GaryMrMets
06-30-2004, 03:24 PM
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sports/s063004a.htm
Thome 4th? What a farce!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
He trails three first basemen in All-Star voting as fans focus on new ballpark, not ballots
By KEVIN ROBERTS
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA
At best, it's just strange. At worst, it's just plain scary.
Phillies first baseman Jim Thome - who leads the majors in home runs and is having one of the most dominating seasons by a Phillie since the glory days of Mike Schmidt - is running a distant fourth in the All-Star balloting.
He's almost a million votes behind Albert Pujols, and this while playing in a ballpark that boasts the second-highest attendance in the NL before crowds that positively adore him.
Give the right people three weeks, and they could get Thome elected mayor. But the Phillies can't get him elected to the All-Star game. Something is wrong here.
For the record, Thome waves off such talk: "Doesn't matter; haven't thought about it," he said. The on-field personnel has more pressing matters to consider, although of course they're pulling for him and think Thome should go.
"If he's not on the All-Star team," said Phillies manager Larry Bowa, "it would be a travesty."
It would, in fact, be a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham, to quote from a Woody Allen movie for no apparent reason.
Now. Before anyone's knickers get into a twist, Thome will make the All-Star team. The forces that be are already angling for Thome to participate in the home-run hitting contest, and Thome would have to be on the team in order to take those swings.
Florida manager Jack McKeon, who will pick the team, isn't an idiot. Thome is a great player having a great year and carrying a team that is in first place. Thome will make the All-Star team.
Without making any plans, Thome will happily go, if selected.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Thome said. "It's an honor. (The home-run derby) is fun; I've done it before and I enjoyed it."
Thome has been on three All-Star teams, making three straight from 1997-99, and was a runner-up to Ken Griffey, Jr., in the home-run derby in 1998 - the first and only time he was elected as a starter. Thome will make his fourth team this year, but he won't start.
The word at the Vet was always that it was tough to get a Phillie to the All-Star Game because of the attendance. Well, the attendance at Citizens Bank Park is through the roof, and still the best and most popular player on the team can't get a sniff.
The Phillies were able to get Scott Rolen elected to an All-Star team, for gosh sakes. Does anyone really want to compare Rolen's popularity among the Phillies' fan base with Thome's?
Thome's vote total is a constant source of irritation in the Phillies' front office, and a regular topic at the organization's meetings. That they can't make a huge ground swell of support for Thome translate into something tangible is a failing of the Phillies.
Some fans have grumbled that the Phillies haven't done enough to push Thome or his teammates for the All-Star Game. While beer, food and merchandise are always out front and readily available, some fans complain that the All-Star ballots aren't as easy to come by.
Look at what the Astros (who host the game) have done - Minute Maid Park is, in fact, a Dickensian workshop, where children scurry about pestering fans to vote for the local boys. They practically require an All-Star vote to gain entrance to the park. The Phillies haven't gone to such lengths . . . yet.
But this isn't really the Phillies' fault (they're surely trying). The real culprit is sitting in the seats at the Park - or more accurately, roaming the concourses and seeing the sights.
A sizable chunk of the people who burn through the turnstiles at the Park these days aren't really about the baseball. They're about the ballpark. Tuesday, on a beautiful night at the Park with the Phillies in first place, hundreds of people bought tickets and then turned right and headed for McFadden's. The bar was packed with people watching a game on TV that was being played live just a few feet away.
"That's a fair statement," said Chris Long, the Phillies' director of entertainment and one of the people responsible for pushing the Phillies' All-Star hopefuls. "So many people stay in their seats only an inning or two, and then they're up. They're experiencing the ballpark, they're walking the concourses.
"This is family entertainment, it's a fun place to be. And that's an experience we want them to have."
That is, of course, a good thing. The first year of any new ballpark is about the ballpark. The Phillies' season-ticket base has about doubled in the last year, and that's all about the venue.
So if people are hanging out at the bar or visiting Ashburn Alley or getting a Schmitter or not finding a moment to vote for Jim Thome for the All-Star team, that's just the nature of the beast this year. Thome's vote total is a direct result of that - the fans this season are about the ballpark, not the baseball.
As such, the danger is that eventually the allure of the ballpark wears off. That's true of every new ballpark, and then attendance will be tied to the team's place in the standings. If the Phillies are as good as they believe they'll be, attendance will be fine. If the team ever dares to go south again, this place may turn into a ghost town.
What the Phillies are hoping for is that once the people are inside, they'll be hooked. Put up a terrific park, put a good team on the field, see that Thome guy hit his 400th career home run practically on demand, and the crowds will be about the baseball soon enough.
"This place is great, it's fantastic," said Lawrence Miller, Sr., of Deptford, who was sporting a Billy Wagner jersey at the Park Tuesday. "I love this park. It's great; it's way better than the Vet."
Miller said he's attending far more games at the Park this year than he ever went to at Veterans Stadium, primarily for the ballpark. But he's begun to bring his son, Lawrence, Jr., to games, and finding that he's enjoying watching the Phillies play. And he thinks Thome should be an All-Star, too, by the way.
"I think it's a combination of a good team on the field and a great stadium," Miller said. "I'm an Eagles season-ticket holder; I'm an Eagles fan. But this is the most excited I've been about baseball in years. I'm loving baseball again. I think people are here for both - certainly the new stadium, but people like to see a good team."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sports/images/s063004a.jpg
Phillies first baseman Jim Thome trails three other NL first basemen for the starting spot in the All-Star Game despite leading the NL in home runs and being tied for fourth in RBIs.
