Hug a sports fan in Philadelphia today. They’ve been through a lot

Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation for not always being the most upright citizens.

If you’re wondering why, just ask the kid who snatched a home run ball from his glove and gave it to the little-known woman named “Phyllis Karen.”

You can also ask the former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvine.

Or some Pennsylvania State Police horses.

Or Santa Claus.

All that said, it’s hard not to feel bad for Philadelphia fans after what they endured Thursday night.

The Phillies suffered a season-ending playoff loss (pause here so Los Angeles fans can respectfully console themselves – you had plenty of time to celebrate after the Dodgers won 2-1 in 11 innings on a shocking blunder by a Philadelphia pitcher Orion Kerkering).

Then in the NFL, the Super Bowl champion Eagles dominated the NFC West rival New York Giants 34-17 on “Thursday Night Football.” In the NHL, the Flyers lost their season opener 2-1 to the Florida Panthers.

For the fan base in any other city, this would be considered the worst day ever. But believe it or not, Philadelphia fans had to endure a similar frustrating day nearly 42 years ago, according to sports statistician Greg Harvey.

Harvey noted in X that October 16, 1983 was the only other time in history that a city’s MLB team suffered a season-ending loss in the postseason while an NFL and NHL team also lost. And that unlucky city was Philadelphia.

That was the day the Phillies, nicknamed the “Wheeze Kids” that season for all the veteran players on the roster, fell 5-0 to the Baltimore Orioles to lose four World Series games to one.

Meanwhile, the Eagles started their season 4-2 before losing that day to the Dallas Cowboys 37-7. It was the beginning of a seven-game losing streak for the Eagles, who finished the season 5-11.

The Flyers suffered their first loss of the season — 5-4 to the New York Rangers — after starting the year with five straight wins. Months later, they ended up finishing third in the Patrick Division before being eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Washington Capitals.

So, maybe, just maybe, you might want to take it easy on the Philadelphia sports fans in your life — at least until the next time one or more of them does something that makes the rest of us feel down.

Hopefully these fans will extend the same courtesy to Kerkering. Maybe he’ll end up being the only one who can tell Santa Claus and the others that Philadelphia fans aren’t so bad after all.