Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Gibson says Philly fans are rough, but keep players on edge
Kyle Gibson is enjoying a pennant race with the Philadelphia Phillies, despite the citiy’s historically notorious sports fans.
The Phillies trail the Atlanta Braves by 3.5 games entering Wednesday’s showdown with the Braves in Atlanta. They have five games left in the season. The Phillies last made the playoffs 10 years ago, their last winning season.
Gibson was asked about Philadelphia’s fans on KTCK/1310 AM “The Ticket.” He was traded from the Texas Rangers at the July trade deadline.
Are the fans rough?
“They are, but it’s fun,” Gibson told The Hang Zone. “It’s a different scenario to be in, especially when you’re in the playoff hunt and the fans know they haven’t had a playoff team in a few years and they really want it bad. They just want to see the best baseball they can.”
Gibson, who is 4-5 with a 4.87 ERA since the trade (he was 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA with the Rangers), defended the Philly fan reputation.
“Maybe they get a little rowdy whenever you have a bad inning or whatever, but it’s really just what they see as bad baseball decisions or bad baseball being played,” he said. “We can’t fault them for that because we want to play our best and they just want to see us play our best as well.”
He said the intensity of the fan base helps keep players engaged.
“They’re really passionate. And It keeps you on edge. It keeps you really striving to play your best because they let you know when they don’t think you’re playing hard or you’re not playing your best,” he said. “It’s a fun atmosphere to be in.”
Gibson hit his first-career home run in has last start. It was something he had openly hoped to do.
“When it happened it was every bit of what I thought it was going to be like,” said Gibson, who rarely had a plate appearance while in the American League through his first eight seasons in the league. “What I can distinctly remember [thinking] was ‘just don’t miss a base as you’re rounding the bases.’ That was unbelievable.”
A former teammate texted him to say he really liked his bat flip. Gibson said he doesn’t remember doing it.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
