Concluding with a celebratory TikTok dance, the Compton Youth Academy softball team took home the championship of the ninth annual MLB All-Star Jennie Finch Classic.
Eight MLB Youth Academy softball teams from across the country were flown to Philadelphia Thursday to compete in the Jennie Finch Classic, which opened Friday. The weekend of tournaments led to the championship battle at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Park, between Compton Youth Academy and the Houston Astros Youth Academy, where Compton won, 12-0, after just five innings.
After three years of making it to the championship game only to fall short, Compton Youth Academy players cheered that they finally won it all.
“I feel great, I can breathe now,” Compton center fielder Kaylee Allen said, beaming.
“It was pretty smooth,” Compton teammate Kalin Badgley said. “I feel like we had it from the beginning, and we just balled out and kept the ball rolling.”
Charley McKenzie, pitcher for the Houston Astros Youth Academy, during the Jennie Finch Classic Championship Game on Monday. Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
The Classic is sponsored by softball icon Jennie Finch, who was in attendance. In between giving players high-fives and fist-bumps, the two-time Olympic gold medalist said she began the Classic as a way to uplift MLB Youth Academy teams with the same opportunities travel softball teams have.
“As the Classic goes on, the talent just continues to get better,” Finch said. “But it’s so much more than that. It’s the intangibles. It’s great seeing Major League Baseball providing an opportunity for softball and having this role in investing in these young softball players, and giving them a place to train, play and strive for their goals.”
MLB founded the Urban Youth Academy as a nonprofit in 2006, beginning in Compton, Calif. Now expanded to nine cities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, the organization fully funds youth baseball and softball teams. The Jennie Finch Classic and the Baseball Commissioner’s Cup, which also took place as part of the All-Star Game festivities, are open to youth academy players ages 13-17 and are often the highlight of the teams’ season, held in the All-Star host city each year.
“It’s been pretty fun, especially the events,” Allen said. “Meeting new people from all over the country, it’s definitely something that is exciting every year.”
Allen is one of many Youth Academy players planning to continue playing softball in college. The 17-year-old is verbally committed to play at Kansas starting in the fall of 2027.
The Jennie Finch Classic began as a way to uplift MLB Youth Academy teams with the same opportunities travel softball teams have, Finch said.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
The tournament also awarded the Jennie Finch Empowerment Award to catcher of the Houston Astros, Alina Elias, for her leadership on and off the field. The award comes with a $10,000 college scholarship.
“As a male coach we try to be tough, but it truly brings a tear to my eye,” Astros coach Mekele Brown said. “To see something worthwhile actually given to them, and given to the right person. She has a really good heart and genuinely wants to see her teammates win and do well, even in hard losses like today.”
The gratitude on the field was palpable among all the teams. Players from all eight teams were there in support and laughing alongside one another as they took pictures and cheered each other on before heading to the home run derby at Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s huge having the MLB behind these girls,” Compton youth academy coach Hayley Reiner said. “Because now they have a big name behind them. Everybody knows who the MLB is, and now they know who we are.”
On Saturday, former major leaguers C.C. Sabathia, Chris Young, Jason Kendall, Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher, Dellin Betances, and Kenny Lofton, along with nearly 100 volunteers from more than seven different organizations, joined Victorino to add two hours to that effort.
“To have 100-plus volunteers here today digging in the dirt and pulling weeds and making this boys and girls club look that much prettier, it means a lot,” Victorino said.
The Phillies and the rest of MLB have added $5,500,000 into the nationwide effort of trying to reach the goal of 250,000 volunteer hours in honor of the 250th anniversary of America. And now a portion of that has been dedicated to serving children in North Philadelphia.
Nearly two months from the Boys and Girls Club’s 15-year anniversary, Victorino and the community came together to give the club a much-needed refresh. From 10 a.m. to noon, volunteers split into groups working on planting flowers and weeding, painting and refurnishing the teen room, raking new dirt dumped on the baseball field across the street, and picking up trash around the area.
This comes after the announcement on Thursday of the renovation and expansion project at Tree House Books. This project will also be a part of MLB’s legacy initiative and includes an expanded children’s library named after Victorino’s former teammate Ryan Howard and his wife, Christine Howard.
It was MLB’s and the Boys and Girls club’s goal to hit four main points upon the completion of Saturday’s event. These included getting the community partners to help provide a refresh to the club, making sure the environment was given care, committing hours to reach 250,000 hours of service, and to unveil the PHS mobile garden unit, which is another legacy project.
“I really think the community residents are going to see that love is important,” said April Brown, MLB’s senior vice president of social responsibility. “We’re beautifying the outdoor space and enriching the experience for the youth every day.”
And it isn’t just the presentation that made this project special to the volunteers.
“It means a lot,” said volunteer Paige Giunta. “Not only from an attractive standpoint, but also people coming together to do something special for the community.”
Giunta volunteered through Comcast, one of several organizations that partnered with MLB and the Phillies to bring more help to the cause.
“Everybody thinks with the All-Star Game, you’re thinking of the game,” said Michele DeVicaris, the Phillies director of community events and fundraising. “They don’t always know that all these things are also going on. So it’s amazing to bring attention to something like the Boys and Girls Club, like a community event like this, have volunteers come out and be a part of this project.”
The Club opened in September 2011 in Nicetown-Tioga, after a $1 million commitment from the Shane Victorino Foundation. Now almost 15 years later, the former two-time All-Star and World Series champion still cares deeply for the city that once embraced him.
“I love this place,” Victorino said. “It’ll always be my second home, and I will always hopefully have a little love for the city as it does for me.”
Playing Fields, not Killing Fields is an Inquirer collaboration with the Claire Smith Center for Sports Media and The Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting, to produce a series examining the current state of Philadelphia’s youth recreation infrastructure and programs. The project will explore the challenges and solutions to sports serving as a viable response to gun violence and an engine to revitalize city neighborhoods.
Twenty years ago, Ryan Howard launched baseballs into the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh and won MLB’s annual Home Run Derby.
In some ways, it launched his career.
Howard was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 2005. But his star turn at the 2006 Derby came in the midst of a season in which he won NL MVP and became the foremost power hitter in the sport for a six-year stretch.
As the All-Star Game returns to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the Phillies’ first half, his expectations for a Home Run Derby in Citizens Bank Park, and more.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcaston Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: You played in three All-Star Games in your career. You were the Home Run Derby champ in 2006. When I say All-Star Game, what sticks out to you from your career?
A: When you say All-Star Game, it’s one of those things that when you’re younger, you always strive to want to be a part of. It’s kind of where, it’s the elite of the elite, if you will, and you’re always striving to try to make an All-Star team, and you’re always striving to try to win a championship. So to be able to participate on the All-Star teams and be recognized by the fans and your peers as one of the top players, in the middle of the season, is something that’s always such a great honor to have. And it means you’re doing something right. So you always want to continue to try to do something like that.
Ryan Howard won the 2006 Home Run Derby in Pittsburgh.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Q: How much are you looking forward to seeing what a Home Run Derby in Citizens Bank Park will look like?
A: I’m so excited to see what it’ll look like. This group of guys are just different. It’s a whole different level of strength, and these guys are bigger, stronger, faster. The ball just travels further, so I’m excited to see where the ball lands. Charlie [Manuel] always told Jimmy [Thome] and I that he saw Julio Franco hit a ball in batting practice that hit the bell. Now we’ve said that’s a little suspect, Charlie. There’s got to be like a 35 mph tailwind. He’s got to catch it and do the whole nine, but like it’ll be very interesting. I think somebody could potentially get close to trying to hit that bell, so I would love to see somebody hit a ball that goes up and hits that bell on the fly.
Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber leads baseball with 32 home runs at the break.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
A: Kyle Schwarber is one of the preeminent sluggers of this generation, him and Aaron Judge, and certainly Shohei Ohtani. Is this the year that maybe Schwarber matches or tops your Phillies record 58 home runs in a season?
A: He’s must-watch TV. You don’t want to miss his at-bat because of what he’s able to do with the swing of the bat — the ball comes off his bat different. It’s just so violent, and the swing is so … quick and it’s so violent off the bat that it’s so fun to watch. The ball he hit a few years ago in San Diego, people don’t do that. People don’t hit the ball like that, but Schwarber does. As far as the 58, it’s just a matter of him staying healthy and just continuing to stay consistent and do what he does. He got close last year [with 56]. Right now he’s at [32]. You just want him to stay healthy and be good for the stretch run, and he’s going to get those hot streaks where he’s dropping off like five, six, seven homers in a week, and again it’s like video game-type stuff.
But it’s fun to watch. I like to call it kind of like some blackout moments where you’re like, I don’t even know what’s going on, but I’m not going to fight it. And he gets in those zones where it’s just like it feels like every time the bat comes off your shoulder, damage will be done, and usually it winds up on the other side of the fence.
