Phillies World Series Victory Would Mean Recession, Forbes Claims

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Anyone standing in a five mile radius of the Trinity nuclear test site that was Bryce Harper's Game 5 home run Sunday night knows just what thermal energy is contained by Philadelphia fandom.

Decibels that roar riptides across the Delaware to Red Bank and rattle windowframes from Pattison to Passayunk. Seething, barely contained, coiled furor that gives Philadelphia the most menacing home field advantage in professional sports.

That the fanbase that reenacts the zombie climb of the Jerusalem wall in "World War Z" indiscrimnately after major wins and major losses can also turn the tides seas away and move global markets is perhaps no surprise to a local. But national financial media outlets are now ascribing the ability to launch a great economic depression to the success of the Phillies.

The logic of Forbes and Bloomberg starts and ends with superstitious coincidence. The Phillies 1980 World Series title coincided with the recession and energy crisis sparked by the 1979 Iranian revolution. The 2008 championship came with the Great Recession. They also cite the former Philadelphia Athletics (now Oakland-based) championships in 1929 and 1930, which happened during the Great Depression, as further evidence.

"Considering major stock indexes are set for their worst performances in over a decade and the U.S. economy has contracted for consecutive quarters, a 2022 Phillies title may add to that dubious distinction," Forbes wrote Wednesday.

While outlets that chiefly stick to stocks and baubles for billionaires first made the connection, the Astros paper of record, the Houston Chronicle, ran their own paywalled version of events that impugns Gritty and basically says the Phillies won with the intention of sparking economic chaos. "Precisely the behavior you’d expect from a city led by Gritty, a towering orange creature who wears a capacious beard and a Philadelphia Flyers jersey," they write.

RELATED: Local Girl, 7, Is Gritty's Biggest Fan, 'She Loves Him So Much'

The reality: the World Series winner has no connection to what most financial experts agree is likely is a looming recession in America. And if there is any relation whatsoever between this recession and the World Series, it's that both the economy and the Astros are lined up for a loss.

Catch up on more Phillies coverage from their magic 2022 run to the World Series:

• Bryce Harper's Shot Heard Around The World
• Phillies Go With Aaron Nola For World Series Game 1
• From $20 To $20K: Surreality Of Phillies World Series Ticket Prices
• Phillies Vs. Astros World Series Preview: Schedule, Tickets, Odds
• How Ruben Amaro Jr. Helped Build Phillies World Series Team
• Phillies 'Old School' Ball Bucks Trends Of Their Superteam Opponents
• Phillies Return To Houston For World Series, Where They've Won Before