Photo Day has always been one of my favorite games to attend during the Phillies season. My grandparents would take my younger brother and I every season for most of our adolescence years. Those experiences down on the Vet turf getting pictures with the likes of Dave Hollins and Gregg Jefferies remain some of my fondest with both my now deceased grandparents and as a Phillies fan in general. This year, will be no exception, as my father and I will be attending the game whilst taking in the atmosphere at field level like I did in my youth.
I was on Instagram today doing what everyone does there, liking pictures of cats in outfits, when I came across this photo on the official Phillies Instagram account:
Awesome, a Photo Day contest. Just hashtag your photos during Photo Day and an autographed Chase Utley shirt. Easy enough. I’m fully on board to participate in this contest tomor…
… wha, WHAT? What’s that kid wearing in the lower left quadrant?
Once again, the always disappointing social media of the Philadelphia Phillies strikes again. It’s a kid wearing an Angels t-shirt holding a pro-Mike Trout sign that reads ‘Hit ’em out Trout’ – in a Phillies promotional ad. Come on guys, what is this? Even if that hipster photo filter mildly skews what is glaringly obvious, how is this picture even chosen to be used in the first place?
Imagine the outrage if the Eagles held Photo Day and had a kid wearing a Tony Romo jersey in the promotional photo. Remember the outrage with Dom Brown being a Cowboys fan? It would be twice as fierce.
I do like the sign being held by Mike Trout Kid’s brother, “will trade my brother for Utley.” Unsure if the brother is an Angels or Phils fan since his jersey is being obscured by his sign. If the point of trading him is because he is a Trout fan makes situation have deeper, compounding problems. He is obviously not setting a good examples for his younger brother. Either way it’s clever. I would have traded my little brother for some reliable relief pitching at the trade deadline in 2001.