Q: Did you see this Phillies turnaround coming after the 9-19 start? How do you look at the first half they’ve had?
A: … There’s no level of panic because with the level of quality players on this team and what they’ve done in the years past … I feel like the Phillie franchise, even when I was playing, we’d always get out to slow starts in April. April is not a good month for the Phillies. And the thing is, you can’t win the division in April, but you could lose the division in April. And I think with the talent that this team possessed … you still had [Zack] Wheeler that was out. [Cristopher] Sánchez was doing his thing. It was just a matter of time because they had too much talent, too much veteran presence on this team to do what they were doing, and that’s what happens over the course of the season.
You’re going to have bad stretches, and you’re going to have good stretches. So, hopefully, for them, they got that bad stretch out of the way early, to where you have plenty of time to be able to make up for it, which is what they’ve been able to do and put themselves in a position to make the postseason.
And you just want to continue to try to say, OK, stay above .500 each month. With the caliber of guys that they have, the chemistry that they have, it’s not a surprise that they put themselves back in it. It’s what they do, and you would expect them to be able to go and be in the postseason and try to make a long run in the postseason.
Inside the visitors’ clubhouse in Cincinnati last week, an unknown member of the Phillies joked on the whiteboard on the wall: Should Marsh wear a grill on the All-Star Game red carpet? Yes/No.
The resounding answer, by tally marks, was yes.
But don’t count on it. The poll was just some playful ribbing ahead of Brandon Marsh’s big moment, now that the Phillies outfielder has garnered some national recognition with his first career All-Star selection.
“It’ll be pretty normal. He’s got good style,” Alec Bohm said of what he expects from Marsh’s red carpet debut. “He’s gonna look good.”
It’s been fun for the Phillies to watch Marsh this year, but perhaps no one has enjoyed witnessing his rise more than Bohm and Bryson Stott. The three of them have been close since Marsh was acquired from the Angels at the 2022 trade deadline.
Early on, the group that also included former Phillies Mickey Moniak, Matt Vierling, and Nick Maton became known to the fan base as the “Daycare,” because of their youth and postgame antics.
Brandon Marsh (right), Bryson Stott (center), and Alec Bohm (left) are no longer the Daycare. “Guys get called up now, and they ask us the questions, and we’re not the ones really asking questions anymore,” Stott said.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
But now Bohm is 29, while Marsh and Stott are both 28. They’re not the Daycare anymore; they haven’t been for a while.
“Guys get called up now, and they ask us the questions, and we’re not the ones really asking questions anymore,” Stott said. “But it kind of feels like Marsh was with us during COVID at the alt site, and playing with us in the minor leagues. Just from the first day he came over, it was like he’s been here forever.”
This year feels a little different, though. Not even because of Marsh’s production — if you dig into his stats, you’ll find that the lefty has been a .300 hitter going back to May 2025, after he dug himself out of a brutal slump to start that season. So his .301 batting average and .829 OPS aren’t anything new to those close to him.
It’s different because people on the outside are starting to take note.
Marsh was the top vote-getter among National League outfielders during the final phase of All-Star voting. He was the first Phillie to secure a starting spot in the game, though he has since been joined by Kyle Schwarber and Cristopher Sánchez.
It seems like practically every other day, Marsh is asked to step in front of the cameras postgame to address a clutch hit or big moment he had. He even recently starred in a commercial for Victus’ new cheesesteak bats, which he did in one take. (Stott, who has dabbled in advertisements himself, conceded, “He looked pretty good.”) Suddenly, Marsh has become one of the faces of the 2026 Phillies.
Brandon Marsh is having a career season in 2026, batting .301 at the break with 15 home runs and 46 RBIs.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“I think out of all the people I’ve played with, nobody deserves the — not that he’s out here playing for attention — but nobody deserves the recognition that he’s gotten more,” Bohm said.
According to Stott, all of this noise makes no difference to Marsh himself.
“You can ask him what’s going on in world news, and he has no idea. So I doubt he cares if people are talking about him or not,” Stott said.
Bohm and Stott agree that Marsh cares more about his teammates’ success than his own. Earlier this year, interim manager Don Mattingly used Edmundo Sosa as a pinch-hitter for Marsh against the Dodgers, despite Marsh’s numbers — even against lefties — being superior on paper. When Sosa ultimately delivered the go-ahead home run, Marsh was the first teammate to embrace him in the dugout.
“Tonight just wasn’t my night,” Marsh said afterward. “It was Sosa’s night.”
That, according to Bohm, is a moment that sums up Marsh as a person.
“He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Bohm said.
Mindset is a huge part of the success Marsh has sustained since May 2025. He tries to stay consistent every day, not allowing himself to get too high or too low because of his results. It’s an approach that he said he has picked up from Schwarber.
It helps that this season, Marsh has quieted the discussions of his ability to hit left-handed pitching, and has entrenched himself as an everyday player. If he goes 0-for-4 one day, he knows he will get another at-bat the next, no matter the handedness of the starter.
But even last year when he was still in a platoon, Marsh approached his preparation the same.
“You couldn’t tell if he was in the lineup or really out of the lineup, just based off what his everyday routine was,” Stott said. “You couldn’t tell. He’s doing the same thing, and just does it over and over and over, and it’s just who he is.”
This year, Bohm often is one spot in the batting order behind Marsh against right-handed starters. From his point of view in the on-deck circle, he hasn’t seen any major changes in Marsh’s swing from seasons past. Bohm said he’s been impressed watching Marsh’s two-strike approach, but there’s not much else he can point to as different.
Because Bohm has always seen this potential in Marsh.
“He’s always been a really good player,” he said. “I remember playing against him in the Fall League, and I’m thinking, this dude could hit. He’s a good player.”
Now, the rest of the baseball world is seeing it too.
MLB All-Star Week concludes Tuesday night with the 96th midsummer classic at Citizen’s Bank Park (Fox, 8 p.m.). The Phillies have six players representing the National League, including starting pitcher Cristopher Sànchez.
Kyle Schwarber loses Home Run Derby to Jordan Walker
Phillies pitcher Jhoan Duran embraces teammate Kyle Schwarber during Monday’s derby.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kyle Schwarber needed to take a breath.
Schwarber went deep seven times in a nine-swing span in the semifinals of Monday night’s Home Run Derby. With three swings left, he needed to regroup.
And so, Schwarber did what any slugger in a hometown Derby would. He took a beat and waved to the Phillies fans in sold-out Citizens Bank Park to make more noise.
Schwarber won the round and nearly the Derby. But the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker, who drew cheers from the 43,863 paying customers after each swing that didn’t result in a homer, smashed four homers in a row in bonus time to eke out a 12-11 victory in the finals.
St. Louis Cardinals Jordan Walker won the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia Monday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
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Second-round results
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First-round results
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Playoff atmosphere at The Bank thanks to Schwarber
Phillies fans cheer as Phillies Kyle Schwarber advances to the finals of the Home Run Derby.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Willson Contreras last ball at the second round of the Home Run Derby might as well have been the last out of the ninth inning of game seven of the World Series.
The crowd at Citizen Bank were locked in during the Red Sox first baseman head to head competition against Kyle Schwarber for a place in the final round.
Every shallow or foul ball was as met with mocking applauds, and every skipped pitch with roaring boos.
Contreras lost to South Philly’s Schwarbomb machine by one homer, and it was Bedlam at the Bank.
Kyle Schwarber swings his way into the Home Run Derby finals. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Kyle Schwarber will face Jordan Walker in the final round of the Home Run Derby.
Willson Contreras, booed often by the Philly crowd, was only able to hit 8 home runs, one shy of Schwarber’s nine.
Two Phillies players have won the Derby — Bobby Abreu in 2005 and Ryan Howard in 2006.
This is Schwarber’s third appearance in the event. He didn’t make it out of the first round in 2022, and finished second place to then-Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper in 2018.
Philly fans bring something new to the Home Run Derby – boos
A fan reacts after catching a home run during Monday night’s Derby. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Fans who traveled to Philadelphia for the Home Run Derby were introduced early to the city’s love language.
Phillies fans responded with deafening boos to the name of every player that isn’t called Bryce Harper or Kyle Schwarber during the pregame show.
And fans of other teams seem to like the passion.
“I think it’s awesome,” Pete Gibson said. “It’s sports. Support your team. Let’s go.”
The 35-year-old tattoo artist traveled from Nashville for the home run derby with his friend, Dave Putman, 33.
For the past five years, the duo has been attending the pre-All-Star game event, and they came up with a tradition. They each spin a wheel to determine what jersey they will wear. And the wheel chose the San Fransisco Giants for Gibson this year. But that didn’t stop him from also rocking a Kansas City Royals cap.
“We support on the head the teams we love, and on the body the teams we randomly draw,” Gibson said.
