Berks Phillies fans gather to share World Series excitement

Oct. 29—A pair of grown men, their baseball caps turned inside out and worn backwards, skipped around the room, wailing and offering high fives to every elated, screaming fan they passed.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto had just launched a 10th-inning, opposite-field home run to give the Philadelphia Phillies a one-run lead in the first game of the World Series, capping an improbable comeback from an early five-run deficit and sealing a vital victory. While the blast left fans packed into Minute Maid Park in Houston shocked into silence, the crowd inside P.J. Whelihan's Pub + Restaurant in Spring Township was going wild.

That crowd may have been a bit smaller than the one that watched the game's first pitch four hours prior to the midnight homer — as the hours passed some fans had finished their food and beers and trickled out the door — but it wasn't any less energetic or enthusiastic. If anything, the amount of electricity in the room had swelled.

Quite simply, it was bedlam.

Screams and hugs and arms thrust into the air accompanied by applause, fist pumps and triumphant leaps.

It was exactly the kind of moment that the dozens of people hoped for when they decided to head to P.J. Whelihans for the game. It was exactly the kind of feeling and communal experience they longed for.

And they weren't alone. Across Berks County Friday night, Phillies fans gathered at local bars to cheer and to groan, to clap and to shout.

To be part of the action, any way they could.

"It's just the atmosphere, really," Anthony Hillen said of his decision to watch the game at Sly Fox Taphouse in Wyomissing. "Just the energy, it brings everybody together. It helps because you know everyone is feeling the same thing you are."

Preparing for the first pitch

About half an hour before game one's scheduled 8:03 p.m. first pitch, the atmosphere inside Sly Fox was rather calm.

Patrons wearing Phillies shirts and jerseys and hats slowly trickled in and grabbed seats at tables or the bar, ordering food and drinks. By game time, the barroom was about 90% full, with nearly every eye fixed on the eight large television sets or one gigantic screen displaying the contest.

"We've had big crowds for all of the playoffs," manager Scott Gehman said.

One of the biggest, he said, was for game five of the National League Championship last Sunday. That was when an eighth inning two-run homer from Bryce Harper clinched the Phillies a spot in the World Series. Gehman, a big fan of the team, missed that moment.

"I was downstairs changing a tap," he said. "I just heard screaming and ran upstairs."

Gehman also missed the final out of that game, saying he was taking care of some work in a back office when another round of raucous cheers alerted him that something big had taken place. He said he's OK with not getting to witness those moments.

"I watched both of my kids being born, everything else I can catch on a replay," he said with a laugh. "I can watch it later on ESPN."

Hillen wasn't planning to rely on replays. He staked out his spot — at the bar beside his girlfriend, Liz Steffens — well before the game began. He said he's relatively new to Phillies fandom, having converted when the team was in the 2008 World Series.

He had just moved to Berks from Colorado a few years before and found himself swept up in the Phillies journey to their first championship in nearly 30 years.

"I ramped up my fandom this year," he said.

A few feet behind Hillen, Chad Reifsnyder of Reading sat at a small, high-top table with a group of his friends he had convinced to join him at Sly Fox for the game.

The group had watched most of the postseason games at their homes but wanted to soak in the game one atmosphere with other fans.

"I don't mind watching at home, but I love the atmosphere of watching with other people who are just as excited as I am," he said. "It's really the next best thing to being there."

Reifsnyder, who donned a Cliff Lee jersey, said there's nothing better than taking in a game while eating good food, drinking brews and getting to know other fans. He said he did the same thing when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series.

"I guess I'm a little nervous about how this series is going to go," he said.

Nearby, Jeff Love and Amanda Moorhead were also cheering on the team.

He wore a Ryan Howard jersey and she wore a red Phillies cap while they looked over the menu as the first inning got underway. The couple said going out during the game was something new for them.

"We're kind of homebodies so we usually watch the games at home," Love said. "She was the one who wanted to come out."

"I love this kind of atmosphere," Moorhead said with a smile. "I was a student at West Chester University the last time the Phillies were in the World Series so I remember how fun it was to celebrate with other fans."

A group of friends gathered around a long table beneath the largest of the televisions at Sly Fox said they were soaking in the feeling of watching the game in a crowd as well.

"We don't have to spend $4,000 (for game tickets) and we still get some of the atmosphere," Heather Jagielski said.

"The ballpark is clearly the best place to be, but we'll take this," Bethany Bower added.

Bower wasn't always a baseball fan. Her wife, Jamie Hoffert, takes credit for exposing her to the sport and spurring her interest.

"For our first date I took her to the championship series against the Dodgers," Hoffert said, referring to the 2008 playoffs. "She didn't know baseball; she was just waiving a towel."

Bower said her connection with Hoffert came more quickly than the one with baseball.

