Philadelphia sports fans may be called loyal, fierce, and crazy. A man named Henny brought his six-foot-long, 55-pound alligator named Wally to a Phillies game in September 2023, wearing a harness and a leash. By the time they arrived at the stadium, the players already had begun preparing for the game. He was asked to leave and did so without putting up any type of fight. Henny claims he and Wally weren’t there to see the ballgame but were rather there to meet the players. Wally has a public following and doesn’t go anywhere he is not invited. The Phillies do want Wally to come back and meet the players on the field, likely during an off-season game. He’s waiting for them to call him.
While the Wally event may have been odd to some, it’s not something surprising to happen in Philly. Many unhinged occurrences take place and usually, no one’s shocked by it. “Sadly, I wasn’t personally there to experience the wrong Santa in the stands,” said a huge Philly Sports fan, Leah Ogilvie. During the Eagles annual Christmas show in 1968, the score started as 0-11, leaving the city very unhappy. Eagles’ management hired a Santa impersonator to entertain the crowd, but in a season where everything was going south, he didn’t show up. Team executives began searching for a quick makeshift replacement and found 20-year-old Frank Olivo in the stands. It was considered perfect until Eagles fans didn’t believe for even a second that he was the real Santa, due to him being so thin. The fans didn’t take it well and Olivo was booed and began being pelted with snowballs, but still took the incident with stride.
“I saw a guy catch a foul ball and fall over the seats. And he lost his toupee,” my dad, Frank, witnessed three or four years ago at a Phillies game making a perfect example of what is expected of Philly fans. Not only was the guy leaping for his life trying to catch the foul ball, but he lost a whole head of hair while doing so. Embarrassment doesn’t exist in the world of Philly fans as they truly don’t care whether people like them or not which is what makes them such a strong fan base. As Jason Kelce says, “No one likes us, we don’t care.” There are many more stories held in the Philly family including when Eagles fans beat up Chief Zee, cheering on injuries, and throwing cheesesteaks at people. Philly is the place where everyone expects the unexpected.
