When you’re flying high, there will be haters. And there aren’t many teams flying higher right now than the Phillies. Up 2-0 in the NLCS on the Diamondbacks with one sign of slowing down, this team is hitting on all cylinders and having fun doing it. Every game at Citizens Bank Park has been a party.
On “The Dan LeBatard Show” earlier this week, David Samson couldn’t hold his tongue when the topic of the Phillies and their fans came up.
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“As for Phillies fans, I can’t stand them. I’m sorry, we’re on a national show, I shouldn’t say it, but as a guy who was in the NL East for 18 years it is absolutely ridiculous.
“But let me tell you, in Philly there were years when they were not in the playoffs and it’s quiet and they’re grumpy and they’re rude and it’s empty. And now all of the sudden it’s a bunch of front-runners who are going crazy and cheering.
“They’re not even in the top-five fan bases in all of baseball.”
I don’t know about you, but my first thought upon hearing this ridiculousness was “Who the heck is David Samson?!?”
Philadelphia Phillies
To save you a trip to Google, David Samson’s hatred of the Phillies doesn’t come from nowhere. He was the executive VP of the Montreal Expos for three years, before moving on to his role as president of the then-Florida Marlins in 2002, where he worked until 2017.
So the teams he ran took their fair share of beatings from the Phillies for the better part of two decades. The teams under his care were a combined 204 games under .500. I guess you can understand why he wouldn’t feel warm and fuzzy about a division rival who enjoyed far more success than he did.
He recounted times where he was verbally abused at CBP by Phillies fans. So much so, that he would hide his credential so passers-by couldn’t tell he was representing the Marlins.
“I was basically told that I am the world’s worst human and the worst, ineffective president and my team stinks and the Marlins stink and how dare you, what kind of person are you,” Samson said. “It was silly.”
Maybe they shouldn’t have said all of those things, but the Marlins did (and do) stink. So what are we talking about?
If you’re wondering what qualified him to run two different MLB franchises, both clubs were owned at the time of his hiring by Jeffrey Loria, who just happened to be married to Samson’s mother at the time.
Samson does have one other claim to fame, one that offers a bit more insight into his personality. He tried his hand at the reality show Survivor, where he was the very first competitor voted off the island. Go figure.