LONDON — There aren’t many scenarios where you’d want your brother, your dad, and your husband’s college roommates to join you on your honeymoon.
But two Phillies games in London during the hottest start to the season in franchise history?
Pile in, pond hoppers.
My husband and I picked London for the start of our European honeymoon after learning the Phillies would play the Mets there over two days in June. It wasn’t long before fellow fanatics among family and friends had a similar plan to catch the tail end of the honeymoon start to the season.
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That’s what arriving for this series felt like. We know in time there will be injuries — OK, already — maybe even heartbreak, but for two days in June, we could celebrate the promise that comes from 44 wins, 19 losses, and the excitement of going on a trip with someone you love — or 26 of them in pinstripes.
“Everywhere you look, it’s Phillies fans. It kind of feels like we’re taking over the city a little bit,” said Brian Wick, 27, of Center City who came over with his dad, Matthew, to see the games. The two first shared a Phillies game when Brian was in diapers at the Vet.
“Unbelievable sense of camaraderie,” is how Joe DeCamara of 94.1 WIP put it after doing a live broadcast of his morning show from London. “Having such a great record helps. This is a historic regular season. I think that vibe is in the air.”
It’s probably recognition bias but it really did seem like Phillies fans were everywhere — and far outnumbered Mets fans in town.
Phillies fans packed onto the (extremely clean) tube, the Phanatic confused and delighted tourists as he marched around Buckingham Palace dressed as a Beefeater. Bryce Harper posed for selfies with passersby and coaches and former players drank PBRs at the Passyunk Ave Phillies bar in Waterloo.
“We knew there was gonna be interest, but I mean, we’re totally overwhelmed, physically and emotionally,” said Passyunk Ave owner JP Teti.
Teti, a New Jersey expat, got the idea for a Phillies dive bar in London in business school. Now there’s three locations across London and it’s a hub for hundreds of fans this weekend.
The city of London itself seemed largely unbothered by the baseball fans descending.
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Upon check-in, a kind bellhop, told of the reason for our visit, shook his head and said “sorry mum, I don’t understand that game.”
Outside of London Stadium, Phillies and Mets fans mingled in MLB designated “zones,” eating cheesesteaks and pastrami.
“I feel like I’m back in Philadelphia because everywhere I turn everyone’s got the same accent I do,” said Colleen Hogan, a former Philadelphia resident now living in Clearwater, Fla.
Usually, watching games with hordes of people far from home means a lot is on the line. There was comfort in knowing the games here weren’t going to make or break the season.
Still, because these are Phillies fans there was hand-wringing too.
“I refuse to believe they’re as good as they’re playing just because I’m a battered and abused lifelong Philadelphia sports fan,” said Teti, the bar owner.
“I hope they slept on the plane,” a guy in a Philly Phanatic hat chimed in.
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Fans swapped “where we were when” moments spanning Phillies baseball history and their own big life events.
Fran Begley, my husband’s college roommate who lives in Greenwich, told one of my favorites.
He was at Penn State in 2009 watching Game 4 of the World Series. The Phils were down 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth when Pedro Feliz came to the plate.
Begley bartered with the baseball gods out loud, “Pedro, you hit a home run, I will name my first child after you,” he said.
“I think it was like, ball, strike, crack. And then the undeniable sound of a home run,” Begley recalled.
Now Begley’s wife, Ellie, is pregnant with their first child, a daughter.
She will not be named Pedro Feliz Begley, but the story will endure.
For Steve Ciaukurescu, who introduced himself as Steve from Willow Grove (he’s a frequent caller into WIP), the trip marked 41 years with his wife, Suzette.
The Northeast High School sweethearts honeymooned at Cove Haven in the Poconos.
“It was 1983 and the 76ers were in the Finals,” Ciaukurescu said. “We had a heart shaped Jacuzzi we watched from.”
In matching red T-shirts with a red double-decker bus and the Phillies logo, they gave some overlapping advice on how to stay happily married for 41 years.
Don’t go to bed mad. Learn to compromise.
And always root for the Phillies.
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