Scholarly Articles about #Phillies and Fandom

My research with the #Phillies hashtag inspired me to look more into the fanbase itself. Specifically, I looked into the fans’ reaction to the 2008 World Series championship win, sports fanaticism in general, and fan involvement in a professional sports team’s decision making. Overall, each of these articles offers a new perspective on sports fandom.

The first article is titled, “The Elementary Forms of Sports Fandom: A Durkheimian Exploration of Team Myths, Kinship, and Totemic Rituals” and was written by Michael Serazio.  This article explores the fan reaction to the 2008 World Series victory, describing the scene after as “the city exploding in noise.” He goes into greater description, which was a happy and nostalgic read, as I was there for that game 5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.  Serazio brings up the definition of “collective effervescence”, which Emile Durkheim said refers to “moments of intense social unity and reaffirmed group ideals that interrupt the prosaic goings-on of anonymous everyday life in a big city.” I know from my own personal experience that this perfectly describes what happened on that cold night in October in Philadelphia. Serazio’s main point is that if you look at the allegiance that fans have to their team, “the contour of religious expression as a ‘nonmaterial social fact’ begin to emerge.” He goes on to point out that the Phillies “embody and represent Philadelphia in a totemic fashion.” As a fan that frequently spends time at the ballpark, I can wholeheartedly agree. And as someone who learned about the team from my mother, I can also agree when the author writes that the Phillies totem “equally bridges and binds generations of … families.” This article is very well written and researched and helped me see myself, and other Phillies fans, in a new way.

The second article focuses more on sports fanaticism in general, not just baseball fanaticism. Written by Robert Seidman, “Sports Fanaticism: An Insider’s Report” discusses the world’s feverish fascination with sports. The author points out that supporting a team or player “provides pleasure, lets off steam, and usually, but not always, channels energy in a relatively benign way.” I have found this to be true regardless of how my team is doing. The author goes on to describe how smart athletes captivate him and how especially talented players “are improvisatory artists preternaturally attuned to their craft.” This is another point that I agree with. I personally admire the art of pitching and like to watch the best aces of today. More reasons for sports fanaticism are detailed, by these two stood out to me, as a fan, the most.

My final article is titled, “Fan involvement in a professional sport team’s decision making” and was written by Craig Hyatt, William Sutton, William Foster, and Dylan McConnell. The main subject is how playing fantasy sports online have had an impact on fans, and by extension, team general managers. Fan engagement has been relatively limited, with the fans and the people in charge being separated by a large distance. However, playing fantasy sports puts fans in the general manager’s shoes and allows them to create and manage their own team. Fans can see stats, and have the ability to make the team as best as it can be, with the clear advantage of not having to deal with any kind of money, while GMs are limited in terms of provided funding. For different reasons entirely, in terms of funding, fans would prefer to stay at home to watch games. The authors point out that, “while we acknowledge that ticket sales have been affected by the recession, improvements to the home viewing experience, and the rising cost of attending live, we believe that there is a fourth explanation. The new twenty-first century sports consumer who is accustomed to controlling the action through fantasy leagues and video games can no longer be expected to passively watch a sporting contest as just a spectator.” This is a unique perspective to have, as well as being something that I hadn’t previously considered. I personally thoroughly enjoy playing GM and manager, but that enjoyment doesn’t even compare to how much I love going to the ballpark and experiencing the game in person. I still focus on my Phillies, and not on the accomplishments of a single player that may or may not be on my fantasy team, as the article suggests.

Reading these scholarly articles has allowed me to analyze my own fanhood, as well as analyze new and different perspectives about what it means to be a baseball fan.