Carlos Luna, 34, also didn’t mind the boos. The New York Yankees fan came to Philly from the Big Apple, and said he enjoys the sense of rivalry Phillies fans brought to this derby.
“I see how you guys feel,” he said. “I don’t expect anything else.”
Had the derby took place in Yankee stadium, his fellow New Yorkers’ boos would be more targeted — “if it’s a Red Sox player, we probably boo him” — but Luna was okay with the Philadelphia’s blanket boo approach.
Phillies fans’ reputation, it turns out, precedes them. The city was welcoming, and the boos add to fun.
“I love me some overt negativity,” Orioles fan Connor Way, 31 from Maryland, said. “I feel like everyone knows Philly is like that.”
Schwarber hits 10 homers, setting up a showdown with Harper
Kyle Schwarber swings during his Home Run Derby at-bat. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kyle Schwarber missed on his first five swings and only managed to hit 10 home runs during his first-round Home Run Derby appearance.
That leave Schwarber in fourth place with teammate Bryce Harper coming up to bat. Harper will either advance and knock out Schwarber, or come up short and be eliminated from the competition.
Either way, one Phillies player will make it to the second round.
Jac Calianone hits just 8 homers, but one goes into upper deck
Jac Caglianone watches one of his homers leave Citizens Bank Park.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Royals’ Jac Caglianone got off to a very slow start, but caught a groove with four straight homers — capped by a 477-foot shot to the third deck — that got the crowd back into it.
Caglione also sent one over the shrubbery in the batters’ eye that got a big cheer. He finished with eight, well behind Contreras and Walker.
Jordan Walker takes a swing during his Derby at-bat.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker got off to a hot start, but appeared to tire as his round went on.
He managed to tie Willson Contreras with his 13th homer with the “magenta ball,” which is used for the final swing of the round, sending it 382 feet into the left field seats.
Kyle Schwarber stands in a boxing ring during player introductions. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
This year’s Home Run Derby jumped to Netflix from ESPN, which had broadcast the event for more than 30 years.
While Barry Bonds and Anthony Rizzo were terrific on Netflix’s pregame show, a few technical glitches and unnecessary cross promotion rubbed some sports media pundits and fans the wrong way.
The most noticeable issue was Netflix turning to Will Ferrell and his costars from The Hawk (coming soon to the streamer) to help introduce the players. Maybe it was funny, but everything they said was drowned out by the crowd during the broadcast.
Will Ferrell introducing Bryce Harper at the #HRDerby:
Maybe I'm way off, but I don't think the Will Ferrell-Luke Wilson thing is working at all. (Honestly, I get the sense that *they* also know it isn't working.)
With Pa. budget approved, Lt. Gov. Davis takes in a ballgame
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Austin Davis meets with Cowboys Hall of Famer Michael Irvin ahead of the Home Run Derby. Abraham Gutman / staff
The negotiations are over and the state budget is done — so Lt. Gov. Austin Davis is enjoying a change of pace at Citizen Bank Park.
The Democrat is in Philadelphia for the MLB Home Run Derby, the latest major sporting event Pennsylvania has hosted this year, following the NFL draft in Pittsburg and FIFA World Cup games in Philly. And the state’s second top executive has been proud.
“Pennsylvania this year really showed how diverse and how great our commonwealth is,” Davis said. “I think we absolutely rolled out the red carpet to welcome the country and the world.”
Wearing a Pittsburg Pirate’s polo, Davis stood behind home plate before the game to watch batting practice.
He roots for the Phillies — when they don’t play the Pirates, of course — but at the end of the day he’s a “Pittsburg boy through and through” and has to “fly the black and gold.”
Josh Shapiro’s second-in-command took in the carnival-like ambiance on the field, surrounded by baseball and sports royalty. He stopped Michael Irvin, former-Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, for a photo.
The prolonged budget season was so all consuming, Davis said, he didn’t have the mental space to think too much about who he thinks will win tonight’s Derby.
“It’s just going be a great time, to see so many folks come out tonight and enjoy this great ballpark,” he said
Phillies Bryce Harper (left) walks with his National League All Stars during batting practice Monday. Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerFans reach for a ball hit during batting practice at Citizens Bank Park. Yong Kim / Staff PhotographerKyle Schwarber speaks to reporters Monday afernoonMonica Herndon / Staff PhotographerPhillies interim manager Don Mattingly sports an All-Star cap.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerEagles general manager Howie Roseman takes in the festivities. Alex Coffey /
You can cross at least one name off the Phillies list of potential acquisitions at the trade deadline.
Before Monday’s Home Run Derby, Twins center fielder Byron Buxton made it clear that he would not consider waiving his no-trade clause even for a trade to a contender.
The 32-year-old center fielder has long been mentioned as an ideal trade target for a Phillies team that is in desperate need of right-handed pop. He certainly brings that in abundance, and at a premium position, with 25 home runs in 335 plate appearances thus far this season. But Buxton has been steadfast in his loyalty both to the state of Minnesota and to the organization that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2012.
“I’ve got family,” Buxton explained on Monday. “My family loves Minnesota. I’ve got two kids that grew up there, one of them was born there. It’s a special place not only for me but for my family. You’re not just moving me, you’re moving my whole family and what we have built in Minnesota.”
Buxton also sounded an optimistic note about the Twins, who have outperformed expectations with a 48=49 record despite last season’s firesale that included the trade of closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies.
“What we have there and what we can accomplish, we’ve got something special going and it’s something I want to be a part of,” Buxton said.
Tigers rookie All Star Kevin McGonigle grew up in Delco and still has a Cole Hamels poster on his wall
Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle speak to reporters Monday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kevin McGonigle idolized Chase Utley, went to Phillies games with his buddies, and had posters on the wall of his Delaware County bedroom.
“I still have a Cole Hamels poster on my wall,” McGonigle said on the eve of playing in Tuesday’s All Star Game at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies could have drafted McGonigle in 2023. They scouted him at Bonner-Prendergast, worked him out at the ballpark, and were well aware of the infielder from Ridley who grew up a diehard. But the Phillies passed on McGonigle and drafted Aidan Miller with the 27th overall pick while McGonigle went No. 37 to Detroit.
Kevin McGonigle is taking batting practice right now at CBP.
McGonigle, 21, is an All Star as a rookie with a .812 OPS while playing shortstop and third base. Miller, 22, has not played this season and underwent a procedure last month to address a recurring back issue. He’s expected to be sidelined until late July or early August.
“I knew the Phillies were coming up to pick but I didn’t get a phone call so I knew that wasn’t going to work out,” McGonigle said. “But it all worked out perfectly, I’d say. I’m in the spot I want to be in: Detroit. The city, the fans, it’s unbelievable with how they’ve treated me so far. Eight more years and hopefully more with that city. I can’t thank that fan base enough.”
McGonigle went to a Phillies playoff game with his family in 2023, a month after he finished his first minor-league season with Detroit. A year earlier, he wore Phillies gear to Red October. But now the fan was employed by another team. He wore neutral colors that night but admitted it took some time to shed his fandom. But he’s not shedding his accent.
“Sometimes, I’ll say ‘Wooder’ and they’ll be like ‘What did you say?,’” McGonigle said. “And I’ll go, ‘I’m sorry. Wah-ter.’ It’s just how I grew up saying it. I’ll say some things differently being from Delaware County and they’ll give me crap about the way I say things. It’s just funny to me. I don’t even realize I say it in a different way. ‘What did you say?’ ‘What do you mean?”
McGonigle hung out Sunday night with his Delco buddies and slept Sunday night in his childhood bedroom, the one with the Hamels poster on the wall. For one day, the trip from Ridley to South Philly was his route to work. Perhaps it could have become his usual trip.
“It took a lot of work to get where I am today,” McGonigle said. “And the main reason is where I’m from. That’s Delco.”
In front of home crowd, Bryce Harper is ready to ‘launch’
Philadelphia Phillies infielder Bryce Harper speaks during the National League Media Availability at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, July 13, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper does not take batting practice outside often, as he prefers to finetune his swing before games in the ballpark’s indoor batting cages. But when he does swing outside, he acts like he’s in a Home Run Derby.
“When I go out for BP, I want to launch,” Harper said Monday, a few hours before he’ll take part in the derby at Citizens Bank Park. “That’s the only time I go out there, is to launch and feel that.”
Harper said he has hit batting practice homers at Citizens Bank Park into the third deck in right field and onto Ashburn Alley. So the Alley is in play on Tuesday?
“For sure,” Harper said.
Harper said Monday night’s event will be his last Home Run Derby, which he won in 2018 in Washington while playing for the Nationals. His opponent that night in the final? Kyle Schwarber, who was then playing for the Cubs.
“I just remember the cinematic movie thing,” Schwarber said. “… That last 45 seconds, he just catches fire and starts peeling them off left and right. You sit back and it’s like you’re watching a movie. It was made to be and it was really cool to see.”
