The Josh Innes Show - Phillies Fans Turning On Harper?

Episode Date: October 7, 2025

First off, and I know this is dickish, but I enjoy when Philly teams lose. I have nothing against them. I don't hate the fans. I just like when people who are super passionate about something get burned. It's like when the dude who wants to be valedictorian gets a C on a paper. Also, people are finally starting to call out Bryce Harper for being a panderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. I'm enjoying the fact that the Phillies are going to lose this series to the Dodgers because I don't know there's something humorous about fan bases that care a lot more than others losing

right like people that suck their own dicks so often about their teams and how they're passionate they are like I enjoy when those fan bases lose I'm not against Philly at all and I actually like the people I have no real beef with them like it like but it's just funny when like in a city like Philly that cares a lot more. Like, do you think the people in L.A. care more than the people in Philly? Of course not. Do you think the people that the Brewers fans are more passionate about the Brewers than the Phillies fans are? No. But it's just funny to watch. Like I enjoy like when the people who take it the most seriously are the ones that fail. It's like when the kid that's like the brown nose in class, that's always raising their hand to answer all the questions,

it's like when that person gets a B on a test and you're like, ha. I didn't even try. I didn't even try and I got the same grader. Like, you got a D, like, somehow you failed. Let me play a couple of commercials and we'll get into it. But, you know, there's always, like, the dude in school or the kid in school that's the smart kid that really has to get good grades because it's what they have. Like, oh, I want to go to a good school and I have to get good grades. If I don't get good grades, whatever am I going to do?

So, like, whenever they fail, they take it really hard and you laugh at them because you know that you don't take it as seriously as they do. So, like, when you kind of sit back. And look, this could be a loser way to do things in life. You could say, wait, you're a slacker that sits around and doesn't try and you enjoy when people who do try, fail. Yeah, it's fun to do those things. So, like, you watch people, like, kids in school who, like, care so much and then, like,

lose their minds. Like, I had a buddy once when I was in school. And, like, he was on a quest to be the valedictorian or whatever. So anytime he, like, and he thought he was going to do well at everything. And there were times that he would do things that would fail. And he would have breakdowns over this. And I'd be like, it's not that serious. Like, I don't know why you're taking this so serious.

But some people do. And it's funny when the people who take it the most serious and care about it the most are the ones that fail. And that's why I enjoy when Philly loses because nobody cares more about the outcome of the sporting events in their city than the Philly people. Not New York, not Boston. Like, there is no city more tied in to, like, that's personality and its well-being and it's, mental well-being is more tied in to the results of sporting events than Philadelphia. So it's fucking hysterical when Philadelphia loses it something because then they just break down. Like I've started to see comments from people.

And it's good that they're finally starting to see it. But I'm starting to see more commentary about how Bryce Harper is just a pandererer now. Like I'll see people's tweets and shit. Like Bryce Harper, nobody cares that you wear a Philly fanatic bandanas, man. go be good at the I'm like listen it took a couple of years but I was finally right like it's a long play and it's one that you'd have to be committed to and it's one that you have to deal with a lot of shots from people and you have to take a lot of arrows but the anti-brice harper play eventually would bear out and Bryce Harper is now falling out of favor with people like

you talk about a superstar that no one talks about like you hear about show hey Otani all the time you hear about just go down the list of star players in baseball that you hear about you know, Cal Raleigh right now because he hits 60 home runs, which have you heard of a person hit 60 home runs and it make less news than Cal Raleigh? Like I get that 60 home runs isn't the record, but remember a couple of years ago when Aaron Judge hit 61 or 62 or whatever the number was to set the all-time American League record, and you would have thought the guy hit 140 home runs the way they talked about it. Cal Raleigh might as well be on the moon. Like nobody's giving a shit that this guy hit 60 home runs, which has only been.

done a handful of times ever. How many players have hit 60 home runs? In a single season, how many baseball players have hit 60 home runs? Roger Maris, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Cal Raleigh, Aaron Judge, right? Is there only say, am I missing somebody? Is there an obvious one I'm missing? Am I missing anyone? Just to make sure. I know I'm kind of random here, but how many players have hit 60 home runs in a season? The correct answer is, let's see. Yeah, those guys, Ruth, Maris, McGuire. I forgot Babe Ruth.

I forgot to mention Babe Ruth, I forgot to mention Bay, Ruth, but obviously. So, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Aaron, Judge, Cal Raleigh. So the one I just forgot to mention was Babe Ruth, 110 years ago, 100 years ago, 98 years ago, whatever it was. and no one talked about this like wow the big dumper hits 60 home runs yeah yeah cool who gives a shit but like that's kind of it's a total random aside there but like Bryce Harper used to be the biggest name out there now no one talks about Bryce Harper but Bryce Harper and we've talked about it for years on the podcast and it was a long play because Philly people didn't want to hear it because Philly people are easy to pander to all you have to do is put on some

