Bullpen won’t give Rays relief from Philly fans

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Through the first two games of the World Series, Tampa’s relief corps has been outstanding, holding the powerful Phillies to just one earned run in 6 1/3 innings. But with the series shifting to Citizens Bank Park for the next three games, Rays pitchers will have to deal with more than just Philadelphia’s bats. They’ll have to deal with Philadelphia’s fans as well.

The ballpark’s tiered bullpens are located beyond the fence in right-center field, which allows fans to crowd against the railings of the back bullpen to watch -- and harass -- relievers as they warm up. When the park opened in 2004, the Phillies originally had the back bullpen, but fans -- the home fans -- were so abusive the Phillies pitchers insisted on moving to the lower bullpen, closer to the field, for the second game and they’ve been there ever since.

‘I can tell you, down there in that bullpen as a visiting pitcher, you’d better bring your earmuffs because you’re going to get slaughtered,’ said Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who spent six years with Astros before being traded to the Phillies last winter.

‘Our fans here are very passionate toward the game. Our fans give us a big home-field advantage because of just how intense, and the energy they bring.’

But if the Rays, who played just one previous three-game series in Citizens Bank, think it’s bad now they should have seen it before says Dodgers bullpen catcher Rob Flippo.

‘The first year it was really bad,’ he said. ‘It was really loud, aggressive. The security, I don’t want to say they didn’t do their job, they were just kind of lax.’

Meanwhile the Phillies relievers were dealing with their own problems in Tampa. According to Chad Durbin’s blog, when the right-hander was asked to warm up in the seventh inning of Game 1 he was so overcome by nerves could barely stand -- and nearly threw up.

-- Kevin Baxter