In Joe Vallee's follow-up piece for Philly2Philly.com (remember his primary piece from Tuesday's game?) he does a stand-up thing:
I received my share angry mail from disgruntled Astros fans after I called them Triple A team yesterday. I would be offended myself if someone referred to my team as that. As a Phillies fan, we've been there more than Astros fans have over the last twenty-plus years. I'm sorry, but when you are back to back National League Champions like the Phillies currently are, you hold yourself to high standards- which means beating up on teams like the Astros when it counts. In 1989, the Phillies were beyond horrible. I wanted them to win, but when the powerhouses (Mets, Giants, etc.) came into town, even I was old enough to know not to expect much from the Fightins during those days.
It's not really an apology, but I think we can understand his frustration with the Phillies.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