Harper said he stopped regularly taking batting practice outside in 2015 at the suggestion of Matt Williams, who was then Washington’s hitting coach. He can still tell in the indoor cage if he hit a ball hard. But sometimes he does wander outside to put on a show. On Monday, the fans will get a glimpse of it.
“I hope everyone enjoys it,” Harper said. “I hope everyone sees what Philly is all about. Every year we get into the postseason, they see our fans. I think that’s a big look for free agents and possible trade targets and things like that. They see our fan base, the style our fan base has, and how loud it is. It’s just a lot of fun to be a part of.”
Giant blue baseball gloves take over Home Run Derby outfield seats
Don’t adjust your television sets — those are not tiny fans trying to catch home runs in the outfield seats. It’s the giant gloves, courtesy ofd Geico.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
There are going to be some massive gloves fielding home runs in the outfield seats at the Home Run Derby. Geico provided gigantic blue gloves for fans seated across 16 outfield sections at Citizens Bank Park.
But if you’re headed down to the park, don’t go discarding your regular-sized glove just yet. The gloves’ giant size makes them exceedingly hard to close. If you catch a home run inside it, it’ll probably just fall right out — if you can even hold it up.
Chase Utley: If I lived here, I’d work for the Phillies
Chase Utley poses for a selfie with a fan inside Sarcone’s Bakery on Monday.
Patrons of Sarcone’s Bakery — the 108-year-old South Philadelphia staple — are accustomed to seeing familiar faces behind the counter. On Monday, guests were served by a new member of the Sarcone’s family: Chase Utley.
The Phillies legend helped serve tomato pie to fans lined up around the corner as a part of the bakery’s partnership with sports apparel company ’47. The two companies teamed up to host a pop-up inside the bakery. Guests who purchased food received an exclusive Sarcone’s T-shirt and hat, produced by ’47.
After Utley finished up behind Sarcone’s counter, The Inquirer caught up with the former second baseman, who will be inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame next month …
Q: We’re at Sarcones today. You just got done serving and meeting some fans. Could you tell me a little about that experience?
It’s good to be back in Philadelphia in a historic place like Sarcone’s. It just brings back so many different memories. Interacting with all the fans, talking about some old times, some stories we had over the years was fantastic. I’m happy that Sarcone’s had me out here.
Once or twice a month I’d roll through this area, stop at Sarcone’s [Deli], and grab a pie or a cheesesteak. There was a certain point we would order a bunch for the clubhouse. They’ve done such a good job. The store has been here over 100 years, which is so unbelievable. They run a good ship.
Chase Utley works behind the counter at Sarcone’s Bakery in South Philly.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Q: You recently were hired by the Dodgers as the team’s special assistant to the president of baseball operations. Can you talk about how that’s going so far?
I finished my career in Los Angeles. I live in Los Angeles, and I wanted to still be around baseball, but still be around my family and not travel too much. So it made sense just to get under their hood a little bit and understand what they’re doing. I get to sleep in my bed every single night, it’s a fantastic organization. I love Philadelphia and the Phillies organization. If I lived in Philadelphia, I would do the same thing.
Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper answers questions during All-Star media day at Citizens Bank Park.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper is flanked by Phillies media-relations director Kevin Gregg (left) and agent Scott Boras, who stand poised to pounce in case anyone utters the words “fan” and “duel.”
Bryce Harper joins the chorus of stars pitching LeBron James
Phillies outfield Bryce Harper was the latest Philly star to pitch NBA free agent and future Hall of Famer LeBron James on the idea of bringing his talents to South Philly, joining Saquon Barkley, Jaylen Brown, and others.
So what is Harper’s elevator pitch?
“Jaylen Brown, their whole team,” he told the media Monday. “They’ve got an opportunity. They’ve got four guys that are really good, got a great fan base.”
Bryce Harper Makes LeBron James free-agent pitch to come to Philly & Join Sixers
Mike Trout on Phillies: I’m an Angel, but ‘I love this city’
Angels outfielder and Vineland native Mike Trout, who will lead off for the American League at Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, was asked Monday afternoon whether he’d ever like to play for the Phillies.
“I didn’t think I was going to hear this question,” he said sarcastically before continuing. “You know, I hear this a lot. Like I said before, I enjoy coming to Philly. I’m an Angel, obviously. I’ve got a no-trade clause, so it’s all my decision. But, like I said, I love this city.”
Chris Sale calls Zack Wheeler snub a ‘head-scratcher’
Phillies fans — and former players — aren’t alone in wondering why starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, who delivered another gem on Sunday against the Tigers, wasn’t among the players initially selected to represent the National League at this year’s MLB All-Star Game in home ballpark.
Braves starter Chris Sale, a 10-time All-Star and former Cy Young winner, said Monday during media day at Citizens Bank Park that the decision not to pick Wheeler, who ultimately turned down a last-minute invite from MLB, was a “head-scratcher, to say the least.”
Chris Sale says Zack Wheeler not making the All-Star team is a "head-scratcher, to say the least."
"His numbers are better than mine, and I'm sitting here. I'll leave it at that." pic.twitter.com/oKIJ63YoAx
While the 37-year-old Sale is having a All-Star season — 9-6 with a 2.20 ERA, 1.112 WHIP, and 4.68 strikeout/walk ratio — Wheeler has indeed been better, posting a 2.13 ERA, 0.892 WHIP, and a 4.91 SO/BB ratio.
Wheeler’s WAR for pitchers (4.8) is second in the national league to just Cristopher Sànchez.
Kyle Schwarber vs. Bryce Harper: Who wins in a Home Run Derby?
// Timestamp 07/13/26 2:22pm
Kyle Schwarber will lead off for National League; Marsh will bat seventh
Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber will hit leadoff for the National League at Tuesday’s MLB All-Star Game.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The starting lineups for Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game were revealed by the teams’ respective managers Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
The lineup behind Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, who gets the start on the mound for the National League, will begin with his Phillies teammate, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. Outfielder Brandon Marsh will bat seventh for Dave Roberts’ NL squad. Here’s a look at the full order:
Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies
Juan Soto, LF, Mets
Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers
CJ Abrams, SS, Nationals
Max Muncy, 3B, Dodgers
Ozzie Albies, 2B, Braves
Brandon Marsh, RF, Phillies
Andy Pages, CF, Dodgers
Drake Baldwin, C, Braves
Meanwhile, here’s a look at the starting lineup for John Schneider’s American League side, behind starting pitcher Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays:
Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and Bobby Witt Jr. meet fans in Center City
Bryce Harper’s night may be booked with the Home Run Derby, but the Phillies first baseman spent some time earlier on Monday meeting and taking pictures with fans at an Under Armour pop-up event in Center City.
The company announced on Instagram that Harper, Bobby Witt Jr., and Juan Soto would be making an appearance at the Under Armour Dugout at 1190 Market Street to meet fans. By the time the event got underway around 11:30 a.m., the line extended down the city block.
Bryce Harper, Bobby Witt Jr., and Juan Soto are appearing at the Under Armour Dugout on 12th & Market for a fan meet and greet starting at 11:30. With five minutes until the start, the line currently extends all the way down to 11th & Market. pic.twitter.com/YtU1Zob4AQ
Witt Jr. signed baseballs and took photos before showing off his skills — or rather lack of skill — with a few rounds of Backyard Baseball.
Bobby Witt Jr. is a lot better at Major League Baseball than he is at Backyard Baseball. He put on a show for fans at the Under Armour meet and greet, but his skills were lacking. pic.twitter.com/HKug2HUN6D
And despite being a member of the rival New York Mets, there was love for Soto in Philly too, with fans lining up to take photos with him in front of the Under Armour logo.
Fans in Philly were also showing love to Juan Soto, taking pictures with him at the Under Armour store as well. pic.twitter.com/Z7i241dbxj
Harper and Soto will team up again tomorrow night when they represent the National League and go head-to-head with Witt and the American League in the All-Star Game.
— Mia Messina
// Timestamp 07/13/26 1:33pm
Exclusive All-Star Game merch is big business
Foocoos mini bobble head mystery boxes showcasing the few bobble heads you can open at the All Star Games Media Preview to showcase All-Star Week Events, New Food, and Commemorative Bell at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Take me out to the gift shop.
The MLB All-Star Game has become a temporary retail city built around exclusivity, collectibility, and host-city pride. Fanatics’ 16,000-square-foot flagship at the ticketed All-Star Village at the Convention Center carries more than 400 product styles, while Aramark’s 7,500-square-foot ballpark store (open to the public without a ticket) offers about 400 All-Star items, roughly 75% exclusive.
