Category: Phillies/MLB

When 10-year-old Ryan MacLuckie found out he’d been picked to be part of the tribute to the 1993 film The Sandlot at Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game, he had one thought.

“‘I hope I get to be Benny,’” his father, also named Ryan MacLuckie, recalled. “When they gave him his wardrobe the first day we were filming, he got the Tug McGraw jersey, and it was open, and he had his hat on, and he said he felt just like Benny.”

The 11 kids at the center of one of the All-Star Game’s most touching and striking moments were all local baseball and softball players that the league found through the Phillies’ RBI baseball and softball leagues.

They rode their bikes onto the field, and spent about three minutes each with a big leaguer, as fireworks fired off in the background, reminiscent of the famous 4th of July scene in The Sandlot.

Driving down the Shore every summer, the younger MacLuckie would always point out Millville — “That’s where Mike Trout lives!” — so getting to talk to the local baseball hero was a dream come true. He brought his Little League bat for Trout to sign, but nearly forgot to take his marker onto the field. Leading up to the tribute, his father ran around the stadium in hopes of getting the marker in his hands.

“[Trout] was super nice,” MacLuckie said. “I asked him for help with my batting stance. He told me to move my feet more out, so I could hit.”

“He’s smiling so big right now, he can barely talk,” MacLuckie’s father said.

He’s not the only one who received advice from a big leaguer. Eleven-year-old Damien Davis plays catcher, and he got to talk to Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski about how he grips his pitches and generates his power.

Thirteen-year-old Joseph Lund from Port Richmond was lucky enough to get paired with a Phillies player, Brandon Marsh, who said after Tuesday’s game that he “couldn’t stop crying” during the tribute.

“We were talking about how that’s his favorite movie, and how Ray Charles always makes him emotional in that song, and then I was telling him about how my grandmother is a really big fan of his, and I got to take a video of me and him saying hi,” Lund said. “I asked him to sign my cap, and he said ‘Dude, you don’t need to ask. Anything you want, I got you.’”

Charlie Fontanez was the rare kid on the field who had actually never seen The Sandlot until recently. When his baseball coach called to ask if the 14-year-old would have interest in appearing in an All-Star commercial tribute to the movie, he finally sat down to watch.

Predictably, he loved it, especially the famous 4th of July scene recreated for the spot.

Fontanez was at the pitcher’s mound with Dodgers star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The two of them took a selfie, and then talked about pitching. Yamamoto admitted he’d been “a little nervous” in the World Series.

“[Charlie] was super excited,” his aunt, Sandra Fontanez, said. “He was talking about it for hours after. Literally, we probably went to bed at two in the morning because he was just telling me how everything went.”

Noah Postell, a 14-year-old from West Philly, paired up with Freddie Freeman, who asked if he wanted to have a catch. Postell, who is a middle infielder and hopes to play at Cardinal O’Hara next year, said his only regret was that he didn’t keep the ball they were throwing around as a souvenir.

“That’s where the parent in me comes in, like I wish I was able to tell my son what to do, you know?” Postell’s father, Gregory, joked. “The ball that he was playing catch with, I wish he would have kept that ball and had Freddie sign that ball. … Maybe one day we can connect with Freddie Freeman and get a ball, but it was just an amazing opportunity.”

Sophia Wright, a 13-year-old softball player from Roxborough, got paired with Bryce Harper. She was so immersed in the experience and starstruck by Harper that the marker she’d stashed in her pocket also went unused.

“There’s tons of pictures out there, at least,” Wright said.

Fontanez said that the commercial director told her the league initially thought to hire actors for the spot, to make it an easy shoot. But the director insisted on finding players from the area, which made the moment truly magical.

“They’re baseball players,” Fontanez said. “Who better than them to be able to play a role like this?”

Kevin McGonigle sat countless times as a fan in Citizens Bank Park, but he still wasn’t sure how the crowd would react Tuesday night when he was introduced before the All-Star Game. He grew up in Delaware County, starred at Bonner-Prendergast, modeled his game after Chase Utley, and was in the stands for Red October.

But he’s a rookie for the Detroit Tigers. McGonigle worried his own people — the Phillies fans he used to cheer with — would boo him.

