Jimmy Rollins may have finally told the truth about what it's like playing in Philadelphia.
In an interview with FOX Sports, the outspoken shortstop, who was traded to the Dodgers just before Christmas, said being in Los Angeles has made him feel liberated.
"The general area, the city [of Philadelphia] being blue-collar, it's not conducive for a superstar," he said. "You can be good, but you've got to be blue-collar along the way, keep your mouth shut, just go and work. Where obviously, this is LA. It's almost like it's OK to be more flamboyant. You kind of appreciate that the more you're out there. Because LA loves a star.
"So in that sense, I feel free. If I want to 'show out' a little bit — from the outside looking in, people might say, 'You're in Hollywood.' But no, in some places you couldn't do that."
Rollins chafed at the suggestion he acted entitled and "too much like a superstar" during his 15 seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, though he was benched multiple times as a Phillie for a lack of hustle.
Rollins finished a 15-season tenure with the Phillies in 2014.Photo: Bill Kostroun
"The superstar part, not even close," he said. "On time? When I was late, I got benched. On time, if stretch is at 4:05 and you have to be there at 3, yeah, I'm late. I'm not getting there at 3. Some people get to the clubhouse at 1, but they're playing cards, nothing to do with baseball. That wasn't me. If stretch is at 4:20 and I'm walking in at 4 o'clock, I'm on time. Once I get there, I'm about baseball — stretch, batting practice, my cage work. I'm not sitting around hanging out. That was never me. That wasn't my M.O.
"Hustling? Hit the ball to second base, 70 percent is what I gave. … No one goes hard all the time. But with a reputation, once you get that, if you're not going 100 percent, then you're never hustling. That's OK. It kept me on the field. … Sometimes I'd have an at-bat and I would ground out to the first baseman. You come out of the box with three good steps and he's on the bag and you just kind of coast to first, the impact that can have on the team. I was like, 'Everybody's a grown man. Be your own person.'"
Rollins made sure to say he was definitely himself in Philadelphia, where he helped the Phillies break a 28-year title drought in 2008.
"But if I was going to talk trash, that was going to rub people the wrong way. Because it wasn't blue-collar to talk trash," said Rollins, an Oakland native. "That's more of a showboat type of thing. But I'm from California. You talk it, and you go do it. Here, you talk trash, it's like, 'Let's see you do it.' Not, 'He said this. You've got to get him out of here for that reason. He no longer fits in.' It's just the way it's perceived. Out west, out in LA, those things are perceived as being OK."
Mets fans know all too well about Rollins' mouth, as he infamously guaranteed that his Phillies were "the team to beat" before the 2007 season. Sure enough, thanks to the Mets' cataclysmic collapse, the Phillies stole the National League East title, and went one better the next season, winning their first World Series since 1980.
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