Across the ballpark, All-Star Village, and MLB’s online stores, fans can choose from about 600 products, from the wild (there’s a sports jacket covered in the logos of all 30 teams) to the Philly-themed (‘47 Sports “Hit That Jawn” T-shirt) to the routine (Foocoos mini bobblehead figures sold in blind boxes) to genuine objets d’art (original 3D pop-art posters by artist Charles Fazzino. And T-shirts and hats and jerseys, of course.
Why buy? The retail analysts we spoke to say it all boils down to one thing: You want to prove you were there.
Bryce Harper responds to Inquirer gambling video investigation
First baseman Bryce Harper is one of the Phillies’ six All-Stars.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper, the Phillies All-Star first basemen, claimed on Monday that he was unknowingly working on behalf of FanDuel when he recorded a personalized video for a man with a gambling addiction who had placed millions of dollars in bets on the site.
Harper said on his verified Instagram account that he had joined the messaging site Cameo to engage with fans with paid videos but that “what happened here went beyond anything I knew about or approved.”
“I did not know this video would be used for commercial purposes,” Harper wrote. “The request included a short script. I read it in good faith. FanDuel then put its own logo on the video and used it as a gambling promotion. I did not know FanDuel would do this, I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”
The Inquirer obtained a copy of the 21-second video from November 2024, which is marked with a blue FanDuel logo and shows Harper offering a greeting to the bettor, Terry Thompson, and Thompson’s son, by name.
Harper’s statement also said he has no affiliation with FanDuel and that “Contrary to the Inquirer’s suggestion, I did not know that the Cameo video would be used for a FanDuel VIP promotion.”
However, in the video Harper states that he’s reaching out at the request of Thompson’s VIP manager — “your host Bryttanni at FanDuel.” Harper also posted the Cameo script, which included the language about FanDuel.
The Inquirer reported on the video on Thursday. Harper had declined to comment until today. His statement came ahead of Monday night’s 2026 MLB Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park. A media availability is planned for this afternoon.
The Inquirer will continue to report on issues related to the growth of gambling addiction — among teens and adults — across Pennsylvania. If you, or someone you know, wants to speak with a reporter, please contact David Gambacorta or William Bender at dgambacorta@inquirer.com and wbender@inquirer.com
Ryan Howard talks Home Run Derby: I hope someone ‘hits that bell on the fly’
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (center) watches as his home run sails out of PNC Park in Pittsburgh during the 2006 Home Run Derby.ASSOCIATED PRESS
Twenty years ago, Ryan Howard launched baseballs into the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh and won MLB’s annual Home Run Derby.
In some ways, it launched his career.
Howard was the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 2005. But his star turn at the 2006 Derby came in the midst of a season in which he won NL MVP and became the foremost power hitter in the sport for a six-year stretch.
As the All-Star Game returns to Philadelphia for the first time in 30 years, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the Phillies’ first half, his expectations for a Home Run Derby in Citizens Bank Park, and more.
Q: You played in three All-Star games in your career. You were the Home Run Derby champ in 2006. When I say All-Star Game, what sticks out to to you from your career?
A: When you say All-Star Game, it’s one of those things that when you’re younger, you always strive to want to be a part of. It’s kind of where, it’s the elite of the elite, if you will, and you’re always striving to try to make an All-Star team, and you’re always striving to try to win a championship. So to be able to participate on the All-Star teams and be recognized by the fans and your peers as one of the top players, in the middle of the season, is something that’s always such a great honor to have. And it means you’re doing something right. So you always want to continue to try to do something like that.
Q: How much are you looking forward to seeing what a Home Run Derby in Citizens Bank Park will look like?
A: I’m so excited to see what it’ll look like. This group of guys are just different. It’s a whole different level of strength, and these guys are bigger, stronger, faster. The ball just travels further, so I’m excited to see where the ball lands. Charlie [Manuel] always told Jimmy [Thome] and I that he saw Julio Franco hit a ball in batting practice that hit the bell. Now we’ve said that’s a little suspect, Charlie. There’s got to be like a 35 mph tail wind. He’s got to catch it and do the whole nine, but like it’ll be very interesting. I think somebody could potentially get close to trying to hit that bell, so I would love to see somebody hit a ball that goes up and hits that bell on the fly.
A: Kyle Schwarber is one of the preeminent sluggers of this generation, him and Aaron Judge, and certainly Shohei Ohtani. Is this the year that maybe Schwarber matches or tops your Phillies record 58 home runs in a season?
A: He’s must watch TV. You don’t want to miss his at-bat because of what he’s able to do with the swing of the bat — the ball comes off his bat different. It’s just so violent, and the swing is so … quick and it’s so violent off the bat that it’s so fun to watch. The ball he hit a few years ago in San Diego, people don’t do that. People don’t hit the ball like that, but Schwarber does. As far as the 58, it’s just a matter of him staying healthy and just continuing to stay consistent and do what he does. He got close last year [with 56]. Right now he’s at [32]. You just want him to stay healthy and be good for the stretch run, and he’s going to get those hot streaks where he’s dropping off like five, six, seven homers in a week, and again it’s like video game type stuff.
But it’s fun to watch. I like to call it kind of like some blackout moments where you’re like, I don’t even know what’s going on, but I’m not going to fight it. And he gets in those zones where it’s just like it feels like every time the bat comes off your shoulder, damage will be done, and usually it winds up on the other side of the fence.
The Schmitter returns to Citizens Bank Park tonight
The Schmitter sandwich displayed at the All Star Games Media Preview to showcase All-Star Week Events, New Food, and Commemorative Bell at the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
One of Philadelphia’s signature sandwiches is heading back to Citizens Bank Park after a decade away.
The Schmitter, the classic cheesesteak-salami creation from McNally’s Tavern in Chestnut Hill, will return during the forthcoming Major League Baseball All-Star festivities, Aramark announced as it unveiled a lineup of foods and merchandise at the ballpark Wednesday.
The Schmitter, which has a spot on The Inquirer’s list of 76 essential foods, will be served at Pass & Stow, the sports bar accessible to ticketed fans, throughout All-Star Week. Aramark, the Phillies’ concessionaire, plans to keep it on the ballpark menu through at least the end of the season.
It joins a lineup of fan-voted creations and Philadelphia chef collaborations at Citizens Bank Park, which hosts four days of events starting with the HBCU Swingman Classic on Friday.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper will be first Phillies teammates to compete in Home Run Derby
Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Phillies haven’t had a Home Run Derby champion since 2006, when Ryan Howard blasted 23 total to take the crown.
This year, at Monday’s competition at Citizens Bank Park, they will have double the chance. Because for the first time in the 41-year history of the Derby, the Phillies have a pair of teammates competing against each other. Kyle Schwarber announced Friday that he would officially be joining Bryce Harper in the event.
“I just wanted to make sure pretty much getting through that series in Cincinnati, make sure everything was good healthwise, and everything’s been trending the right way. So that’s when we pretty much made a decision to do it,” Schwarber said.
Schwarber and Harper have competed in the same Derby before in 2018, although they were representing different teams. With Harper in his final year with the Nationals and Schwarber playing with the Cubs, the future teammates found themselves in the final round together in Washington D.C. Harper bashed 19 homers to narrowly best Schwarber’s 18.
Schwarber hopes that this year ends with another rematch.
“I think it would be awesome, especially in Philadelphia, where our fans obviously are going to get the opportunity to really show out what they’re capable of and what we’ve seen for years and years of just pure electricity,” he said. “So I think it would be a pretty cool ending there if that could happen. But we’ll see what happens.”
One-time Phillies outfield Hunter Pence will be part of Netflix’s broadcast of the Derby
For the first time in more than 30 years, the Home Run Derby has a new broadcast home, and it won’t appear on either broadcast or cable TV.
Instead, it will stream exclusively on Netflix beginning at 8 p.m. Philly time as part of a three-year deal that also included MLB’s opening night back in March and next month’s Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa between the Phillies and Minnesota Twins.
Calling all the action will be Matt Vasgersian, with Elle Duncan and Lauren Shehadi also leading the coverage. Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Anthony Rizzo, CC Sabathia, and former Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence will also provide analysis.
“The Home Run Derby’s always been one of my favorite things as a kid,” Pence said. “I’m going to be in the stands a little bit. I’m going to be in the booth as well… Netflix definitely has some excitement up their sleeve.”
Netflix hasn’t offered many details about its plans for the Derby, but if its opening night telecast is anything to go by, expect a lot of stars. Among them will be former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin, who hosts The White House video podcast for Netflix.
Breakout White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami was the final player to join the Home Run Derby.Nam Y. Huh
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
Bryce Harper, Phillies
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
Wilson Contreras, Red Sox
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
Jac Caglianone, Royals
Ben Rice, Yankees
Junior Caminero, Rays
Not participating for the second straight season is Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso, one of only four players to win multiple Derby championships. Despite a strong first-half, Alonso wasn’t selected to this year’s All-Star Game.
Also not competing is last year’s winner, Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who has struggled this year after being last year’s American League MVP runner-up.
Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh wears a large necklace after winning the Derby last year.Lindsey Wasson
This year’s Derby has a different format that previous years.
For starters, there won’t be a timer. Instead, each slugger will get a set number of swings each round — 20 in the first round and 15 in both the second and final rounds.
The last Derby without a clock was 2014.
There’s also a “keep going” rule. If the batter hits a homer on his final attempt, he’ll keeping swinging until he fails to blast out a home run.
“I love it,” said former Phillies outfielder Hunter Pence, who is calling the event on Netflix. “It’s really awesome for TV and healthier for the players. They’re not just having this endurance contest. We get to really feel each swing and each player.”
There also won’t be a bracket for the first round. Instead, the four sluggers will the most homers during the first round will move on to the second. There the competition shifts to head-to-head until a champion is crowned.
Philly road closures due to tonight’s Home Run Derby
Banners for The All Star Game hang at the Citizens Bank Park.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
On Monday, Independence Mall will see road closures starting at 5 a.m. to accommodate building out the MLB Red Carpet Show. Set to be in place through midnight, those closures will impact:
Fifth Street between Market and Chestnut Streets
Ludlow Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets
Randstead Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets
Independence Mall will remain tied up Tuesday for the MLB Red Carpet show itself, with closures again in place from 5 a.m. to midnight. Those closures will affect:
Fifth and Sixth Streets from Arch to Walnut Streets
Market and Chestnut Streets from Fourth to Seventh Streets
Ranstead and Sansom Streets from Sixth to Seventh Streets
Philadelphia police, the city said, may institute additional closures in the interest of public safety.
All roads affected by closures will also be temporary no-parking zones, the city said. If vehicles are parked in those locations during the times they are closed, the vehicles will be moved.
Drivers who may have had their cars moved should contact the police district of the area where their vehicle was parked, the city said.
To accommodate fans heading to Citizens Bank Park, SEPTA will run six additional express trains on the Broad Street Line, also known as the B Line, to NRG Station before and after the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game Monday and Tuesday.
Free rides on the line from NRG Station will also be available at select times during those events. Free rides begin after the second round of the Home Run Derby on Monday, and after the sixth inning of the All-Star Game Tuesday, the city said.
The pandemonium at Veterans Stadium had started to quiet down after the Phillies won the 1980 World Series when John Romagnoli remembered he was wearing an all-access credential. He was caught up in the excitement, Romagnoli said. And he had to see where his pass could take him.
So the 19-year-old walked onto the field, stepped into the dugout, and wandered up the ramp that led to the clubhouse where the Phils were still celebrating their first World Series title.
“There’s Al Meltzer over there and I’m just standing back taking it all in,” Romagnoli said, referencing the longtime Philly TV sportscaster. “I’m just thinking ‘Holy smokes. This is unreal.’ There was a lot of joy just like you see on TV.”
Romagnoli’s father, Lou, was friends with the owners of the Phillies who gave the Romagnoli family tickets to Game 6 against Kansas City. Three years earlier, the Carpenter family arranged for John Romagnoli to rehab at the Vet with Phillies trainer Gus Hoefling after suffering a knee injury as a high school quarterback. Romagnoli befriended some players that summer as guys like Tug McGraw, Mike Schmidt, and Bob Boone encouraged him to keep working.
But they lost touch after his recovery. It was back to high school, Romagnoli said. And then McGraw — the pitcher who fired the strike past Willie Wilson and sent the stadium into a frenzy — spotted Romagnoli in the clubhouse.
“It was an eye lock,” said Romagnoli, now 65 and living in Wilmington. “He said, ‘Oh my gosh. This is for you.’”
McGraw removed his jersey and handed it to the person he used to work out with in the stadium’s weight room. Romagnoli said McGraw encouraged him when he was a teenager and cried when the pitcher gave him his jersey.
“I think he liked me,” Romagnoli said of McGraw, who died in 2004 at 59. “He cared. We had a bond. He’s a special person. It was all just surreal. You’re just in the mix and it’s all happening. You’re kind of stunned just taking it all in.”
Romagnoli kept McGraw’s jersey for years in his dresser drawer, often taking it out to remember that October night when he stepped into the clubhouse. He’s ready now to part with it. The jersey will be auctioned off this week by Hunt Auctions amid the All-Star Game festiviites.
Tug McGraw’s jersey from Game 6 of the 1980 World Series is being auctioned off this week by Hunt Auctions.Hunt Auctions
An online auction closes Monday night followed by a live auction on Tuesday at the All-Star Village at the Convention Center. It is expected to be sold for more than $300,000 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the ALS Hope Foundation.
“Our family is thrilled that the jersey our dad wore for the final out of the 1980 World Series — the strikeout of Willie Wilson on October 21st at Veterans Stadium — has finally surfaced,” McGraw’s family said in a statement. “For more than four decades there has been mystery around what happened to that jersey, and we are grateful to have the rest of the story. Tug would appreciate the incredible story of its re-emergence more than anyone.”
Romagnoli would sometimes forget to check on the jersey for a few months, causing him to fear that moths ate it or someone stole it. But there it was in a Ziploc bag in his drawer. He used to bring the jersey to his children’s schools for show-and-tell, but the best reactions came when he shared it with people who remembered that night. They couldn’t believe he had McGraw’s jersey. He never thought about how much it was worth.
“It was about the relationship and the feeling of a friendship,” Romagnoli said.
The jersey was authenticated by MeiGray Authentication via photo matching. The company said the jersey “conclusively” matched the one worn by McGraw in Game 6. It was the real thing. But Romagnoli already knew that. It’s time for the jersey to find a new owner. Included with the auction is the credential that Romagnoli wore that night and led him into the clubhouse.
“Life goes on and you want to share it with others. That’s where we are,” he said. “It’s like a Picasso. I don’t think it should sit in somebody’s living room in Texas.”
Cristopher Sánchez‘s meteoric rise to the ranks of elite major league pitchers will now come with the stamp of an All-Star Game start.
Sánchez, the Phillies‘ ace lefty, was informed Sunday by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts that he’s the choice to start for the National League on Tuesday night in Citizens Bank Park, a league source confirmed before Roberts made it official.
“I smiled a lot,” Sánchez told reporters, through a team interpreter, after the Phillies wrapped up the first half in Detroit. “It’s reflection of all the hard work that I’ve been doing throughout the year, and I’m just extremely proud of myself right now.”
Sánchez, who will be opposed by Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease for the American League, is the first Phillies pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2011. Curt Schilling, Steve Carlton, Curt Simmons, and Robin Roberts also started at least one All-Star Game as a Phillie.
“He deserves it,” Roberts told reporters in Los Angeles. “He’s a hometown ballplayer, and I think the city of Philly will enjoy watching and supporting him. He was very grateful. In a time where guys are not wanting to participate in the midsummer classic for the fans, this is a good thing that he’s that excited about pitching.”
Sánchez ranks second in the majors in innings (127⅓), third in strikeouts (144), and ninth in ERA (2.62). The 29-year-old is also second among pitchers in wins above replacement (4.0, according to Fangraphs).
But Sánchez’s chances of starting for the NL improved because neither ERA leader Jacob Misiorowski of the Brewers nor Dodgers two-way unicorn Shohei Ohtani will pitch in the All-Star Game. Misiorowski was scheduled to start Sunday for Milwaukee and later scratched with arm fatigue, while Ohtani bowed out with an irritated left knee.
Cristopher Sanchez will join teammates Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber as starters for the National League.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Sánchez will join the Phillies’ Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber in the NL’s lineup. Marsh was elected by fans to start in the outfield; Schwarber, chosen as a reserve on the players’ ballot, will replace Ohtani as the NL’s designated hitter.
A year ago, Sánchez was overlooked for the All-Star team, which rankled many of his teammates. There wasn’t any chance of that happening this year.
Not after Sánchez went 50⅔ innings without allowing a run, the longest streak ever by a lefty and fifth-longest all-time. He had a 1.80 ERA through 16 starts before stumbling in a five-run start at Washington and a career-worst nine-run start last Sunday in Kansas City.
This season, the Phillies’ frustration stems from the omission of Zack Wheeler, who lowered his ERA to 2.13 with six scoreless innings Sunday in Detroit but also missed the season’s first month while coming back from thoracic outlet syndrome.
Wheeler said it was “B.S.” that MLB didn’t name him as an All-Star and later replaced him on the NL roster. (Pitchers who start their team’s last game before the break don’t usually pitch in the All-Star Game on one day’s rest.) The league approached Wheeler on Friday about adding him as a replacement, but he said he declined “because they disrespected me.”
But Wheeler also declined to pitch — or even attend — the All-Star Game in 2024 in Texas and last year in Atlanta, his hometown.
