Apology: Nick Castellanos did not actually blame fans, Phillies In 5

Nick Castellanos, if you’re reading this, my bad.

Yesterday, I fired off a pretty angry blog ripping you for your comments about Phillies fans and the CBP atmosphere. After sleeping on it, I don’t actually think you were blaming the fans for what happened Monday night.

You were just describing what Citizens Bank Park can be like during Red October — the highs, the lows, the chaos. I still stand by what I said about not wanting to hear anything fan-related after a brutal loss like that, but now that the rage has cooled off, I get where you were coming from.

Here’s the full quote:

Nick Castellanos on fans and the playoff atmosphere at CBP

“I think that the stadium is alive on both sides. When the game is going good, it’s wind at our back, but when the game is not going good, it’s wind in our face. The environment can be with us, and the environment can be against us.

When everything’s going good and you’re rolling it’s a [pain] to play here when you’re an opposing team because the environment is amazing. But if we run into adversity and the tide shifts and now we’re playing more tight because we don’t want to be reprimanded for something bad.”

Shop Phillies Gear Here

I still think the whole “We don’t want to be reprimanded” line from Nick Castellanos is absurd. No one in the stands is going to reprimand you — what are you talking about? That’s literally the manager’s job. And based on the results, he’s not exactly doing much of that anyway, because here we are, down 0–2 in the NLDS.

I’m still not a big fan of those comments, but whatever. I’ve moved on.

This apology serves two purposes. First, I was actually kind of mean to Nick Castellanos. I told him to go fuck himself. That was… a bit much. I let my emotions get the better of me. Think of it like an AJ Brown cryptic tweet — harmless in hindsight, just an emotional outburst. Look at me, getting emotional. Embarrassing stuff.

If Nick can’t find it in his heart to forgive me, I’ll just say this: I once referred to Nick Sirianni as Benito Mussolini. We’re cool now. I’m bought back in. So if Sirianni and I can bury the hatchet, I think Nick Castellanos and I can too.

The second reason for this apology? My official buy-in to Phillies in 5. It’s happening. Powder blues in LA — that’s a winning formula. I don’t have stats, just belief. I woke up feeling weirdly great today. Hopeful, even. That’s rare these days. But somehow, this Phillies team gave me that.

Call it delusion, a cry for help, or just pure manifestation — whatever it is, it’s real. Take two in LA, and all bets are off when we’re back at The Bank. And by God, the fans will show up and scream their asses off on Saturday night. I can’t wait.