"This is Mayor John Street calling to say, 'Go Phillies!'"
That's how Mr. Mayor greeted me last night when I asked him if he wanted to weigh in on the Phillies.
He's not Ed Rendell; you won't find him on Eagles postgame or Phillies pregame, and he didn't watch the game yesterday (he was visiting a sick friend at the hospital). But John Street is digging the Phillies these days.
Even when their playoff chances looked dodgy in early September, Street was man-crushing on Jimmy Rollins at City Hall, and he thinks this organization makes the city look good.
They've got role models galore (Rollins, Howard, Utley, Rowan to start), who don't just look good, "They write checks," Street said. (That would be checks for charity, not for campaign contributions, you cynics. Rollins is giving 32 computers to Onley High School, for example)
"This is a special bunch of guys," Street said, showing what felt like sincere appreciation.
Like a true fan, Street said he was nervous before the game, picturing a week of second-guessing, nay-saying, good ol' fashioned Philly phlagellation -- you know, a normal week.
But they won.
“Pinch me – this is unbelievable!” Street spouted last night, not long after leading managing director Loree Jones, solicitor Romy Diaz and chief of staff Joyce Wilkerson in a "Go Phillies" chee for the benefit of club president David Montgomery, who was on the other end of a cell phone.
“The whole region will be floating,” Street said. “Even those of us who are not diehard fans, are going to wake up tomorrow morning and feel good.”
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