Thome 4th? What a farce!
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
He trails three first basemen in All-Star voting as fans focus on new ballpark, not ballots
By KEVIN ROBERTS
Courier-Post Staff
PHILADELPHIA
At best, it's just strange. At worst, it's just plain scary.
Phillies first baseman Jim Thome - who leads the majors in home runs and is having one of the most dominating seasons by a Phillie since the glory days of Mike Schmidt - is running a distant fourth in the All-Star balloting.
He's almost a million votes behind Albert Pujols, and this while playing in a ballpark that boasts the second-highest attendance in the NL before crowds that positively adore him.
Give the right people three weeks, and they could get Thome elected mayor. But the Phillies can't get him elected to the All-Star game. Something is wrong here.
For the record, Thome waves off such talk: "Doesn't matter; haven't thought about it," he said. The on-field personnel has more pressing matters to consider, although of course they're pulling for him and think Thome should go.
"If he's not on the All-Star team," said Phillies manager Larry Bowa, "it would be a travesty."
It would, in fact, be a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham, to quote from a Woody Allen movie for no apparent reason.
Now. Before anyone's knickers get into a twist, Thome will make the All-Star team. The forces that be are already angling for Thome to participate in the home-run hitting contest, and Thome would have to be on the team in order to take those swings.
Florida manager Jack McKeon, who will pick the team, isn't an idiot. Thome is a great player having a great year and carrying a team that is in first place. Thome will make the All-Star team.
Without making any plans, Thome will happily go, if selected.
"Oh, yeah, sure," Thome said. "It's an honor. (The home-run derby) is fun; I've done it before and I enjoyed it."
Thome has been on three All-Star teams, making three straight from 1997-99, and was a runner-up to Ken Griffey, Jr., in the home-run derby in 1998 - the first and only time he was elected as a starter. Thome will make his fourth team this year, but he won't start.
The word at the Vet was always that it was tough to get a Phillie to the All-Star Game because of the attendance. Well, the attendance at Citizens Bank Park is through the roof, and still the best and most popular player on the team can't get a sniff.
The Phillies were able to get Scott Rolen elected to an All-Star team, for gosh sakes. Does anyone really want to compare Rolen's popularity among the Phillies' fan base with Thome's?
Thome's vote total is a constant source of irritation in the Phillies' front office, and a regular topic at the organization's meetings. That they can't make a huge ground swell of support for Thome translate into something tangible is a failing of the Phillies.
Some fans have grumbled that the Phillies haven't done enough to push Thome or his teammates for the All-Star Game. While beer, food and merchandise are always out front and readily available, some fans complain that the All-Star ballots aren't as easy to come by.
Look at what the Astros (who host the game) have done - Minute Maid Park is, in fact, a Dickensian workshop, where children scurry about pestering fans to vote for the local boys. They practically require an All-Star vote to gain entrance to the park. The Phillies haven't gone to such lengths . . . yet.
But this isn't really the Phillies' fault (they're surely trying). The real culprit is sitting in the seats at the Park - or more accurately, roaming the concourses and seeing the sights.
A sizable chunk of the people who burn through the turnstiles at the Park these days aren't really about the baseball. They're about the ballpark. Tuesday, on a beautiful night at the Park with the Phillies in first place, hundreds of people bought tickets and then turned right and headed for McFadden's. The bar was packed with people watching a game on TV that was being played live just a few feet away.
"That's a fair statement," said Chris Long, the Phillies' director of entertainment and one of the people responsible for pushing the Phillies' All-Star hopefuls. "So many people stay in their seats only an inning or two, and then they're up. They're experiencing the ballpark, they're walking the concourses.
"This is family entertainment, it's a fun place to be. And that's an experience we want them to have."
That is, of course, a good thing. The first year of any new ballpark is about the ballpark. The Phillies' season-ticket base has about doubled in the last year, and that's all about the venue.
So if people are hanging out at the bar or visiting Ashburn Alley or getting a Schmitter or not finding a moment to vote for Jim Thome for the All-Star team, that's just the nature of the beast this year. Thome's vote total is a direct result of that - the fans this season are about the ballpark, not the baseball.
As such, the danger is that eventually the allure of the ballpark wears off. That's true of every new ballpark, and then attendance will be tied to the team's place in the standings. If the Phillies are as good as they believe they'll be, attendance will be fine. If the team ever dares to go south again, this place may turn into a ghost town.
What the Phillies are hoping for is that once the people are inside, they'll be hooked. Put up a terrific park, put a good team on the field, see that Thome guy hit his 400th career home run practically on demand, and the crowds will be about the baseball soon enough.
"This place is great, it's fantastic," said Lawrence Miller, Sr., of Deptford, who was sporting a Billy Wagner jersey at the Park Tuesday. "I love this park. It's great; it's way better than the Vet."
Miller said he's attending far more games at the Park this year than he ever went to at Veterans Stadium, primarily for the ballpark. But he's begun to bring his son, Lawrence, Jr., to games, and finding that he's enjoying watching the Phillies play. And he thinks Thome should be an All-Star, too, by the way.
"I think it's a combination of a good team on the field and a great stadium," Miller said. "I'm an Eagles season-ticket holder; I'm an Eagles fan. But this is the most excited I've been about baseball in years. I'm loving baseball again. I think people are here for both - certainly the new stadium, but people like to see a good team."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sports/images/s063004a.jpg
Phillies first baseman Jim Thome trails three other NL first basemen for the starting spot in the All-Star Game despite leading the NL in home runs and being tied for fourth in RBIs.