Cooper DeJean won a Super Bowl as a rookie. Brandon Graham has been a pillar of the Eagles defense for over a decade. And Dom DiSandro, better known as Big Dom, is basically a folk hero in Philadelphia at this point. So when the three of them rolled into Citizens Bank Park for Monday night’s Home Run Derby, the crowd lost it.
The Eagles contingent sat behind home plate, trading high-fives with fans and soaking in the energy of a stadium that desperately wanted to see some Philly hardware. But the baseball side of things didn’t cooperate.
Schwarber put on a show. Walker stole it.
Kyle Schwarber did his job. He crushed 11 home runs in the championship round, which is usually enough to win. The left-handed slugger had already fought through the bracket, sending moonshots into the seats while DeJean and Graham stood and clapped. The crowd was loud. The vibe was right.
Then Jordan Walker happened.
The Cardinals’ 24-year-old outfielder flipped his cap backward in the final round, a nod to Ken Griffey Jr., and started launching balls like he was in a video game. With the crowd booing every swing, Walker drilled home runs on six straight swings at the end. A continuation rule gave him extra pitches and he just kept going. Final score: 12-11 Walker. The place went quiet.
Walker walked away with a million bucks and a highlight reel that’ll play forever in St. Louis. The Phillies faithful walked away with another reason to hate a visiting player who showed them up.
Cross-sport vibes still hit different in Philly
Even with the loss, having DeJean, Graham, and Big Dom in the building reminded everyone what makes this city different. You don’t see the Super Bowl MVP and the head of security for the local NFL team hanging at a baseball event together everywhere. Philly is a place where the athletes show up for each other. That’s not nothing.
Graham, who’s basically a city treasure at this point, seemed to enjoy the whole thing as much as anyone. He was caught on camera laughing at a couple of Schwarber’s longer blasts and then looking genuinely bummed when Walker took over. DeJean, still a rookie technically, looked like he was having the time of his life just being part of the scene.
As for Big Dom, the man who became an internet sensation last season for getting involved in a sideline scuffle during a game, he didn’t cause any drama this time. He just stood there, arms crossed, watching baseball. A quiet night for the legend.
NFL training camps start in a couple weeks. The Eagles will be back in pads soon, chasing another ring. But for one night in July, they showed up to support the other guys in town. It didn’t work out. But the effort was there.
Leave a Comment