Of course it's hard to forget his game 5 hit against the Rays, or his leading of the parade with his dog Elvis.  But I'd still guess his reception without all of that still would have been a warm one.  It comes down to one simple fact that Philadelphia fans, me included, care a ton about whether they like a player personally.   Lets be honest, Bobby Abreu probably isn't going to be getting a sitting ovation let alone a standing one anytime soon in Philly.   But Abreu's numbers in comparison beat out Pat in almost every statistical category. Yet he never endeared himself to this town, and therefore we never embraced him as one of our own.  Burrell was embraced, and not always because of his performance.  

Being touted as a savior and the first pick in the draft as a Phillie, Pat never really lived up to expectations.    His supporters will often point to his OBP as proof of him being undervalued.  I call BS.   I watched the man play here for 9 seasons.   He hurt the team as much as he help edit.   Frequent prolonged slumps, strikeouts, defensive replacements,and benchings marked much of his career here in Philly.   Remember the season he hit .209 in 522 at ABs?  How about that he hit .260 or less in 7 of those 9 seasons?  He broke 100 RBI's only twice and averaged28 homers during the steroid era.   And while for most players all of this isn't bad, for the first pick in the draft and our savior, it was sort of disappointing. 

It goes to show that hustling from 1st to 3rd can be more important than numbers.   And maybe that's the way it should be.    While analyzing statistics adds to our enjoyment, we love sports because of the human element.  We love Pat because we could relate to him and he could relate to us.  We loved that he hated Billy Wagner, we loved that he gave opposing dugouts the finger, and we loved that he partied like a rock star.   And we loved that he did all of this while loving the city he was in.  Professionally speaking there are tons of guys I'd rather have hitting 5th in the lineup or chasing down fly balls in left field.   But when it comes to leading a parade, picking up girls, or going out for a beer, I'll take Pat the Bat.