Tales Of Interest: Part 3

Here's Part 3 of my paper on baseball fans as a youth subculture. Have fun reading it.

To “passively participate”, in other words to go to watch the professionals play, can cost as low as $14 (just for the ticket, not including parking, food, and other stuff) to as high as $80 (again, just for the ticket).

There are two options under the “passively participate” category. One option is to go the stadium and watch the professionals play (which is the ticket price) and the second option is to watch the game on television.

If you watch the game on television, it costs about as much as the ticket price (but only for food, oh, and part of your cable/satellite bill). This is, of course, not including food, souvenirs, parking, and anything else someone buys down at the stadium.

So, every year (actually around February) it starts with the commencement of Spring Training for their respective team. During this time period, millions begin the ritual trek down to Florida (or Arizona), to watch their respective team begin spring training.

Following the end of Spring Training, each April, millions flock back up north to their respective team’s stadium for Opening Day to watch their team kick off the new season. As one Phanatic I interviewed put it, “Baseball is life. My work, my job, my life, hell, even my girlfriend revolves around the game of baseball.”

Millions in the United States share that same person’s viewpoint. The central activity to fans in baseball is the actual game, which starts on the weeknights during the regular season at 7:05 p.m. (here in Philadelphia) sharp.

Millions tune into the games and watch the games every day. As another Phanatic put it, “It’s Baseball 365. If the season's over, I watch games that I missed which I recorded on my TiVo during the regular season and postseason playoffs. It’s cool.”

Most youths after Phillies games head for the local sports bar. In this case, it was the sports bar and saloon attached to Citizen’s Bank Park: McFadden’s, which was my first stop after Game 2 of the National League Division Series.

My second stop was another local sports bar, Chickie’s and Pete’s. The fans inside the bar are usually the ones who could not afford the ticket (like during the playoffs or certain games) or was stupid and sold their ticket without thinking.

One of the fans (note he was not a Phanatic, just a normal fan) that I interviewed inside McFadden’s said, “I come here after every game. Even if I can’t get a ticket to that game, I still come here. I guess it's the fact that I’m right outside the stadium… you know… the ‘environment’.” Others I interviewed share this fan’s viewpoint, “Well, if I can’t be inside the stadium, I might as well be right outside the stadium.”

Going back to the color topic: When I was down at the stadium researching, I noticed that a lot of people were wearing red Philadelphia Phillies shirts. And yes, I know I just pointed out the obvious, but just follow along. Since I consider myself… no, I am a member of this youth subculture, I was wearing a red Philadelphia Phillies custom-made player shirt with the number 63 on the back, along with number 63’s last name (Madson) above the number.

Many of the shirts worn by members of the subculture are called player shirts, because they bear a striking resemblance to the jerseys that the players wear. Most of the shirts noticed had “Phillies” across the front, with a players’ last name (i.e. Utley, Hamels, Howard, Madson, Durbin, Lidge, Coste, Werth, etc.) and  their number on the back (the number on the back corresponds to the number worn on the back of the player’s jersey).

On to style in the subculture. Some of the younger members of the subculture sport a hair style known as a “Rayhawk” down in Tampa. The “Rayhawk” is essentially a Mohawk with the only strip of hair in the middle is colored with the team color. But as one Phanatic angrily dismissed as I questioned him about his hair replied, “It’s not a ‘Rayhawk’! What are you, freaking’ blind?! Can you not see the red?! What are you… from Tampah? It’s not a ‘Rayhawk’; it’s a “Phauxhawk’!”

Some of the younger members, besides sporting a “Phauxhawk”, sport face paint with team colors on each half of their faces. The older members of the subculture sport tattoos on their necks, backs, arms, legs, and chest. The tattoos are or could be of player’s numbers, player’s names, player’s nicknames and team logos… even the whole team roster, as I noticed one person with the whole team on his back. Most of the tattoos are of the team logo.

Most people in the subculture sport their team’s logo everywhere, whether it is on their body in form of tattoos to stickers on car windows.

I can remember my first experience within the baseball subculture. I was three and my father teaching me the family trade: pitching. He was teaching me how to throw the family pitch: a back-door, running/sliding fastball and… enough of that.

Most people become members of the baseball subculture when they go to or participate in a couple of games (excluding gym classes) or have witnessed enough of their area’s professional team, where they can specifically name and point out specific players on the team. When most members “join”, they are very young, around age nine or 10 from what I noticed.

The baseball subculture, as one of my friends put it, “Once you’re in, you in. You're in for life, forever associated with baseball” (Degiacomo). While researching, I noted in a small hand-held spiral-bound notepad, that this subculture doesn’t discriminate against race, creed, socio-economic background, age or ethnicity.

All people are welcome, but very few join. I noted that the youths involved are predominately white and of middle class background. A good number of members are male, but there are some females in the subculture, not a lot, though. The majority [of females] that I interviewed said that “they were dragged here” or “I come just to see Chase Utley” or worse… “I’m DD. Designated Driver”.