“There’s certain circumstances where guys can’t play, they are injured. But this is an honor,” Roberts said. “It’s not only just an honor to be named it, but it’s an honor to participate and want to participate. Cristopher wants to, and I’m excited about naming him the starter in the All-Star Game.”
Sánchez is at his best at home. In his last 56 starts in Citizens Bank Park dating to 2024, he is 23-8 with a 2.21 ERA and 377 strikeouts in 354 innings. This year, he’s 7-1 with an 0.86 ERA in 11 home starts.
“I think it’s just fan support overall,” Sánchez said recently through a team interpreter, “and also knowing every inch of this stadium.”
After giving up two runs on 10 hits Saturday in Detroit, Sánchez said, “It would be awesome to start the All-Star Game at home. With the fans, it just would be an awesome thing. It’s another accomplishment and another goal, for sure, but it would be an awesome thing to do.”
It’s now a reality.
“Yeah, it’s just going to be crazy,” Sánchez said. “You guys know that Philly is the best environment in baseball that there is, so it’s just going to be really joyful and really crazy.”
Staff writer Lochlahn March contributed to this report.
DETROIT — The Phillies were playing that night, so Kevin McGonigle had to get to the ballpark early. Around 10 a.m., when the batting cages would be empty.
He was a senior in high school, and the Phillies hitting coach, Kevin Long, had invited him to take some swings at Citizens Bank Park. Long’s son, Jaron, worked for the agency that represented McGonigle. He asked his father if he would hit with his client, who was a Delco native, a big Phillies fan, and poised to be taken early in the 2023 MLB draft.
“I said, ‘I’d love to. Let me check out what this guy’s got,’” Long said.
Long is used to working with major leaguers. On the Phillies, he oversees the second-oldest group of hitters in baseball. McGonigle was on the cusp of being selected 37th overall by the Tigers, but at the time, he was still a high schooler at Bonner-Prendergast, still a teenager.
The session was a memorable experience for both of them. They spent about half an hour swinging in the cages. And when they were done, McGonigle still had more questions.
“Hey, can you show me Bryce Harper’s routine?” he asked Long. “Can you show me Kyle Schwarber’s routine?”
Long would demonstrate, explaining how and why a certain player would approach a drill. And so the session went on for another half an hour, with McGonigle emulating the major leaguers he’d grown up admiring, in their batting cage.
“I had a feeling he was going to be special,” Long said. “Had a feeling he was going to be in the big leagues. This quick of success probably surprised me a little bit.”
Bonner-Prendergast’s Kevin McGonigle was the 37th overall selection in the 2023 draft.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer
This week, McGonigle will return to the same stadium, this time as a major leaguer himself. The 21-year-old Tigers infielder will make his Citizens Bank Park debut in the All-Star game, just over three years after that session with Long.
The Tigers drafted McGonigle during Competitive Balance Round A, which falls between the first and second rounds. He went 10 picks after the Phillies selected shortstop Aidan Miller 27th overall.
During the 2025 All-Star festivities in Atlanta, McGonigle was one of the top prospects selected to play in the Futures Game. He was playing for Detroit’s double-A affiliate at the time. But after making the Tigers’ opening day lineup in March, the kid from Delco has put together a sparkling rookie season.
“Growing up wanting to go to an All-Star Game in Philadelphia just as a fan, it was always a dream of mine,” McGonigle said. “Just to go experience it and watch the All-Star Game in Philly. But now I get to have a front-row seat and actually play in it, so I haven’t really been able to think of words to describe the way I feel.”
He has a .285/.394/.424 slash line in his first 92 games, and will be an infield reserve on the American League team.
McGonigle will be staying at home with his parents for the festivities. He said about 35 friends and family members will be in attendance at the game. He also had plenty of family in the stands over the weekend at Comerica Park to see him face his hometown team, a trip planned before McGonigle was selected for the game.
None of this has sunk in yet for him.
“I think it’s gonna all hit me either when my name gets called or the national anthem, somewhere in the lines of the All-Star Game,” he said.
His phone started blowing up immediately on Friday after McGonigle took starter Aaron Nola deep in the series opener. In the third inning, he sent a sinker 414 feet into the Phillies’ bullpen in right-center field.
After the game, Nola gave an unprompted shoutout to McGonigle, who grew up a fan of his. He was 10 years old when Nola debuted for the Phillies in 2015.
“Good hitting, right there,” Nola said of McGonigle. “Hit that ball pretty hard, out of one of the deepest parts of the field. So hat off to him on that one.”
McGonigle was excited after seeing the clip.
“He gave me some props on that, which was really nice of him,” McGonigle said. “So hopefully, I can run into him at some point, and just get to know him a little bit and thank him for the good words he said about me.”
McGonigle briefly chatted with Harper on the field in Detroit. The first baseman was one of his favorite Phillies growing up, after Chase Utley. He hopes to get the chance to talk more during the All-Star festivities.
“I was nervous to say something to him, and it was just like a normal conversation, which was awesome,” McGonigle said. “I think that’s the best part about it. All these superstars are just normal guys, and you get to build relationships with them, learn from them, and just get to know them.”
He and Long have kept in touch over text since their hitting session three years ago. They haven’t been able to connect in person in Detroit because Long’s duties usually keep him busy in the batting cages underneath the stadium.
But they have been messaging. McGonigle had a bat sent over to Long at his request. And watching him from the opposite dugout, Long still recognizes the high schooler he swung with back in 2023.
“That’s the same kid,” Long said. “He’s tough. He’s gritty. He puts together these at-bats, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ Takes a really good swing. He’s not trying to baby his swing. He’s letting it kind of eat a little bit, which I like.”
He recalled seeing similarities between a younger McGonigle and former Red Sox infielder Dustin Pedroia, based on his size, demeanor, and his toughness.
What makes him a tough at-bat now for the Phillies to plan for is McGonigle’s discipline at the plate, Long said.
“His swing is a little bit unorthodox, but it’s a tight, compact swing,” Long said. “He controls his barrel very well. Uses the whole field. And his toughness. You can just see it. You can see it as soon as he goes to that at-bat, and overall, what he does at the plate. You sense that he’s not going to get out, or he’s going to make it really tough on the opposing pitcher.”
Long was so impressed by McGonigle back then that he later stopped by one of McGonigle’s games at Bonner in his senior season, to get a look at how he played defense.
He was blown away.
“I’m very proud of him, and I’m glad that we were able to cross paths,” Long said. “Something he’ll remember for a long time, and I’ll never forget it.”
Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Cole Hamels — the core of one of the greatest eras in Phillies history — will record a live podcast on Tuesday at All-Star Village at the Convention Center.
The recording will be an episode of Rollins and Howard’s “6-1-1 Podcast,” which is produced by Major League Baseball. Fans attending All-Star Village on Tuesday will be able to attend the hourlong live show, which begins at 10:30 a.m. Rollins and Howard launched their podcast in 2024 and have been joined this year by Freddie Freeman, Darryl Strawberry, and rapper Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan.
“That’s big bro, right there,” Howard said of Rollins. “Jimmy took me into his house when I first came up. He showed me the ropes and showed me what it’s like to be a big leaguer. It was always natural with Jimmy and us being ourselves around each other.”
Howard said Rollins was a good landlord as he didn’t charge him rent after he moved in during the end of the 2004 season. Rollins did the same a season later for Shane Victorino.
“We kept it clean,” Howard said. “Despite what he might try to tell you about the ‘Dishgate.’ He’ll try to talk about me not cleaning up dishes and stuff like that. I beg to differ. He probably had the cleanest dishes when I was there.”
Howard said the Phillies from his era remain close years later because they always cared about more than what happened on the field. The four players many symbolized from those years will be together on Tuesday.
“That’s what gave such a great bond,” Howard said. “We still have a text chain now where we update each other and try to see about getting together for a golf trip. It was a great time. It was a fun time.”
Ricky Bottalico often walks NBC Sports Philadelphia with a hockey stick, pacing the newsroom like a third-line enforcer before it’s his turn to dissect that night’s Phillies game.
Bottalico battled that same restlessness during his 12-year major league career, often bothering fellow relievers with his inability to simply relax in the bullpen while they waited for the phone to ring. It’s only fitting that he prepares for TV the same way.
“He’ll take slap shots at people,” said Sean Kane, a senior producer who oversees the network’s Phillies coverage. “People are trying to get work done, and he’s shooting hockey pucks. He’s all amped up talking to people. It’s just how he is. How he’s wired. And it makes for good TV.”
Bottalico pitched with intensity — he once started a brawl by beaning Barry Bonds and cursed at his old manager after earning a save — once he left those jitters in the bullpen. His fastball was blazing, and his stare was glaring. Bottalico had an edge. So does the guy who carries the hockey stick around the newsroom.
