Booing Santa Claus more than a half century ago is a reputation Philadelphia sports fans just can’t seem to shake.
Sunday afternoon, Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia stepped to the plate to the tune of boos in Philadelphia. The greeting prompted Braves play-by-play voice Brandon Gaudin to note how much he enjoys the booing part of baseball, which analyst C.J. Nitkowski quickly agreed.
“They might’ve booed Christ after the resurrection…”
– Brandon Gaudin on Philly fans pic.twitter.com/gDSTRiNlDW
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) March 31, 2024
“This place, more than any other,” Nitkowski said of Philly. “It’s either against your team, for you team, for the opponent. Just boo everybody! You can’t get through an inning without somebody getting booed in either uniform… even on Easter.”
If Santa couldn’t avoid the boos, the Easter Bunny certainly wasn’t going to deter Philly sports fans from laying down some hate on their opponent. But Gaudin was hellbent on taking Philly’s perceived raucousness one step further.
“No let up, doesn’t matter,” Gaudin added. “They might have booed Christ after the resurrection! I don’t know, I wasn’t there that day.”
Jesus had his share of antagonists back in the day. It’s entirely possible that at least one of them were in the crowd to boo his resurrection, but it seems unfair to assume they were also a Phillies fan. This, however, is the reputation Philly can’t escape after they infamously booed Santa at an Eagles game in 1968, despite the fact that Phillies fans have since cheered for Santa at Citizens Bank Park.
But while Santa turned his jeers to cheers in Philadelphia, Arcia will have a difficult time doing the same. After the Braves beat the Phillies in a playoff game last season, Arcia mocked Bryce Harper in the clubhouse by saying, “Atta-boy, Harper!” In the wake of those playful jeers, Arcia will probably find himself on the “boo for life” list in Philly.
Whether or not Jesus ever found himself on Philly’s “boo list,” we may never know.