Philly fanatic cleats and talk about how passionate the fans are and they'll love you to the you die. They're like cousin Eddie's dog snotch. You just scratch them on the belly. Clark you'll love you till the day you die. I wish I would have scratched them on the belly a little bit more. I'd probably be the biggest star in Philadelphia radio right now. I often think about that when I'm talking to nobody in my, you know, in my different jobs. I think about Philadelphia a lot. And I think about the fact that if I had just been someone that scratched their fucking bellies, they would have loved me till the day I died. But I couldn't get myself to do it. And I, you know, I ended up leaving. But like I think about that very often. Because, you know,

might I not have been, I might have been a guy that just had two stops on my radio journey instead of a guy who's had like seven if I wouldn't have, you know, been so concerned with getting myself out of there had I just played the game a little bit more. But again, that's neither here nor there. But it goes into the conversation about Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper is the king of pandraint. So Bryce Harper, when Bryce Harper was, you know, coming through, Bryce Harper was a guy that people loved and they loved his pandering and they loved his Philly fanatic headband. And they loved that his kid's name is like fucking hoagie, Ben Franklin, Hogi Wogie. Harper. I don't know what the fight. They love the fact that, like, our buddy sludge, his daughter's name is Harper. Why is his daughter's name Harper? Because they love Bryce Harper. Like, this is how things were with Bryce Harper. But I wonder if he'll change his kid's name now. Now that Bryce Harper's fallen out of favor, we need to get sludge on the phone and ask if there's a possibility that they change his kid's name to something else. Maybe they change his kid's name to Jalen. Maybe his daughter's name is Jalen now because Jalen wins and Bryce Harper doesn't. Here's our daughter, Sequin. But anyway, like, Bryce Harper spent all this time pandering because

McDougal is an easy person to pander to. McDougal wants you to pander to him. McDougal, like, no other sports fan is like that. Like, I guess you can go everywhere. Like, go to St. Louis. These sons of bitches love to be told they're the most educated fans in baseball. There's 14 people at the game, yet they want you to tell them that they're the most educated fans in baseball. And somewhere along the way, it became this fact, this opinion if somebody became fact that the Cardinals fans are the smartest fans in baseball. Trust me, I live there. They ain't that fucking smart.

I'm one of them. They ain't that fucking smart, right? So you pander to people, and that's how you survive, right? And the smart ones do it. Bryce Harper has done it, and it's been smart. But McDougal doesn't like your pandering once McDougal has lost interest in you as a player. Once McDougal has decided that you suck as a player, McDougal has made the decision that you are not worth his time and that you suck at

baseball or football or hockey or whatever sport it is. And even your pandering can't save you. And that's kind of where Bryce Harper is right now. As the Phillies continue to sputter, their star players are obsolete right now are the Phillies star players. And they've disappeared in the postseason. And they're about to be bounced from the series. And they're about to be bounced from the playoffs again. And I do take some sort of joy. It's not an anti-Filly thing. It's not a you got fired their thing. I feel the same way about a lot of fan bases that put themselves in these situations where they blow themselves for being such great fans and they care about it so much. It's funny to watch the people like that lose. There's an enjoyment that comes from

watching people who actually care about it lose. See, that's the key in life. Don't care about things as much. If you're not as passionate about things, if you just kind of sit back and are just kind of half-assed into everything, things don't hurt as much. That's why when I get fired at jobs, I'm never hurt by it because I never fully commit myself to it because I know I'm eventually going to get fired. Maybe that's a horrible way to go about life. Maybe that's a terrible thing, right? But I used to have a basketball coach who would say, I always expect the worst.

So when something good happens, I'm pleasantly surprised. That's how I operate. I can't fully commit myself to anything because I know eventually the day of reckoning is going to come. And it's a lot easier when the reckoning comes to say, wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't care that much anyway than to be fully invested in something and have your heart broken.

The thing is Philly is fully invested all the time. There is no half-ass. There is no, oh, we're kind of halfway lukewarm. warm on the Phillies. It's either we're going to win the fucking World Series and win 10 of them in a row or we're the worst team ever. But there's passion one way or the other. There is no middle ground. There is no apathy. There is

no like, hey, ho-hum. So Philly is all in. So when Philly loses in these situations, it's funny because they're so passionate that you know their hearts are fucking destroyed. And I could get on here and be like, boy, I feel bad for them. I don't.

It's just funny to me. Like, I like to watch the world burn. Maybe I'm a shitty person. Maybe that's it, you know? You guys have heard me meltdown about the occasional thing I'm passionate about, too. You've heard me yell about Saints games. You've heard me lose my mind over certain things. But sometimes in life, it's just kind of easier to be middling on it.

So it doesn't hurt as much when it fails. Now, the winning doesn't feel as good either. Like when your team wins and you're not fully invested, it doesn't feel the same. You're like, cool, we won. When you lose, it doesn't feel the same. You're like, we lost. Big deal. So I kind of admire that McDougal's able to dive head first.

in everything and think it's the greatest thing or the worst thing ever. It's admirable. But just know that when you go out and you get swept by the Dodgers, it's humorous to watch the way you react to it. And now the way a lot of people are reacting to it is we're tired of Bryce Harper pandering, go get hits. Well, Bryce Harper's been pandering since he got there. But you like the pandering until he isn't performing anymore.

Then you want to call him out for the pandering. That's where you're hypocrites and that's where you're frauds. Whereas somebody like me can at least point it out, but you don't want to hear it early on. You don't want to hear early on that the guy's just kissing your ass because you're easy to dupe. You're easy to have people fall in love. McDougal is so easy to scam. That's why I should have done it when I was there. I should have been more in.

If I would have got in there and just been like, I fucking love all this shit and blah, blah, blah. You'd be like, I love this fucking guy because you're easy to dupe. I love you, but you are. You're just tell, all you got to do is tell them you love them and they're in. And that's what Bryce Harper did. but he ain't performing anymore. And when you stop performing, all of a sudden, McDougal wants to get hard

and act like he's always known that you've been a pander and he's tired of your shit. That's what McDougal does. All right, anyway, more to come.