The 56-year-old Bottalico has made his name on TV as a no-nonsense analyst who isn’t afraid to criticize the Phillies, even though the team owns part of the station. Bottalico is irate after a loss, fumes when relievers don’t throw strikes, and blows his lid when fundamentals are lacking.
He does praise the Phils when they deserve it and is just as heavy-handed with the opponent. But it is his barbs against the Phils — “This is pathetic,” he said after a rough loss one night — that players have bristled at over the years. Bottalico pitched seven seasons for the Phils, and it’s uncommon for a former player working as an analyst on the station that carries the games to have as strong opinions as him.
The former player said he never takes a cheap shot as he speaks solely on what happens on the field. It’s never personal. He’s doing his job, just like he did when he was on the mound. Bottalico is throwing strikes.
“I’m sure there are some guys who are pissed at me,” Bottalico said. “You don’t want to piss anyone off. That’s not why we do it. I’m sure there are some people who enjoy teeing off on players. I don’t enjoy teeing off on something that happens in a game, but you have to. It’s part of the job. The way I look at it is if you can look in the mirror and see that you had a bad game or you made some bad pitches, then everything is status quo.”
Ricky Bottalico (left) prepares for “Phillies Pregame Live” with senior producer and digital contributor Sean Kane and host Michael Barkann on Thursday at the NBC Sports Philadelphia studio inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Truthful to the fans
Bottalico started with the network, then called Comcast SportsNet, late in the 2007 season. He retired two years earlier and was looking for the next chapter.
“You get your first summer off in 15 or 20 years,” Bottalico said. “And I’m like, ‘This is going to be great.’ Then you realize that it’s not everything you thought it would be. You’re sitting around a lot. Everything is getting stale. I missed the game.”
Bottalico’s TV gig gave him a chance to get back to baseball. He didn’t have much experience, but station fixture Michael Barkann said the former All-Star closer had what it took to be in front of a camera: knowledge, passion, and an opinion.
“He’s just so good at conveying what’s going on on the field,” said Barkann, who hosts the pregame and postgame show. “Many people will say baseball is just as simple as ‘See ball, hit ball, field ball, and throw ball.’ But it’s so much more than that situationally. When you absolutely live it and it just runs right through you and it’s a language you can speak with other people who have been there, it enables you to explain the game in a much more clear way. That’s him.”
Bottalico’s work that season led to more postgame shifts in 2008 along with work as a color commentator for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. A Daily News review of broadcasters in 2009 said Bottalico would be a star once he lost “the alumni-bias that sometimes causes him to broad-brush obvious chinks in the Phillies’ armor.” That soon happened.
“You have to be truthful to the fans,” said Bottalico, who also cohosts an afternoon radio show on 97.5 FM. “I don’t like to beat around the bush. I learned early on that you have to be truthful about what happens because fans see what happens. But the other side of that is when they’re good, you point out that they’re good. I will say it’s a lot easier to do the show when they’re good.
“I’ve been doing this job for a long time. I now work with Cole Hamels. I see Ryan Howard around all the time. Jimmy Rollins, I played with and analyzed. They never had a problem with me. They might say, ‘Ah, you’re getting on me today.’ But that’s about it.”
The network started broadcasting Phillies games in 1998 and gave the team a share of the station in 2014 as part of its current $2.5 billion TV deal. So Kane said it can be “a little tricky sometimes” when the studio analyst working for the rights-holder takes a dig at the team.
Kane said he’s heard Bottalico might not be the most popular person if he walked into the Phillies clubhouse, but he’s never fielded a complaint from anyone. So Bottalico keeps bringing the heat.
“He’s going to tell it like it is, and I think that’s why fans love him,” Kane said. “He’s not going to worry about ‘Well, if I say this it might upset the players or it might upset the front office.’ I don’t think he takes cheap shots, but I just think he tells it like it is. If someone needs to play better or if someone needs to be more accountable, then he’s going to say it on TV.
“I’m sure over the years that has rubbed some guys in the clubhouse the wrong way. Like, ‘What’s this former player doing? He should be more protective. He should be more of a player-friendly analyst like, ‘They’re trying hard. That’s all you can ask.’ But I really don’t think he takes cheap shots. I just think he’s objectively watching this like a fan and ‘This guy needs to be better’ and ‘This guy needs to hustle’ and ‘This was a stupid decision’ and ‘They should’ve done this.’ When they’re not playing well, he’ll get angry. It’s not manufactured.”
Ricky Bottalico (right) with host Michael Barkann during a show on Thursday at the NBC Sports Philadelphia studio inside Xfinity Mobile Arena.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Treating it like football
If you think Bottalico is intense, he said you should watch a Phillies game with his dad in Connecticut.
“It’s unreal. It is unreal,” Bottalico said. “I’ll be there every once in a while and be outside with my brothers and we’ll hear ‘What the heck are they doing?’ You’re like, ‘Wow. OK. I guess I know where I got it.’”
The intensity Bottalico inherited from his father, Jay, proved to be a perfect match with Barkann, the host who rides an emotional roller-coaster every night during a 162-game season.
“He made a comment the other night and said, ‘You know what I love about Philadelphia is that we treat it like the Eagles, and they play once a week. That’s how we do every game,’” Bottalico said. “But it’s true. Because that’s our job. A lot of people don’t understand, ‘How are you getting so excited over this one game?’ Because that’s our job to bring what we feel that night. I think he’s a perfect example of what Philadelphia is and how intense the city has always been.”
Treating the result of a baseball game the same as a football score is the antithesis of how baseball players manage the grind of a season that often is characterized as a marathon. But how many viewers would tune in after a loss if the hosts simply said, “That’s baseball?” This is TV they’re making, and even the pitcher who ran those marathons for years had to become a sprinter.
“When you’re playing, you don’t do this,” Bottalico said. “But let’s face it: If I wasn’t true to what’s happening each and every game, I wouldn’t be doing this anymore. It’s one of those things where you have to have a love of the game, a passion for what you’re doing, and you have to be able to talk and explain it.”
The analysts know their tone may not resonate in the clubhouse, but their audience is the fans who are reeling — or riding high — like they are. The team’s postgame show meets the die-hards where they are.
“You want to be true to them,” Barkann said. “If you treat 162 games like Don Mattingly treats 162 games or Dave Dombrowski does, then come on. You want people to watch the program. You want people to get excited. You also understand as a fan that it’s not one of 162. It’s everything on that particular day or night. I pride our program on the fact that we do get excited, maybe a little over the top, about every win or every loss.”
Ricky Bottalico had a 3.70 ERA and 78 saves over seven seasons with the Phillies, and was their lone All-Star in 1996 at Veterans Stadium.INQ LODRIGUSS
A natural edge
Bottalico signed his first professional contract with the Phillies in 1991 in the backseat of a scout’s car after being discovered in a men’s league in Hartford, Conn. He was a catcher who didn’t start pitching until his junior year of college before going undrafted. Bottalico reported to Clearwater, Fla., and another pitcher wondered how Bottalico fell through the cracks.
“He looks at me and goes, ‘You throw harder than anyone else in here,’” Bottalico said.
It would have been easy to be bitter about the route he needed to take, but Bottalico never felt slighted. The edge he pitched with was not because he was overlooked. It was just him.
“I had it in Little League,” Bottalico said. “And I’m being honest. In Little League, I wanted to win every game. I wanted to get a hit every at-bat. At that point of your life, you don’t realize that the game is a game of failures. I always wanted to win. I always had that desire to make everyone on the team better, no matter where it was. I just think you’re born with that fire and desire.”
Five years after being undrafted, he was the lone Phillies’ All-Star in 1996 at Veterans Stadium. He was a big league closer, which meant the reporters flocked to his locker after a blown save but practically ignored him after a 1-2-3 ninth. Like a kicker, the closer usually makes news only after a botch. Bottalico understood the game.
Ricky Bottalico says “If you can look in the mirror and self-evaluate, then you don’t have a problem with getting ripped apart.”Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“John Marzano was doing pre- and postgame, and he would rip us apart,” Bottalico said. “But I thought it was funny. I never took it offensively. I’d be like, ‘OK, John. Get on me. What are you going to do? Rip me tonight.’ It was just one of those things. I was always the look-in-the-mirror-first guy. We used to have to stand in front of our lockers, and if I had a bad game, I would tear myself apart before they even asked a question. I was true to myself. If you can look in the mirror and self-evaluate, then you don’t have a problem with getting ripped apart.”
The analyst who presses the Phillies every night once was the player who got pressed. He didn’t have issues taking it, so he has no issues dishing it out. Bottalico is doing his job just like Marzano was. The guy who carries a hockey stick around the office can still pump one by you.
“Let’s face it: People criticize me,” Bottalico said. “You know what I do? I laugh at it. OK. You have your opinion, and I have mine. I’ve never thought about it as a critical thing. It’s just that I have a job to do. I’m doing my job, and they have a job to do, and they do their jobs.”