It was instead a roar as the 21-year-old who grew up just 10 miles from the ballpark was treated like a returning hero. It was the perfect cap to a few days that McGonigle said were unbelievable: He slept in his childhood bed, made his parents cry, finally met Utley, and was an All-Star in the ballpark where he used to dream.

McGonigle had “Detroit” across his chest, but he was at home.

“The kid’s a hometown kid, and it’s a shame Philly didn’t figure it out,” McGonigle’s father, Kevin George, said during the game as the Phillies could have drafted the infielder in 2023. “But that’s the reason it was so loud here. This kid is a winner and he’s always going to be a winner. For him to be here right now in the All-Star Game is beyond my wildest dreams. I never saw it happening this soon. It’s pretty amazing.”

McGonigle received a text message a few days ago from a number he didn’t know. It was Utley. He congratulated McGonigle for making the American League team and said he would look for him in Philly. McGonigle has never been shy about his admiration for Utley, and NBC10 had Utley record a video for McGonigle in 2023 before he was drafted. But the two never met.

McGonigle was on the field for batting practice on Tuesday afternoon when someone told him that Utley was looking for him. McGonigle stopped what he was doing and looked for his idol. The All-Star became a fan again.

“Right when I saw him, I was like, ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done,’” McGonigle said. “Then I stepped back and I was like, ‘Maybe I should act more professional. I’m in the major leagues now.’ But I think that’s the best thing about this game. It’s a kid’s game. The way I played it as a kid and the work I put in as a kid got me to where I am today. I want to keep acting that way. It’s a kid’s game.”

Utley told McGonigle that there was nothing to thank him for. All the credit belonged to McGonigle. The Tigers infielder — who had an Utley poster as a kid in his bedroom — wasn’t thanking Utley for helping him with his swing or with his defense. He thanked him for being an inspiration every time he watched the Phils on TV or sat in those blue seats.

“It’s just the way he played the game,” McGonigle said. “It was the way he hustled on and off the field. The way he never took any pitches off. Of course, his swing is great and his defense. But it’s really just the way he went out and competed. I just wanted to thank him for helping me get to where I am today.”

McGonigle ended the conversation by asking his favorite player for a photo. All-Stars are fans, too.

“I want to meet Utley next,” McGonigle’s father said.

The path to Tuesday’s game can be traced to a $5,000 investment his father made years ago when he purchased a JUGS pitching machine off the internet.

“And I got a Honda Whisper generator,” McGonigle said as he motioned his arm like was pulling the motor again.

The McGonigles spent countless hours in their backyard building a swing that helped make the Delco kid a rookie sensation. He signed a $150 million contract three weeks into the season and entered the All-Star break with an .812 OPS. He’s the favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year and could haunt the Phillies for not drafting him as the player they drafted — Aidan Miller — has not played this season due to a back injury.

McGonigle looks like a star. So, was that JUGGS machine the best investment his dad ever made?

“No doubt in my mind,” the father said. “The kid learned to spoil a pitch at a very young age. He’s pretty good at it.”

McGonigle had patches representing Bonner-Prendergast and Delco sewn into the inside of the suit jacket he wore to the ballpark on Tuesday. He’s proud, McGonigle said, to be from Delco. He arrived home on Sunday night and hung out with his neighborhood buddies. McGonigle could have stayed with the All-Stars in a Center City hotel, but he opted to eat his mom’s cooking and sleep in his bedroom that still has a Cole Hamels poster on the wall.

“[My] younger self would be super proud,” McGonigle said. “This is all I ever dreamed of.”

His mom Tracy cried, McGonigle said, when he was named an All-Star. And his dad was verklempt after he watched his son enter the game on Tuesday night.

“This is a real blur for me,” McGonigle’s dad said. “But this kid has what it takes. We’ll probably see this a few more times before he’s done.”

The public address announcer used the standard intro for most players before the game: “From the San Diego Padres, pitcher Mason Miller.” McGonigle received a special touch: “From the Detroit Tigers, from Delco, shortstop Kevin McGonigle.”

McGonigle had plenty of friends and family in the stands but this roar was louder than the pack of 36 family and friends McGonigle brought from Delco. It sounded like the whole ballpark. Boos? No chance. Philly fans knew that one of them was on the field.

“It was chills, man,” McGonigle said. “Hearing the stadium get loud like that. Just having the support of the fans here today was unbelievable. I can’t thank them enough.”