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Phillies React to LeBron James Coming to Philadelphia
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Pregame at Citizens Bank Park was busy on Friday. AppleTV in town, Phillies vs Yankees, first round pick Tyler Spangler signed, and more.
But nothing was bigger than LeBron James signing with the Sixers, and everybody was talking about it.
“I’m sitting downstairs, Louie comes running down the stairs, and yells ‘Dad, LeBron is coming to the Sixers,” Don Mattingly said to reporters pregame. Mattingly is a big NBA guy. He loves watching basketball. Growing up in Indiana, he said he had no choice but to play basketball as a kid. Mattingly said he was a shooter, but admitted he probably shouldn’t have shot as much as he did.
You could feel a jolt in vibes down on the field as a completely different sport is about to be played. Max Lazar told me that he loved watching LeBron as a kid, as Lazar grew up in Miami. “I only had Marlins or Heat games on in my house when I was youn,” Lazar said.
Phillies first round pick Tyler Spangler officially signed with the Phillies today for $3.25M, which is around $500,000 above slot value. Spangler is a big time shortstop prospect that missed his senior season with a back injury, but is now fully healthy.
Spangler, 18, grew up in the Bay Area. He’s a lifelong Warriors fan. With the Warriors in the mix for LeBron, Spangler implied that he would’ve been fine with James going to either the Warriors, his hometown team, or the Sixers, the team that plays across the street from his future home stadium. “All of my friends gave me a hard time back home,” Spangler said at the end of his first availability as a member of the Phillies organization.
Bryce Harper was mic’d up during the 2nd inning of last week’s 4-1 loss to the Mets. Harper said, at the time, that he thought LeBron was going back to Cleveland, but said he should come to Philadelphia if he wants to come to a “great, crazy city.” Here’s what Harper had to say today about LeBron’s decision:
July 24th is a day that Philadelphia will never forget. And no, it’s not because it’s the day Tyler Spangler signed his contract with the organization. But through all of this, there is still a baseball game to be played tonight. Jesus Luzardo will take the mound vs. the Yankees, who will send Cam Schlittler to the bump.
“It was nice of LeBron to follow Tyler (Spangler) to Philadelphia,” Scott Boras jokingly said to conclude the presser.
Luke Arcaini has been writing about the Phillies for 6 seasons, and is now in his 2nd year covering for Phillies down at Citizens Bank Park for Crossing Broad. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke