Parallel Phillies and Eagles games force Philadelphia sports fans to divide their attention

Nov. 4—Kelsey Frankowski sat with her eyes fixed on the supersize TV hung high over the bar at the 3rd & Spruce Draft Haus.

The World Series was streaming on the big screen and the Philadelphia Phillies fan didn't want to miss a single play Thursday as her team faced the Houston Astros in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

It was the bottom of the third inning and the bases were loaded.

The crowd in the popular West Reading pub went silent, but before the Phillies' next batter stepped up to the plate, cheers and applause erupted from the area behind Frankowski's seat.

She swung her head around just in time to catch the Philadelphia Eagles' Kenneth Gainwell scoring the team's second touchdown. Gainwell's score put the Eagles ahead in the first half of Thursday night's game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in Houston.

"I feel like my head is on a swivel," she said. "I may get whiplash from going back and forth."

Both the baseball and football games were showing on smaller screens hung around the perimeter of the bar, but Frankowski turned back to the big screen, hoping for some excitement from the Phillies.

Moments later a collective "aww" rippled through the crowd. The inning had ended without an additional score for the team.

Frankowski, 34, of Wyomissing and other fans of Philadelphia sports faced a tough choice Thursday night.

In parallel games starting just three minutes apart, the National League pennant-winning Phillies and the undefeated Eagles both faced Houston teams.

With the World Series on Fox and Thursday Nigh Football streaming on Prime, what was a fan to do?

"Part of my dilemma was how to watch the Phillies and Eagles at the same time," Frankowski said.

For some fans, watching both games at home meant gripping a TV remote control and possibly missing an exciting play while switching services. Alternatively, there was the less-than-optimal viewing experience of streaming one game on a handheld device while the other game played on a larger screen.

Frankowski and other fans throughout Berks County solved the problem by heading to their local sports bars to catch both games on big screens.

"It's a sports bar owner's dream," Jim Giuffrida said, "because you can't stay home to watch both games."

Giuffrida and his wife, April, are the owners of Jimmy G's Railroad House Sports Bar, Sinking Spring, and Beverly Hills Tavern, Spring Township.

"This is a great time of the year for sports," he said, "but when you have two Philadelphia teams that are hot, it's the best."

And, as one Railroad House patron put it, "The stars aligned Thursday night."

The coincidence of both the Phillies and Eagles playing Houston teams was the result of Game 3 of the World Series being postponed due to rain Monday.

That pushed Game 5 from Wednesday to Thursday, traditionally football night.

Though it is rare to see two Philadelphia teams in this situation, Gary Wert said, it is not unprecedented.

From a bar stool at the Railroad House, Wert, 29, of Cumru Township recalled the 2009 World Series, which saw the Phillies losing to the New York Yankees in Philadelphia while the Eagles trounced the New York Giants.

But Wert said he was surprised to learn from another bar patron that Thursday's coincidence occurred six other times in World Series' history.

According to an article by John Breech on CBSsports.com, Wert's informant was correct.

It was the seventh time opposing NFL and MLB teams from the same cities went head-to-head on the same night, Breech's story confirmed, listing dates, teams and outcomes.

As the sports talk in the Railroad House continued, Richard Polityka of Reading noted the Phillies would not have made it to World Series this year if not for a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA.

The agreement resulted in several rule changes, including an expansion of the playoff system to feature 12 teams (six from each league) instead of 10 as in past years.

"The Phillies were the number six team, so they would not have qualified last year," he said.

While Adam Bucher, general manager of the Railroad House, said the intent was to show the football and baseball games with sound on large screen TVs in different sections of the sports bar-restaurant, Giuffrida said plans changed.

After polling the patrons for their preference, he decided to show the Phillies with sound on the two largest screens, while playing both games silently on several smaller screens.

"Normally, baseball doesn't trump football," he said. "But this is the World Series. This is what most customers wanted."

About halfway through the baseball game, the crowd at the Railroad House began thinning. By the final innings, just 15 or so die-hard fans remained clustered before the big screen in the older section of the establishment and only two or three stragglers remained in the cabana area, sipping beers and waiting for what would be a bitter end to the game for Phillies' fans.

The small group contrasted strongly with the large crowds found earlier in the evening there, at the Spruce and in the Pike Cafe in Reading.

The Pike was jam-packed with fans grabbing a late meal in time for the 8 p.m. kickoff and 8:03 p.m. first pitch.

Many lingered long after their baskets of hot wings and fries were empty, groaning with the crowd when the Phillies Rhys Hoskins struck out 46 minutes into the game and cheering 20 minutes later when Miles Sanders scored the Eagles' first touchdown.

Fred and Sue Sanders sat at the bar with their friend Michael Nally. All three Reading residents are avid football and baseball fans.

Sue, 64, said she and her husband, 68, wanted to be able to watch the Phillies and Eagles at the same time.

Although, they generally tune in weekly for Thursday Night Football from the comfort of their homes, they prefer to watch the Phillies in person or at a sports bar with what Sue calls the hometown crowd.

"It's a great environment," Fred said of the Pike. "Everyone is rooting for the same team. That makes it an event rather than just a game."

Eagles' fans Ronda Morrison, Heather Boyer and Alicia Cooper had similar sentiments. The women, who all work for the Reading Recreation Commission, find greater fun and excitement in rooting together for their team. They also rely on Morrison's superior knowledge of both the team and the sport to help interpret intricate plays and referee signals.

"Ronda knows more about football and the Eagles than the average guy," Boyer said.

They and other Eagles' fans ended the night on a high note as the team beat the Texans 29 — 17, pushing their record to 8-0.

Not so for Phillies fans, who faced a somber bedtime after the post-midnight end to the game.

After losing to the Astros, 3 — 2, the Phillies will have to win two away games at Minute Maid Park in Houston to take the World Series championship.

It's a daunting prospect, Polityka said, noting the home team in every sport has an advantage.

But the feat is not impossible he noted.

"Remember the 2019 World Series?" he asked. "That was the first time in major league sports that the visiting team won all the games."

Hope remains for Phillies fans everywhere.