writing, 5th starter (more on this tomorrow) (am I allowed to do a parenthetical inside another parenthetical?)). You can just expect a strong opinion from a passionate fan, and since I'm a professional comedian, it will have a humorous slant.

How did I become a fan? I grew up in Wilkes-Barre, PA (1983-1992), so regionally it made sense. They were on TV a lot and all over the news. Also, since I didn't have a father figure who was into sports, I had no one to explain to me that this wasn't the greatest team at the time, or that Von Hayes shouldn't be anyone's favorite player.

I grew to love the Phillies more and more as each year passed, but I never got to a game as a child. We had tickets to a game in 1990, but my mother was having some health issues so we couldn't go. The Phils lost to the Cardinals in that game, but I probably still would've loved it. That same year though, I did get to meet Nick Leyva (Manager at the time), John Vukovich, and Larry Bowa at the opening of an Orloski's gas station. Probably my favorite trip to an Orloski's gas station not involving gas or Big League Chew.

In 1992 I moved to upstate NY and needless to say, I was probably the only kid in my school passionately watching the 1993 World Series. When Carter hit that HR off of Williams, I threw a glass of milk across the room. Seeing that Wild Thing blew it, and I was drinking milk, you'd think my mom would appreciate my passion, or at least the fact that I had a healthy beverage before bed. Not so.

In college, I started dating a girl from the Philly area and I got to my 1st game when I went to visit her parents. This moment solidified my love for this girl and we married 2 years later. We now live outside of Philly and I try to follow every game whether on TV or on the radio. My 1st son was born when we won the Series in 2008, and seeing that the last time they won was my birth year (1980), everything has come full circle.

Hopefully this gives you a brief synopsis of where my fandom comes from. I will try to blog everyday, covering the outcomes and story-lines within each game. In the upcoming days I will cover different topics involving some preseason thoughts. Please feel free to follow this blog, pass it along to anyone you think might enjoy it, and comment.

Dave