(baseball’s best fans show their appreciation for Cole Hamels tying his shoes)

While it might’ve been unfortunate timing for Jimmy Rollins to call Phillies phans phrontrunners in the midst of his ballclub relinquishing first place to the New York Mets — winners of their 6th consecutive today in Pittsburgh — the enterprising pholks (christ, enough already) at We Should Be GM‘s have hit upon a novel solution ; patrons attending Tuesday’s home against the Nats are encouraged to engage in what WSBGM’s calls “a blind positivity so strong that it reverberates throughout the stadium from the time the Phillies take the field for the first pitch, until the last player walks off into the clubhouse.”

Everything must be cheered. A base hit- hooray! A stolen base- clap, clap, clap. A homerun- Go Phils! An error by the 1st basemen- yeah! A pop-up on the 1st pitch of the at bat by our shortstop- alright! An inning ending double play with the bases loaded and no runs scored- la de frickin’ da! Jimmy Rollins doesn’t like boos, he wants to feel like we’re rooting for him, so let’s cheer our asses off for everything the Phils do, good or bad. No boos allowed, no silence allowed, only throat-scratching belly-deep cheers and applause. Ryan Howard will be stunned when he slinks back to the dugout after a strikeout while in the midst of encouraging “get ’em next time”. Carlos Ruiz will scratch his head when he hears “way to make contact” after he grounds out to the secondbaseman killing a rally. Ryan Madson will nervously smile as the fans chant “Mad Dog” while he allows inherited base runners to score. Jimmy Rollins will shed a tear of satisfaction when he ends the game 0-5, but still gets the fans’ appreciation with “MVP” being repeated over and over again, louder each time he comes to the plate.

Rollins wants fan support, well let’s give him some support and then some. Win, lose, or suck we’ll be behind you every second of every game. Stop and think about how funny it would be to see Jimmy fly out to the centerfielder and get a standing ovation as he trots back to the dugout.

With the date of Billy Wagner’s return still in doubt, the Mets acquired reliever Luis Ayala from the Nats earlier today in exchange for infielder Anderson Hernandez. Ayala, the longest tenured DC player (and a former Montreal Expo) led the Nats in appearances (62) while compiling a 1-8 record (5.77 ERA, 63 hits and 22 walks allowed in 57.2 IP).  Had Eddie Kunz been successful in his limited big league opportunities, it’s fair to say Ayala might not be moving from the outhouse to the penthouse.  And that’s the last time Shea’s right-field bullpen will be compared to a penthouse.