It's Damn Near Impossible For The Vibes In South Philly To Be Any Higher Right Now
It all started with the Eagles bringing back the Kelly green jerseys. The moment those jerseys were released you could feel the air start to shift in Philly. Something was different. Something was magical.
Not long after the jerseys were unveiled, you had 45,000 Phillies fans giving Trea Turner a standing ovation for every at-bat to help him snap out of the slump he's been in all year long.
9.5 times out of 10, Philly usually resorts to "tough love" to get our athletes through. You break them down so you can build them back up. This level of tender love and supportiveness isn't necessarily something we're known for. Letting a guy work through his issues knowing that we still have his back regardless. But guess what? It worked.
He had a home run the next night, and has had a hit in 6 straight games. Trea Turner loved it, the rest of the Phillies loved it, Rob Thomson loved it. It had a good chance at being one of the coolest moments of the Phillies season.
But then last night happened, and the Turner moment dropped way down the power rankings. Not through any fault of its own, but because last night was a goddamn movie.
Let's start off with Weston Wilson. A good ol' boy from North Carolina making his MLB debut last night after grinding in the minors for the past 7 years. Guy gets up to the plate for the first time in the majors and what does he do with that moment?
1st at bat in the majors, 2nd swing for the 501st pick in the 2016 Draft, and Weston Wilson gets his first career homer. Such a sick moment, especially when you cut to his family in the crowd to see it happen.
Wife going crazy in the red dress. Dad brought to tears. Such a special moment for that family right there. And a moment that Liam Castellanos, Nick's son, got to join in on.
That's an important subplot to this story for later.
Speaking of Liam Castellanos celebrating milestone home runs at last night's game, he also got to witness his old man hit his 2nd home run of the night which ended up being his 200th career home run.
So we saw a 1st career home run in a 1st career at-bat, and then a 200th career home run all in one game. Seems like enough achievements for one night, right? I mean how much more could you possibly pack into a single game?
Well how about the story of the night--the Zen Master. Michael Lorenzen making his 2nd start with the Phillies, and his 1st start in front of the home crowd at Citizens Bank Park. What better way to get acquainted with the new home fans than by throwing the 14th no-hitter in franchise history? Hell, even just walking out of the dugout for the start of the 9th got everybody going.
Somewhere in the back of everybody's mind, there was a sneaking suspicion that Topper would still pull the plug on this thing. Pitch count was up, he's a new guy, it wasn't a guarantee that he'd be out there to close this thing out. But once he walked up the dugout steps, the 30,000 in attendance sounded like 60,000. And once he got that last out? It sounded like 100.
What a moment for Michael Lorenzen. What a moment for his mom and wife in attendance. What a moment for the entire Phillies team. And this sick puppy did it all in a pair of Vans.
Oh and by the way, remember how I said to remember Liam Castellanos managing to be absolutely everywhere during the action last night? Well you'd be a fool to not think he'd manage to be with the Lorenzen family for that final out.
EVERYWHERE. Kid is a demon.
P.S. -- Unfortunately for Michael Lorenzen, his old man is no longer around to witness that no-hitter in person. But it sure seems like his dad played a role in making it happen last night.
Like I said, it would be pretty damn difficult for the vibes to be any higher than they are right now. And the best part about everything happening down at the Sports Complex these days is that the Sixers aren't even close to playing right now. Keep those idiots away from everything special going on right now. We don't need that toxicity ruining everything yet.