A good-natured Yankees fan submits to an assault of silly string late in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park on Oct. 31, 2009. A couple of adults in Section 109 goaded a kid about 10 years old to shoot the string at a pair of Yankees fans several rows down. The kid cooperated with conspiratorial glee, but instead of showing irritation, the two fans laughed and adopted a bring-it-on attitude, perhaps influenced by their team’s imminent victory. The Yankees won, 8-5.

The Yankees fans’ response was a happy counterpoint to the foul temper shown in the second inning by a Phillies fan seated in Section 110.  When five Yankee fans seated behind him started hooting for their team — and one of them had an especially piercing scream — the Phillies fan stood up, beer in hand, and began a loud and vicious tirade against this small group.  He screamed that they were in HIS house and he wasn’t going to tolerate their screaming while they were in HIS house.

This guy was trembling with rage. He was dressed in a Phillies jersey, a street-tough leanness to him, and as he stood there screaming he seemed to be a nanosecond away from violence. It was scary.

The Yankees fans made barely a peep the rest of the game.

What someone needed to tell that Phillie thug was that it isn’t just HIS house. The ballpark is the house of every other fan, too, and fortunately the vast majority of fans are not of his ilk, loud and visible as his ilk is.

The silly string Yankees fans had class; the Phillies fan was an example of why the city’s reputation is what it is around the country.