Throwing Up a New Low for Philly Fans

Philadelphia fans probably consider him a wimp, but Michael Vangelo just couldn't take any more abuse the other night.

The Easton, Pa., police captain had gone to a Phillies game with his two daughters. They were unlucky enough to sit near a couple of drunks, who kept cursing and spitting and sloshing beer.

Vangelo complained to stadium officials, who hauled off one of the men. His partner, 21-year-old Matthew Clemmens (right), stayed behind and expressed his displeasure.

He put his fingers down his throat and vomited on Vangelo and his 11-year-old daughter.

"I never experienced anything like that before," Vangelo said.

He apparently had never been to a sporting event in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Vomiting.

I hate to write one of those "Bad Philly" columns since they are almost cliché. We all know Philadelphia fans take great pride in being excessively passionate, confrontational and socially stunted.

Right until you point out that they are excessively passionate, confrontational and socially stunted. Then they get defensive and say their image is overblown and you're just jealous and Waaaaah, Stop Picking on Us!

Okay, I won't dredge up the stories of booing Santa Claus, jeering Michael Irvin as he lay on the turf with a career-ending neck injury, throwing batteries at outfielders and opening a criminal court for rowdy fans at Veterans Stadium.

Forget about fans throwing mustard packs at the granddaughter of Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon during the 2008 World Series. Or the time way back in1949 when the Phillies forfeited a game when fans bombarded the field with glass bottles.

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Or when Flyers fans booed Sarah Palin for dropping the ceremonial first puck. That I can almost understand. Though I still can't figure out why they booed Matthew Scott in 1999 for his ceremonial first pitch.

He was the first person in the United States to receive a hand transplant. Apparently fans thought he'd been given Steve Carlton's left hand, so they let Scott have it when his pitch dribbled over the plate.

Anyway, forget I even mentioned all those tired tales of fan idiocy. They could have happened anywhere. They just seem to happen more often in Philadelphia than anywhere. And it's getting worse.

Last December a Philly-area woman wore a Tony Romo jersey to the store. Two guys in Eagles jerseys slapped her in the face, leaving a bloody cut.

Last summer two groups of Phillies fans got in a fight in the Citizen's Bank Parking lot. A 22-year-old was beaten to death. The cause of the conflict:

Somebody spilled a beer.

Another Philadelphia man was just sentenced to up to 14 years in jail after he got drunk and ran down two schoolteachers from Missouri. They'd come to town for a St. Louis series. One lady was killed; the other suffered a brain injury.

In fairness, the driver was probably too drunk to know if he'd run over Cardinals, Braves or Yankees fans.

It's almost to the point where the U.S. Department of Mental Health needs to track and catch a typical Philadelphia fan, dissect its brain and see if there's a mutant William Penn gene that forces people to act like morons.



The amateur psychologist in me used to think it was due to a massive inferiority complex. Losers are empowered by bullying, and all that. Now I'm wondering if it's something simpler.

Maybe they're just dumber than the usual fan.

Witness the guy who held up a Philadelphia area bank earlier this week wearing a Donovan McNabb jersey. Surveillance photos showed him to be a 40ish white guy, but he probably thought the jersey would lead investigators to the Eagles ex-quarterback.

Then there was Matthew Mervine, who was tossed out of a Phillies playoff game last year for rowdiness. Instead of leaving, he went to the front office and filled out an employment application.

He also grabbed three World Series rings. Mervine wasn't hard to track down. He'd left his name, address and phone number on the application.

None of which is to say that all Philadelphia fans are homicidal, woman-slapping, child-bullying drunks. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is a huge Phillies fan, and he hasn't intentionally vomited on Yankees fan Sonia Sotomayor in weeks.

"It's unfortunate that one fan could impact the perception that thousands of Phillies fans have anything but a positive experience when they come out to Citizens Bank Park," the Phillies said in a statement.

The perception started long before Clemmens stuck his finger down his throat. This latest incident seems to have even upset the stomachs of the average Philadelphian. In a Philly.com poll Friday, almost 75 percent rated it "Philly sports fans' all-time low."

Almost 16 percent checked "None - Philly fans are the best!" They undoubtedly descended from the fans who threw horse droppings at George Washington when he came to town for the Constitutional Convention.

But in a heartening twist, Vangelo said a fan caught a foul ball and gave it to his crying, puke-splattered daughter.

"She slept with the ball last night," he said. "When I woke her up this morning for school, the ball was still in her hand."

The Phillies should invite the little girl to throw out the first pitch at an upcoming game.

Then again, maybe not.

The fans would probably boo her.