Most members can identify other members based on their clothing or other material items. But some members question other members as if to “weed out” (if you will) the real members from the fake members.

By fake as one of my friends put it, “Fair-weather fans, bandwagon jumpers, and ship-hoppers, I [expletive] hate them people. People who think that, ‘Oh, I’m here so that makes me a member.’ No, it doesn’t make you a member. Can you name a Philadelphia Phillie pitcher who has thrown a no-hitter in both leagues? Can you name the first time the Phillies went to the World Series? If you can’t answer those questions, you aren’t a member. It ain’t ‘bout stats and historical crap. It’s ‘bout community.” (Fallon)

Another friend put it as this way, saying, “Dude… if your just going because it’s the ‘cool thing to do’, then leave… no one wants you here. We don’t like you people. You people make us look bad… go get drunk somewhere else.” (Degiacomo)

During my observation, I noticed that there actually is a hierarchy in this youth subculture. When one’s role within the subculture is questioned their status immediately drops down. Here’s an explanation of the social hierarchy of the baseball subculture. If your on the bottom, you’re a fledgling. You not considered a bandwagon jumper, yet.

Fledglings have just joined and are learning and perfecting their knowledge and learning the rules. If you're in the middle of the hierarchy, you’re a fan. You know your stuff, and you’ve been around long enough to know the rules.

If you’ve been around for many years, have a vast knowledge of a certain team and can point out, figure out and discern the real members from the fake members, you’re a “die-hard” or true fan. You bleed your team’s colors for blood. You would die for your team.

You're consider a “bandwagon jumper” if your team is doing bad and you jump ship to another team just to keep status quo. This is frowned upon. Most of the people in this subculture are followers.

They follow their team from place to place, stadium to stadium with zealous and religious fanaticism. Although there are “leaders”, they are ones who create the fan groups which are comprised mainly of older members. From the observations that I have made, the hierarchy is determined through age, knowledge of your team, and respect. Note that the majority of Phillies fans in this area are “bandwagon jumpers” as noted with the World Series Victory Parade down Broad Street in Center City, Philadelphia.

The members of the subculture are involved in creating something. Take a look at the Dropkick Murphys song (music video) Tessie. The original “Tessie” (c. 1919), which was a Broadway play, was not about baseball at all, but rather a girl and her bird. The Dropkick Murphys retooled the song and made the song about the Red Sox and how after 86 years, they won a World Series Title (Dropkick Murphys).

From what I observed at the games, these people create an art form, especially [true] Philadelphia sports fans. One such example was a song called “Phillies Phever” (Fever with a “Ph”), was played daily during the John DeBella radio show on Philadelphia’s 102.9 WMGK, during the time period in which the Phillies were in the playoffs.

I also think that the fans themselves are very creative (signs, music, books, papers, etc.). While we are on the subject of culture, music plays a key role to the players on the field, but to the fans as well. Well, members hear a certain song, for example Led Zeppelin’s song, Kashmir, one outside of the subculture would think, “Hmm… good song.” But not members of the subculture. A member would think, “Kashmir… hmm… AH HA! It must mean Chase Utley is coming to bat!”

The members of the subculture use these songs to identify with the players. For example, when the song "Soldiers" by Drowning Pool is blasting over the PA System down at Citizen’s Bank Park, the members of the subculture know two things. One, they [the members] know what’s coming. Two, the game is over, because “Light’s Out” Lidge is coming to turn the lights out and end the game.

The members of this subculture like a good drink. When members drink they get into fights as witnessed in the YouTube video: Phillies Game Fight. Most members of one team can identify members of other teams, and usually they don’t get along.

So that leads into my next point. Alcohol is the main illegal/legal drug for choice, but tobacco is smoked in certain sections dubbed “smoke here”. Most members drink beer before, during and after the game.

One Phanatic told me that “everyone that goes to a ball game loves a good bottle. I love a good bottle before the game. I usually drink several bottles during the game, as well as several after the game inside McFadden’s”. This is one of the reasons why I don’t drive down to the games. Whenever beer or over alcohol is involved, fights usually break out, usually in the “cheap people” seats (refering to the 300 and 400 section of Citizen's Bank Park).

I observed with that Sept. 27 game that true members don’t need to drink. Those who drink do so to pick fights with unsuspecting fans of another team or fans that go to games not to get drunk, but just to watch and enjoy a weekday or weekend evening or afternoon game. Most members speak plain-as-day or regular English.

But some slang is spoken. For example I overheard one fan inside McFadden’s say: “how ‘bout ‘em Fightin’s” Others shout “Go Phil’s!” Hence the terms: the Phils, Fightin’s, Phanatics, etc. Generally members can integrate the slang in with the regular English well enough that you can’t tell that if they are speaking in slang terminology or English.