In Section 116, a desperate voice rang out, "I love you, Pistachio Girl!"
"See? I'm beloved," Pistachio Girl said. "And to think I had no friends in high school - no one liked me."
Mitch Masi, 13, of Springfield, stood in Section 140 and pointed when Pistachio Girl went down his aisle. His face lit up.
When asked, all he could muster was, "She's crazy." Asked to elaborate, he added, "She screams like an idiot."
A Masi family friend, Johanna Folgia, 40, of Media, suggested, "Maybe he has a little crush?"
Mitch sprinted to his seat, shaking his head in denial.
Pistachio Girl is 21-year-old Emily Youcis (with a hard K) of Harrisburg, a senior at Temple's Tyler School of Art, majoring in painting.
She has blond hair, usually in pigtails, although it's naturally brown and also has been dyed strawberry this season. Although she wore tights Sunday in the cold, her wardrobe is usually shorts and black boots.
"I like the idea of a boot," she said. "Makes people think - reminds people of physical labor, because it is. It's physical labor, dog."
She works in a buy-me-some-peanuts-and-Cracker Jack world, but waved her pistachios high and proud. She embraces the challenge of pistachios.
"It's a good word to scream," she explained. "The word is a lot more exciting than peanuts - no offense."
She can sing out the word like a temptress, sultry - Marilyn Monroe selling pistachios.
Or as an assault, each syllable a slap, rapid-fire: "Pi-sta-sh-i-os, pi-sta-sh-i-os."
Or in a classic newsboy bark: "Pistachios heaaah. Get your pistachios heaaah." That's probably her most professional and effective.
She also has a sad and weepy version - slow, legato, so people will pity her. It's good for when the Phillies are behind. But that won't fly during the hyper-charged playoffs.
