Three-year-old Michaela saw her first Phillies game the other night. It was cold and somewhat blustery. And it was glorious.
“Unca” Matt picked up Michaela and brother Dom, and mom Faith and brought them to Citizens Bank Park for the game against the Giants.
Cindy and I, and two friends, Vicki and Sharon, had a separate set of tickets, but we were in the same section.
I had resigned myself to a less-than-optimal baseball experience. I could hear the complaints in my head: “I can’t see”; “This is boring”; “I’m cold”; “When are we leaving?”.
You know, expect the worst and you’re never disappointed.
They got to the game late, and Dom came in with headphones on. The four seats in front of us were empty, and with the permission of the gracious usherette in section 425, we became a little group of eight.
Dom took off his headphones and concentrated on the game, which fortunately had a lot of action. It wasn’t his first experience at CBP. My late son Michael, who had become an unofficial step-father, had taken him a few years before, and two years ago, Matt had also taken Dom to a game that turned out to be a no-hitter thrown by the Phillies Michael Lorenzen in 2023.
Mickey, Michael’s daughter, looked around at the colorful sights, but she didn’t like the loud music and wondered what people were cheering for and why, especially after the crowd came to its feet for a Bryce Harper home run.
She sat on my lap, I spoon-fed her some ice cream, and she sampled others’ food and tried to follow the action on the field but had no idea what was going on.
In the third inning, I started priming Michaela for the appearance of the Philly Phanatic in the fifth inning. Maybe a little too early. She kept asking where the Phanatic was until he finally scooted across the turf after the fifth.
“The Phanatic is real?” she asked in amazement.
In her world, the Phanatic was a stuffed animal and a coloring book, so the moment was an epiphany.
And it was glorious to behold.
Matt, Dom, Michaela, and Faith left after the Phanatic had danced on the dugout after the seventh.
We stayed to watch the end of a 6-4 Phillies win.
It was a Phantastic night.
The Q-View 