The Phillies dropped a close game yes­ter­day in Cincin­nati, leav­ing Gen­er­al Man­ag­er Ruben Amaro at a loss for answers. (Cred­it: CSN Bay Area)

The famil­iar anguish of being a Phillies fan is back.

I felt it again this past week when I attend­ed two games between the Phillies and Nation­als in Wash­ing­ton.  Just three years ago, this ball­park tucked between the Ana­cos­tia Riv­er and the US Capi­tol was known as “Cit­i­zens Bank Park South,” as bus­es dis­gorged Philadel­phia fans by the thou­sands who had drunk their way down I‑95 to watch their beloved Phillies beat up on the hap­less Nats.  They seemed to out­num­ber the home­town faith­ful and always made their unwel­come pres­ence felt.  They were rau­cous, some­times coarse, and usu­al­ly left hap­py, if obnox­ious­ly so.

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