Phillies use Tug McGraw's iconic Mets quote to redecorate training facility

Ahh, spring training. It’s a time of renewal in baseball, when players come back together after months apart, ready to start training for the new season. With the players refreshed and raring to go, it makes sense to do a little redecorating so your spring training facility matches the attitude of your players, right?

The Philadelphia Phillies have done this, redecorating a section of their Clearwater, Florida stadium (Spectrum Field) with images of iconic Phillies players. And in the hallway leading to the clubhouse, they emblazoned their wall with one of the most well-known quotes in baseball history.

Do you see the problem with that quote on the wall? It definitely belongs to Tug McGraw, who played for the Phillies from 1975 to 1984. But he didn’t speak that quote during those years. He said it in 1973, when he was playing for the New York Mets. So it’s a little weird that the quote is on the wall in a Phillies venue, right? Weird, and maybe even wrong?

In general, inspirational quotes aren’t exclusive to the situation for which they were originally spoken. That’s kind of the point. A quote is thought of as generally inspirational because it’s transcendent. Tug’s quote is evergreen, and can be applied to many situations in any sport. Still, the Phillies using it feels wrong somehow. McGraw might have been part of their team, and part of their legendary 1980 World Series championship team, but that quote is so rooted to Tug when he was with the Mets.

Plus, the Phillies and Mets are NL East rivals. Even though the quote was used in a part of the stadium that’s not typically accessible to the public, it’s hard to believe that the Phillies didn’t think they’d draw criticism for using a quote that was said by a player while he was with one of their team’s most hated rivals.

Rationally, there’s nothing wrong with the Phillies using that quote. Tug McGraw means a lot to the team, and his giant, fully stretched leap when they won the 1980 World Series is absolutely iconic. And that simple quote is pretty much the mantra of every team that’s down and out and trying to succeed against tall odds.

But this is sports. Rationality isn’t always standard operating procedure, and team affiliation is everything. That quote has nothing to do with the Phillies at all, and that’s all most people will see. If they want to avoid this kind of kerfuffle in the future, the Phillies may want to consider digging into their own rich, colorful history the next time they redecorate.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher