Mike Schmidt says Philly fans have softened over the years. What say you?

After Jimmy Rollins passed him as the Philadelphia Phillies All-Time hits leader, Mike Schmidt talked about the passing of the torch as well as the Philly fans he knows all too well.

Hey, if there are any players qualified to talk about fan scrutiny in this city, it's the two hit kings who have heard their fair share of criticism over the years.

Here's the quote that stood out to me from John Finger's story on Schmidty's reflection:

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But Rollins, Schmidt says, has had a relatively easy time with the fans and media. At least things have gone much easier for Rollins than they did for Schmidt, according to Schmidt.

“Compared to me, I’m sure he’d agree with you if you said so,” Schmidt explained. “It’s the same fans, the kids of the fans, the children of the fans. Sometimes the parents or grandparents here, those are the ones that watched me play at the Vet. It’s a different generation out here now. The atmosphere is a bit more soft, if you will, in regard to fan passion. I’m not saying they don’t boo out here or are not passionate. I’m just saying that back in the day, when we played, the relationship with the fans and the players was a little bit more touchy. It was fantastic when it was up there and losing streaks and bad individual plays, strikeouts with the bases loaded. It seems to me like things were a little harder back then.”

Emphasis mine.

I don't feel qualified (old enough) to really have a strong opinion on the matter but I do have a few thoughts. I will say Rollins has heard plenty from fans about his oft lackadaisical play.

The media scrutiny now has to be more intense than it did in Schmidty's day, as Finger rightly points out. But I could see Schmidt's point about the atmosphere at Citizens Bank Park being a bit friendlier than the days at the Vet. There are flowers and pretty green grass and and tasty food and non-stale beer and stuff that makes people happy at CBP whereas the Vet was a concrete creation that probably amplified the misery caused by some of the action on the turf.