Retiring Pitcher: Philly Fans Prevent Free Agents From Coming Here

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt, right, looks for a new ball as Philadelphia Phillies’ Maikel Franco, left, rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 7, 2015, in Philadelphia. The Phillies won 6-4. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Jeremy Affeldt, a longtime relief pitcher for the Royals, Rockies and Giants, is retiring from baseball at the end of this season. Affeldt, an above-average pitcher in the regular season, amazingly has one of the best postseason ERAs of all time: 0.86. He wrote a column for SI’s The Cauldron today about what he won’t miss about the game.

And the No. 1 thing he won’t miss: Phillies fans. He should know, having pitched against the Phils in the 2007 (with the Rockies) and 2010 (with the Giants) postseasons. The Phillies were actually the only real team to hit Affeldt effectively in the playoffs. Ryan Howard hit a homer off him in Affeldt’s one inning of work in 2007, and the Phillies got to him for a run in 2/3rds of an inning in 2010.

Despite its anti-Philadelphia stance, the column is pretty entertaining. “Hang on, I know what you’re thinking: Jeremy, do you have any idea how dangerous it is to insult the entire city of Philadelphia?! And yes, I know. I know all too well,” he writes. “So first, let me be clear. Philly is a great sports town, with passionate fans and a palpable energy.”

The problem, according to Affeldt, is that Philly fans cross the line too often — and, indeed, encourage each other to cross the line. I don’t think any Philadelphia sports fan can deny this, actually. We’ve all seen examples of people (usually drunk guys) egging each other on, or attempting to one-up each other when yelling at opposing athletes. Sometimes it’s good natured; other times it’s not.

But here’s the important point. Affeldt says Philly fans have a detrimental effect on their home team:

We are out here to play a game, and even though we are paid handsomely to do so, professional athletes should not be subject to vulgarity, personal attacks or epithets. Sadly, in Philadelphia, this kind of fan conduct is far too typical. The irony is, while Phillies fans succeed in making many players dread traveling there, they also (not surprisingly) impact the decision-making process of those same players in free agency.

Sure, it’s great to play for a rabid fan base, but after experiencing firsthand how powerful that fervor can be when it is channeling extreme negativity, it really makes you think twice about where all that collective anger comes from, and whether you want to subject yourself and your family to that all the time.

One can point to numerous examples of pro athletes who say they come to Philadelphia because of the fanbase. “Every game has an excitement to it,” Cliff Lee said when he signed with the Phillies as a free agent in 2010. “I don’t know what the fans do to create that much more volume and excitement but there’s something extra here. They don’t need the teleprompter to tell them to get excited. The feeling of playing on the field feels different than anywhere else.” At the same press conference he said that, Lee played down reports he turned down the Yankees because of the way his wife was treated at Yankee Stadium.

But it’s not like Affeldt — who also doesn’t like showboating, Wrigley Field, drug tests and travel — is lying. Yes, Philadelphia sports fans (or, at least, the popular representation of Philadelphia sports fans) turn off some players from coming here. There’s only one thing we can say to Affeldt, and those players: Boo.