Specially painted rubber duckies made their way into the lockers of each of the Philadelphia Phillies players Monday.
No one initially stepped forward to take credit for the placing of the duckies.
Said Philadelphia’s NBC10.com: “No one will go into what the ducks mean, but they mean something to the players, as much as the World Series means everything to Philadelphia.”
Lo and behold, the fine folks at Philly.com uncovered the mystery of the rubber duckies, and it turns out the meaning behind them is a bit … shall we say … random:
It goes back to a phrase that second baseman Chase Utley has been known to utter on occasion: Get the rubber duck out of your butt. In other words, relax. Utley told manager Charlie Manuel to get the rubber duck out during a recent playoff game when things were not going so well. It struck a chord with Manuel, whose team tangles with the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow. Manuel wanted some rubber ducks for his players and coaches. Bonnie Clark, the Phillies’ vice president for communications, placed the order – each duck was different from the next – and the team’s clubhouse staff placed them in the lockers. Some of the ducks matched the players better than others. For instance, Brett Myers, a fan of heavy metal music, had a skull on his. But the overall message was received. Nothing is different just because it’s the World Series, closer Brad Lidge said. Don’t change a thing. Just play our game. No tight [butts], Manuel said.
Unfortunately, Sports Pros(e) has deemed a Phillies World Series win a massive improbability. Meantime, waste a few minutes with this trip down memory lane:
