Phillies: Phandemic Krew embodies diehard Philadelphia fans

Fans watch the game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies from outside of Citizens Bank Park (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Fans watch the game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies from outside of Citizens Bank Park (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 2
Next
Phillies
Phillies fans watch the game from outside Citizens Bank Park. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /

View for the Krew

Brett and Oscar say they have somewhat of a decent view of the infield, but especially the left side — whoever is fielding third base, in particular. This past series, they say they harassed Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela, as well as whoever else was out there in their sightline.

The duo said the “krew” yelled “Yo Gio!,” who looked over, and the socially distanced Phillies fans replied, “The game is over there!”

Of course, the pinnacle point for the Phandemic Krew so far was in Thursday’s win, when Yankees manager Aaron Boone complained about their use of the air horn.

“When I was doing it when Giancarlo Stanton was batting, we were laughing about it,” Brett said. “I was like, “Oscar, I think Boone is complaining about us!”

Oscar said Boone complaining was definitely a “point of pride” for the group. “You talking about Boone, who last year said they were ‘savages’; now, they are crying about an air horn,” he said.

“There’s no stopping us. We are still going to be out here for the rest of the season.”

Socially distanced precautions

While the Phandemic Krew is growing, in both size and popularity, Oscar and Brett are taking the steps to assure the health and safety of everyone amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — the reasons they cannot be actually inside the stadium for games.

They are socially distanced from each other and wear masks. They even have the cartoon Phanatic on their signs wearing the proper personal protective equipment.

“We take it really serious out here. I actually have Xs marked on the ground, six feet apart,” Oscar said. “We have hand sanitizers zip-tied to the gates, and I have boxes of masks for anybody that shows up.”

“We don’t want to mess this up so we do want to follow protocols.”

More cowbell!

Near the end of their Friday morning interview on 97.5 The Fanatic, Brett and Oscar were allowed to sound their instruments, a cowbell and horn, respectively, to respond to true or false questions.

The duo was silent when asked if manager Joe Girardi will make the best of a bad bullpen, whether Rhys Hoskins will bat over .270 this year, and whether Alec Bohm will contribute in 2020. However, there were some questions they sounded their cowbell and horn in approval, including the team will re-sign Realmuto, Spencer Howard will be called up by the weekend, and that the Phillies will make the playoffs this year.

We should all appreciate the ‘Krew’

The Phandemic Krew is the embodiment of the true Philadelphia Phillies fan. Diehards. Being there for the team, through good times and bad. Making sure the other team hears it, and even the Phillies themselves when things are not done the right way. You have to love it.

“I watch a lot of baseball, and as far as I know, we are the only city doing something like this,” Brett said. “There are people on roofs of buildings, but I think we are the only city that has a group of fans that comes and hangs outside.”