"I fell in love with her, baseball came later," she said, eliciting a round "awws" from her friends. "I didn't trust baseball right away."

An early deficit

In an instant, the wood inside of Brewer's Bar & Grill in West Reading changed.

It was the bottom of the second inning, and Houston's Kyle Tucker ripped an Aaron Nola pitch into the stands, setting off an eruption of cheers from fans inside the stadium. The reaction was much different at Brewer's.

Seemingly with one voice, the crowd let out a desperate and shocked "Nooooo!"

Moments later, when the Astros plated a second run, Phillies fans groaned and pounded on their tables.

Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Brendan Dudek wasn't about ready to give up hope. After all, he said, this Phillies team had already persevered through a hefty amount of tribulations.

"It's been a bunch of nonsense," he said as the four friends sitting with him nodded in agreement. "But we're in the World Series. We weren't supposed to be here, but we are."

Even if Friday's game didn't go the Phillies way, Dudek said, there's still a long way to go in the series. That includes the Astros having to face the delirium inside Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

Dudek said the decision to watch the game at Brewer's was a simple one. World Series games aren't something you want to watch alone, after all.

"You see what it's like in Philly, sitting at home isn't the way to watch Philly sports," he said.

Jason Krause, owner of Brewer's, said the restaurant has been packed with crowds made up of avid fans like Dudek for all the Phillies' postseason games.

"We have people asking for reservations at the same time as the game so we know the interest is high," he said.

Krause said the big crowds mean he has very little time to keep up with the game.

"I never have time to watch the games because I'm running around," he said with a laugh.

Kayro Tanis of Reading was one of the customers Krause was busy trying to make sure had a good time Friday. He had come to Brewer's with some friends to watch the game, but his rooting interest was a little different than that of his buddies.

"I'm a Yankees fan, so I'm pulling for the Phillies because I hate the Astros," he said with a laugh. "But if the Yankees had made it to the World Series, we'd probably be mortal enemies right now."

Since that wasn't the case, Tanis said he has no problem rooting for the Phillies. In fact, he admitted that the team and its players are pretty easy to get behind.

"The excitement around them is really intoxicating and the team is fun to watch," he said.

The comeback

The crowd inside P.J. Whelihan's had a nervous energy. The team they had come to support was down by five runs, and hadn't had so much as a baserunner for the game's first three innings.

Then, things began to change.

The crowd burst into loud applause when Rhys Hoskins ripped a single, the Phillies first hit. It erupted three batters later when Nick Castellanos brought him in with an RBI hit.

And when the next batter, third baseman Alec Bohm, smacked a two-run double to cut the lead to two, the place exploded.

The crowd didn't get much time to rest. The very next inning, Realmuto launched a two-run double off the left-center field wall to tie the game.

The fans at P.J. Whelihan's went absolutely crazy.

One of those fans was Kevin Moore, who had been wildly whipping a red towel above his head, willing the team to start a rally to get back into the game.

The red towel was a souvenir from attending the Phillies' series-clinching win against the Atlanta Braves.

The Spring Township resident was standing at the P.J. Whelihan's bar, often pacing and attempting to get the crowd worked up. He even implored those who were left in the restaurant during the top of the ninth to all gather around the bar to watch the team take up their bats in pursuit of a run to put the Astros away.

"Come on!" he shouted.

Moore was with his wife, Susan, who spent the game sitting at the bar in front of him. She is originally from South Philadelphia, so she clearly shares her husband's love for the Phils.

"This is what sports is all about," she said. "It brings people together from all different walks of life. The feeling is so positive right now for fans of Philadelphia sports. The Phillies are in the World Series, the Eagles are undefeated. This is great."

"She's just as big of a fan as I am," Kevin Moore interjected. "We don't like watching games at home. We like to be out where we can feel the vibe."

Kevin Moore said he found out earlier that day that they lost out on tickets for when the series heads to Philadelphia, having been rejected from the lottery system. He said that wasn't going to keep them from trying to get to a game.

He said the couple has booked a room in Philadelphia and hope to find tickets on the secondary market. If not, they will head to the Xfinity Live! complex just across from Citizens Bank Park to watch the game with thousands of other fanatics.

"We just want to be there," he said.

But for the away games, Kevin Moore said, P.J. Whelihan's will serve as his home base.

"This is one of the best places to gather for games," he said as the crowd cheered a strikeout by Nola.

That certainly seemed to be the case after Realmuto's dramatic homerun, which led Kevin Moore and one of his buddies to their skipping, high-fiving tour of the pub. And it seemed the case a short time later as well, when relief pitcher David Robertson induced a ground ball to end the game and give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the series.

That moment produced the loudest, most impassioned roar of the evening. Followed, naturally, by some hefty sighs of relief.