Phillies and Pirates: Rivals?

Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images Some years ago, a series of billboards went up with the words “I” and “Philadelphia”, with a crossed-out heart between them. A week later, in case anybody hadn’t picked up on the implication, the billboards were updated to plainly read “I Hate Philadelphia”. “They’re our arch rivals, you know”, said a team official representing the responsible party. (1)

If you were asked to guess which team put up the billboards today, you’d probably guess the Braves or the Mets. Maybe the Nationals, if you think they’ve recovered from their last ill-advised attempt to thumb their nose towards the Keystone State. But these billboards didn’t go up today. They went up in 1984, and…