Baseball, like every professional sport, is a business first and game second. But it wasn’t always this way.

We can acknowledge that it has to be a business when teams are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year to try and get whatever edge they can on their competition. That’s the nature of professional sports in 2024 and it will never go back to its origins when the guys who played the game were working second jobs in the offseason.

Yet, despite the corporate overtone that hovers over our favorite sports, there are moments that still pop up from time to time that remind us of the roots of our interest in the outcomes of these contests. There are moments – albeit fleeting – that we can embrace a joy for sport with a childlike fervor that was built on playgrounds and in fields in small towns or neighborhoods across the country.

How many times can you regale friends with a story about some game you once played during gym class? Or recall, with intimate detail, some sequence from a Little League game when you were 11 years old? The reason those memories are so vivid and vibrant in your mind is because of an ever-burning flame of passion for a particular sport, or competition in general, especially when it’s a shared moment among friends.

Those are always the best stories. And yes, over time, they tend to become big fish tales, but that’s the beauty of them. That’s what makes them special. It’s not always the specific details that matter most. It’s about the shared experience and the emotions that came with it.


For a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park, for players and coaches on the Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers – and specifically for Rhys Hoskins, Monday night was one of those special shared experiences.

The Phillies beat the Brewers 3-1 to continue their march through the National League to start the season, but the outcome was secondary to Hoskins’ homecoming. It started pregame, with more than 30 media members huddled around Hoskins in the Milwaukee dugout as he anticipated what his return to the ballpark he once called home was going to be like.

“I’m kind of a crier,” Hoskins said, before the game. “I think it just tells you all you need to know about the energy and emotion that I’ve been able to grab from this place.”

Then there were all the autographs he was signing…

… and all the fans who showed up with signs of support and love:

Photos: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports

There was a loud cheer from the crowd when Dan Baker announced Hoskins as the designated hitter for the Brewers during the pre-game lineup presentation.

Then, between the first and second inning, there was a tribute video played on the left field scoreboard.


And all of that happened BEFORE he ever took his first at bat.

So, you could imagine what it was like when he stepped to the plate. Here it is in case you missed it:

There was the hug with J.T. Realmuto. The tip of the helmet to the bench and the tapping of his heart. There was the helmet tip to the crowd. There was the applause from the entire Phillies bench and all the players on the field. You can see Bryce Harper clapping in the video. What you don’t see is the guys in the field also tipped their caps to Hoskins before they started applauding.

For two days we asked Phillies players and coaches about Hoskins. Every one of them talked about Hoskins as a person first and foremost. They didn’t want to talk about the player he is. His statistics could do all that talking for him. But they wanted to express the kind of human being he is.

From Manager Rob Thomson talking about his integrity, to injured outfielder Brandon Marsh talking about Hoskins as a role model for younger players, to Seranthony Dominguez calling him a great leader in the clubhouse – and everyone in between – it was all about Hoskins’ character.

I asked Hoskins if that meant anything special to him, to know that these guys wanted to talk about the man, and not the ball player. Here’s what he said:

“It means the world. This is our profession and our careers, but good or bad, I think the one thing that you can hope for is that people respect who you are as a person. Hopefully that means I went about things the right way. I treated people with respect and some kindness along the way and made some sort of impact on a group of people. I think that’s something to hang your hat on.”

Hoskins collected himself after that reception and popped out to shortstop. The moment was over, but his night was far from complete.

The next time up, Hoskins worked a walk, and then he did something no one expected. Not even in the Brewers dugout. He stole second base.

“He’s not really a runner,” Zack Wheeler joked about his former teammate. “I wasn’t changing up my looks at all… He got an easy bag right there.”

I asked him if he thought he surprised Realmuto, the catcher with the best POP time in the sport, and Hoskins said he hoped he did.

“(Realmuto and I) will always be able to go back and forth about that,” he said.

J.T. got the last laugh though, because seconds later, Hoskins tried to score from second on a single to center. It was a great throw from Johan Rojas and Realmuto was able to apply the tag, nailing Hoskins at the plate, and in turn have some good natured, butt-slapping in the process.

Hoskins still wasn’t done.

In the seventh inning, he got one more crack at Wheeler and was able to ruin his good friend’s attempt at a shutout.


There was a mixture of cheers and boos from the Phillies fans, as Hoskins completed the memorable night by once again going yard at Citizens Bank Park.

“It was different,” Hoskins said. “Normally you go into a visiting ballpark, and you hit a home run and you are not hearing any cheers. The mix of boos and cheers was different and fun.”

It couldn’t have been a better story for Philadelphia fans. They got to honor a beloved former player. He was an active participant in the game, and even hit a home run, but the Phillies still won. It was exactly what every fans should have wanted to see.

Even Brewers manager Pat Murphy was impressed by the whole experience when I asked him about it after the game.

“It was awesome,” Murphy said. “These fans showed what this game is all about. Rhys left an impression on this fanbase like he will on ours. … It meant a lot to him. He’s a deep kid. He loves this game. It treated him great, and the Phillies treated him great. He loves this place.”

And that’s what made it special for everyone. Because for one night, it was just a game and everyone was just enjoying the purity of it.

Dahl’s night was special too

The whole Hoskins thing took away from a storybook night for new Phillies left fielder David Dahl.

Dahl had his contract selected by the Phillies earlier Monday to replace Brandon Marsh, who had to go on the 10-day I.L. with a hamstring strain. He hopped in a car with Weston Wilson, who was also called up to replace the injured Kody Clemens (back spasms), and Dahl didn’t find out until he was 20 minutes from the ballpark that he was in the lineup.

He and Wilson arrived at 4PM. The game started at 6:40PM, so there wasn’t much time to really get ready. It was get in there and hit. And he did.

His first time up, Dahl singled and scored a run. His second time up, he did something a little more:

(Side Note: I can’t get enough of the expression on Brewers pitcher Bryse Wilson’s face after that homer. Priceless!)

Dahl picked up where he left off at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he was leading the team in batting average (.340), hits (50) and home runs (12). Selected 10th overall by Colorado in the 2012 amateur draft, Dahl made the NL All-Star team in 2019 with the Rockies, but his career has been derailed by injuries.

“I was just kind of hanging out at the hotel and watching Netflix when I got the call from (general manager) Sam (Fuld) that I was going up. So, I had to go over to the field and pack up and I didn’t find out I was in the lineup until I was 20 minutes away. … I think it helped because I wasn’t sitting around thinking about it. I was able to just say, ‘Let’s go play.’”

I spoke to Dahl during spring training about his unique service time situation that afforded the Phillies the time they needed to wait to call him up and not risk losing him to an opt-out. He impressed the Phillies enough to move on from Jake Cave just before the season as a left-handed outfield depth bat. His story is a unique one – much like Jeff Hoffman’s. The two were highly touted prospects with the Rockies who had crazy career paths to end up on the Phillies.

I’ll dive into this more with both players later Tuesday when I’m down at the ballpark.