Following up on a trend that swept social media in 2023, Nick Castellanos and his Philadelphia Phillies teammates were recently asked how often they thought of the Roman Empire. The Phillies players had some funny responses to the peculiar question.
In a humorous post by Phillies Nation on X, formerly Twitter, catcher Garrett Stubbs replied to the question, saying:
"Not as often as every other man in this world thinks about it, apparently."
Pitcher Carlos Estevez responded that it had crossed his mind quite recently while he was watching a movie.
"I was thinking about it the other day because I saw a trailer about a new movie coming out, I don't remember, but it's about the Roman Empire and the Colosseum. I was thinking about it for about 10 minutes, and then it was gone again."
Right fielder Castellanos said that it crosses his mind occasionally, but for a reason that no one could have expected.
"Sometimes, you know. It took about 2,000 years for it to fall. The United States might fall much faster than that."
Castellanos and Phillies lose 5-3 in Los Angeles, continue poor recent form
Speaking of a fall, Castellanos and his teammates find themselves in a bit of a free fall since the All-Star break. After getting off to an excellent start this season, the Phillies have only won two out of the last nine games.
On a day when fans gave an emotional welcome back to Freddie Freeman, the stage was set for the Los Angeles Dodgers to dedicate a win to their first baseman. Castellanos almost gave the visitors a lead in the top of the second, missing a homer by meters as the ball came back off the wall before Teoscar Hernandez and Shohei Ohtani eventually took matters into their own hands and hit home runs to power the Dodgers to a 5-3 win.
Before yesterday's events, the Phillies came into the series after away series losses to the Cleveland Guardians and the Seattle Mariners. Things haven't looked much better at home either, getting swept by the New York Yankees in a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies take on the Dodgers again on Tuesday as Cristopher Sanchez takes the mound. They are still in a strong position going into the playoffs, and fans will be hoping they can put this slump behind them before we head into the most important stretch of the campaign.