The curse of William Penn is officially lifted! If anyone wasn’t sure about that, Joe Blanton’s home run was absolute proof, that Comcast’s putting William Penn up in the sky in June of 2007 was indeed the curse breaker! No building for him yet, he’s up there on a beam until the building is complete in 2012…but Billy must be happy enough.
For most of Philadelphia’s history, no one was allowed to construct a building taller than the William Penn Statue on top of City Hall. Mr. Penn looks out toward the Delaware River from the top of City Hall, as I recall, and was visible outside of the window of my office across the street for many years. In 1987, they built One Liberty Place to be TALLER than Billy Penn. They tried the excuse that they weren’t “blocking his view”, but apparently Billy was not pleased, as NO sports team in Philly has won since that happened.
So thank you Comcast for not waiting for the building to be finished in 2012 before hoisting Billy Penn up where he belongs…higher than any building in Philly. Tonight he has thanked you…and so do we.
The Curse of William Penn is LIFTED!
I love that Moyer was a part of this…but I do wish we could have had a few more games to watch…I think America needs it. With that said, you can’t beat winning on your home turf.
Moyer- former Mariner
Pat Gillick – former Mariner GM
Randy Johnson – former Mariner
J. Varitek – former Mariner
……..and many others.
Some day.
We Bostonians know about curses. And though it was disappointing to see the Rays send the Red Sox home for the season, it was worth it to see the Phillies break their own curse. Good move, Comcast. Hang in there, Mariners fan. You just need to figure out what your own curse is. Meantime, maybe we’ll see a Phillies-Red Sox World Series next year – and it will be more fun than ever!
Hi Jeff,
I don’t know enough about the Mariner’s history to try to guess what their curse might me. If someone else can identify it, I could lead the charge to fix it though.
Thanks for stopping by.
“On June 18, 2007, ironworkers from Local Union 401 helped raise the final beam in the construction of the Comcast Center at 17th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Philadelphia. The Comcast Center is currently the tallest building in the city at 975 ft (297.2 m). In an attempt to end the curse, workers John Joyce and Dan Ginion attached a small figurine of Billy Penn to the beam, along with the traditional American flag and small evergreen tree.”
I thanked Comcast in the post for the tallest building to put Billy Penn on, but it is actually John Joyce and Dan Ginion who deserve the credit for taking the action that broke the curse. I did some more checking after seeing Ironworkers through the other side of the banner on top of the beam with Billy Penn on it. I’ll bet John and Dan are feeling pretty good today.
Brad Lidge = former Houston Astro.
My mother was a huge Phillies fan. She is smiling down from above…
Hi Thomas,
Are you related to Jeff? Or is it a coincidence that you both have the same last name? I don’t remember his having a brother in Texas, but he does have a big family.
No relation, but we Johnsons are a big clan!
Thomas,
I know that Johnson is a common name, but for the only two outside comments both being from guys with last name Johnson…WOW, what are the odds of that?