A city can have a palpable mood or tenor - think first true spring day, epic blizzard or random spat of violence. In recent years, it seems nothing makes Philadelphians happier than our ascendent baseball team. Strangers chat about Chooch, analyze Utley's injuries and openly marvel at our sudden significance. Mothers now have far more excuses to phone their children - "Did you see Hamels pitch today? I think he might be using a new kind of hair product" - and October social schedules a tendency to remain TBD.

In this modern age, it's inevitable that that enthusiasm would leak onto the internet. Blogs with a Phillies focus abound, though few have a mission as clear as I Want to Go to the Zoo with Roy Halladay. Maintained by an anonymous fan (who goes by "Zoo With Roy") with a propensity for irreverence and stick figures, the site is a must-read for anyone who ever dreamed a silly, improbable dream, and then made a website out of it.

We chatted with ZWR via email. In exchange for his cooperation, he asked only for "four seats to opening day in the Flying Kite Media Club Suite at CBP (or Wawa coupons)." Thankfully for us, he eventually conceded and did the interview for free, filling us in on the genesis of his idea, the blog's surprising success and the unusual power of sports.

Flying Kite: In your first post, you wrote: "The goal of this blog, in the most simple terms, is to convince Roy Halladay to go to the zoo with me." When did that thought first pop into your head? How goes the progress of that particular project?
Zoo With Roy: The thought first happened - out of nowhere - a few nights before I started the bolg (sic; this purposeful misspelling is one of ZWR's many quirks). It all came to me in a dream, and I just sort of went with it. As far as a progress assessment, I'd say that Roy is probably thisclose to being ready to go - just trying to pick a convenient Saturday or something. Certainly much further along than this time last year. No doubt.

FK: You started this blog before Halladay had thrown a single pitch for the Phillies. Could you have anticipated a season like this? With a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter? What would you have done if he had bombed? "I Want to Go to the Circus with Roy Oswalt?"
ZWR: Bombed? Are you loko (that's a link to one of my shirts!)? Dude, it's Roy Halladay. Nary a doubt a-roving, ne'er a thought askew. I knew all along he'd break faces.

FK: Obviously, this thing has taken off, and the blog has become about much more than just looking at animals with the local ace. Were you surprised by how quickly it grew?
ZWR: Absolutely, and it's here where I note that I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Mike Meech of the Fightins (which is now, sadly, defunct). In this story, he's the coolest kid at school and tells all of the other donkeys in class that it's okay to like the new guy. After that, things just sort of snowballed: the ESPN interview, Deadspin, the New York Times.

As things stand currently, I don't know what to make of the bolg's success other than that it's an unpredictable, unexplainable (and frankly it's better left, and much more fun, unexplained), "holy butt"-esque phenomenon.

FK: This city's rejuvenated, all-consuming love affair with the Phillies is a relatively new phenomenon. Did you stay strong during the lean years?
ZWR: By my count, I've been to roughly 7,019 Phillies games. 6,717 featured dog poop teams that had no chance at winning anything. But it was still baseball, and still our Phils. The game's just, special.

This run of late, it can be viewed as some reward by the baseball gods to a group of passionate, loyal fans. Or it can starkly be that we're good enough and "staked" our own renaissance. We, Philadelphia, deserve success as much as anyone. I don't think Phillies fans from my generation (those who were too young for the late '70s and early '80s; who really only had 1993) were always confident enough to assume we could have this, but why the heck not?

FK: Speaking of, the rise of blog culture seems to have coincided with the rise of the current Phillies powerhouse - and this has created a local baseball blog scene that is vibrant and well-read. What are some of your favorite local Phils blogs?
ZWR: Hmmmm, there are so many, and I'm by no means an expert. I really like Crane Kick Chronicles, The 700 Level, I Don't Give A Schmidt, Phuture Phillies, The Good Phight and Long Drive, to name a few. Man, I'm definitely forgetting some folks. Be safe and go read them all.

FK: I believe sports can play a vital role in a city's morale - make people experience local pride on a heightened level. Why do you think we care about sports so much?
ZWR: Well, on the one hand, it's a relatively easy civic measuring stick, right? My buddy JR is from Detroit, and we can simply play "one up" on each other with every title, solid run, accomplishment. It's not nearly as much fun to compete based on budget reduction, crime stats, or socioeconomic trends.

One of my favorite Nietzsche quotes is, "Man's maturity: that is to have rediscovered the seriousness he possessed as a child at play." Combine those foundations built from athletics (teamwork, learning how to deal with success and failure, structure, etc.) with the significant emotional attachments by way of memories and experience (one of the most glaring, of course, being the image of a child's first ball game with a father figure), and sports sort of becomes a natural place for strong emotions to gather. All of that and there are lots of girls in tank tops at games.

FK: Did you do any writing before this?
ZWR: Just a two-volume blank verse ode to Kelly Kaposwki and a screenplay (not about Kelly Kapowski) that nobody wanted.

FK: What's with the stick figures?
ZWR: Dude, I can't draw.

The Philadelphia Phillies open the 2011 season on April 1 versus the Houston Astros.

LEE STABERT is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. Send feedback here.