Hug a Philadelphia sports fan today. They’ve been through a lot

Philadelphia sports fans have a reputation for not always being the most upstanding citizens.

If you’re wondering why, just ask the kid who had a home run ball ripped out of his glove and gave it to the woman not-so-affectionately known as “Phillies Karen.”

You can also ask former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.

Or Pennsylvania State Police horses.

Or Santa Claus.

That said, though, it’s hard not to feel a little bad for Philly fans after what they endured Thursday night.

The Phillies suffered a season-ending playoff loss (pause here for Los Angeles fans to respectfully compose themselves – you had plenty of time to celebrate after the Dodgers won 2-1 in 11 innings on a shocking throwing error by Philadelphia relief pitcher Orion Kerkering).

Next up in the NFL, the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles were dominated by their NFC West rival, the New York Giants, 34-17 on “Thursday Night Football.” And in the NHL, the Flyers lost their season opener 2-1 against the Florida Panthers.

For fans in any other city, this could be considered the worst day ever. But believe it or not, Philly fans had to endure a similarly disheartening day nearly 42 years ago, according to sports statistician Greg Harvey.

Harvey pointed out on And that unlucky city was Philadelphia.

It was the day the Phillies, nicknamed the “Wheeze Kids” that season by all the veteran players on the team, fell 5-0 to the Baltimore Orioles to lose the World Series four games to one.

Meanwhile, the Eagles got off to a 4-2 start to the season before losing that day to the Dallas Cowboys 37-7. It was the start of a seven-game losing streak for the Eagles, who ended up finishing the season 5-11.

The Flyers suffered their first loss of the season — 5-4 to the New York Rangers — after starting the year with five straight wins. A few months later, they finished third in the Patrick Division before being swept out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Washington Capitals.

So maybe, just maybe, you’d like to go easy on the Philadelphia sports fans in your life — at least until the next time one or more of them does something that makes us cringe.

And I hope those fans extend the same courtesy to Kerkering. Maybe he’ll end up being the only person who can tell Santa and others that Philly fans aren’t so bad after all.