In December 2022, the MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies had just come out of a loss in the World Series to the Houston Astros. The team and fans were left disappointed after the season, but a new light and excitement came into play after it was announced that the Phillies had acquired Trea Turner from the Los Angeles Dodgers for an 11-year, $300 million contract. Turner would be joined again with his former teammates and Phillies stars Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Kyle Schwarber. Turner is known for his elite athleticism and overall power and speed he brings to baseball, so this gave the fan base exactly what they needed after the past season: hope.
Trea Turner had his official starting debut with the Phillies in March of 2023. As most expected, he started off hot in offense and defense. His ability to contact and power hit, speed on the bases, and defensive strength at shortstop allowed for Philly fans to fall even more in love with this addition of the best in baseball. Although this high the fans were chasing was going well, Turner hit a slump that struck it all down. Up until August, Turner had gotten his batting average down to .236 with only 10 home runs, 35 RBIs and a .656 OPS, arguably the worst performance of his career yet. With his statistics failing, the fans responded very negatively, realizing that the Phillies might have thrown $300 million down the drain for a washed up player. As many can contest, Philadelphia fans are extremely loyal to their city but are not afraid to tell it how it is. The fans made it known that they were upset with his plummeting performance, but with the help of social media, that hope for a successful star came back.
It was Thursday, August 3rd, the day before the Phillies were scheduled to play the Kansas City Royals at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. A social media post on Instagram from John McCann, otherwise known as @thephillycaptain, began to surface throughout the Phillies fan base. John asked for a favor from the rest of the fan base: “Let’s not boo Trea Turner this weekend, let’s give him a standing ovation every time he comes to bat . . . He needs some love, not tough love, he needs love love.” He asked for the fans attending the game on Friday, August 4th to give Turner a standing ovation when he comes up to bat, every single time. This video grew quickly over social media and it reached the majority of the city who was in attendance.
As The Philly Captain asked, Phillies fans answered. On Friday, August 4th when Trea Turner came up to bat, the entire stadium stood up and cheered for Turner. The sounds of fans clapping and screaming could be heard from all over the city, sending all of their love to Turner. Some would say it was one of the most heartwarming gestures to witness in sports – who knew baseball could be so romantic? This standing ovation was not advertised by the Phillies organization at all prior to the event, it was solely through social media and word-to-mouth that spread the notion.
“I thought it was pretty [freaking] cool,” Turner said. “The fans have my back. They’re showing up for me. It’s pretty cool to see. I wish we could have come out with the win right there, but I thought that was awesome” (Zolecki, 2023). The Phillies ended up losing the game 7-5, but that did not strive away from the fact that Trea Turner was back in business. Although Turner only had one hit and one RBI, it allowed for him to gain that confidence and get out of this slump thanks to the fans support. Before, the fans were looking to Turner for hope to get the team back on track to a winning season. Now, Turner was looking to the fans for hope and they delivered.
“That’s what it’s about,” Nick Castellanos, Phillies outfielder, said. “That’s how a relationship is built between a player and the city he plays for. Just knowing that they have his back and they want him to succeed, that they’re pulling for him” (Zolecki, 2023).
Turner ended up improving his game significantly throughout the remainder of the season with the help of this newly grown relationship with the fanbase. He helped lead the Phillies to the National League Championship Series, where they unfortunately lost 4-3 overall against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Turner ended the season with a .266 batting average, 26 home runs, 76 RBIs, and a OPS of .779, remarkably better than his summer slump. The Philly Captain has now been known to have saved the 2023 season.
This relationship between the player and fans and the call for help became so memorable, that the story was picked up by Netflix as a short documentary staring The Philly Captain and other notable Phillies figures. It was released in September, 2024 almost a year after the standing ovation.
Zolecki, T. 2023. Turner grateful for reception: ‘The fans have y back.’ MLB. https://www.mlb.com/news/trea-turner-gets-standing-ovation-in-phillies-loss-to-royals.