Media Little Leaguers Make Phillies Home Opener Filled with Optimism

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Players form the Aston Middletown Little League play catch outside Citizens Bank Park at the Phillies home opener
Image via Emma Lee, WHYY
Players form the Aston Middletown Little League play catch outside Citizens Bank Park.

When 45,000 Phillies fans showed up for the home opener Friday, April 7, they brought a lot of positive energy with them, despite the slow start for the Philadelphia team, writes Peter Crimmins for WHYY.

How could it not, with the Phillies so close to the World Series last season?

The stadium parking lots in South Philly were awash with red and powder blue jerseys as tailgaters grilled and threw cornhole.

Among the fans was a pack of 10-year-old boys from the Aston Middletown Little League in Media. It was their first Phillies opener.

“They love it,” said their coach, Jay Gramlick. “I mean, who doesn’t love baseball?”

The kids played catch on a grassy strip in the parking lot and had no doubt the Phillies would win.

Gramlick was as confident as his players, despite 4 wins and 8 losses in the season so far.

“They hit when it’s warm. It’s not warm out, but they’ll be fine at the end of the year,” he explained. “They start out slow all the time.”

Mike Rahn of Exton, a nephew to the original Phillie Phanatic, didn’t have a ticket for the game.

He just liked the tailgating.

Read more about fan optimism at the Phillies’ home opener at WHYY.

6abc was there to cover the home opener on April 6.

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