Rupp’s lack of Phils knowledge excusable?
Cameron Rupp, image- Jay Floyd
Phillies backstop Cameron Rupp is having quite a month. The righty batting Texan sports a .327 average with seven home runs and 17 RBI in 16 August games.
Informed by reporters following Sunday’s game that he is the first Phils rookie catcher to hit seven home runs in a calendar month since 1922, the 26-year-old responded in a noteworthy manner.
According to reports, Rupp replied, “Ah, that’s pretty cool. Is that when they were the A’s?”
Say what now?
Clearly, the Phillies were never the Athletics. That team, used to play in Philadelphia though, before relocating to Kansas City back in the 1950’s. The Phils have been around dating back to the 1880’s.
Rupp, who is an avid Dallas Cowboys fan, can tend to rub some Philadelphia sports fans the wrong way when it comes to his alligience regarding football, but shouldn’t he possess at least basic historical knowledge of the team he plays for?
Personally, I like Rupp. He’s been a pleasure to cover through the minors and into the big leagues. But, what amount of fan reaction for a mistake like this is valid and does his hot production of late get him a pass?
Before you share your thoughts below in the comments section, consider one more thing related to Rupp’s Cowboys fandom…on a December, 2013 episode of the PhoulBallz Podcast
(football chat begins at 34:00, bet proposal at 43:00), he wagered with me and Reading Fightins photographer Tug Haines that if the Eagles won the NFC East division title that season that he’d wear an Eagles jersey and post a picture of it on his Twitter account. The Eagles locked down that title and Rupp welched on the bet. Additionally, he later declined to follow through on paying his debt on an episode of Phillies Nation TV in 2014, never donning the Eagles’ midnight green whatsoever.This wager is brought up in fun, as I’ve reminded Cameron about it multiple times. However, from a guy that’s already given the six-foot-two 258-pounder some slack and laughed off this player dismissing a bet, perhaps I’m less prone to giving Rupp a complete pass from some good old fashioned ball busting.
