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Shoutout to the Reading Fightin Phils, Champions of the Double-A Eastern League

Matt Schultz

By Matt Schultz

Published:

Erie SeaWolves play the Reading Fightin' Phils in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship Series.
Reuters Connect via IMAGN Images

Philadelphia is Title Town now now. Been a huge week for banners in this city. First the Waterdogs, now the Fightin Phils. This is good:

The Phillies’ AA affiliate secured their first championship since 1995 on Tuesday night, beating the Erie SeaWolves 13-4 and completing the two-game series sweep. The game was a damn good one, too:

  • Reading mashed two grand slams.
  • Phillies number two prospect Aidan Miller had a big-time performance, going 2-for-4 with a double, 1 BB, 1 RBI and 3 runs scored:
  • Bryan Rincon (4th ranked Phillies prospect) went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
  • Dante Nori (7th ranked prospect) went 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored.
  • And the final out looked electric as hell:

The final score looks like a blowout, but the R-Phils had to fight for this one. The team fell behind 2-0 in the first inning before throwing up some crooked numbers as the game went along, which seemed to be their MO all season — Reading notched a league-high 27 come-from-behind wins this year. They also heated up at the perfect time. After beginning the season 30-39, the club caught fire in the second half, going 40-28 and breezing through the postseason with a perfect 4-0 record.

Knowing all that context makes these celebration videos that much better. This team had to really claw their way back from a pretty big deficit to grab this title:

Also just seems like a great group of guys. Look at these guys. Drinking beers, shirtless, singing Billy Joel badly while aimlessly jogging around. Feels like a whole-ass team of Garrett Stubbses. It’s awesome.

Also, the championship merch looks pretty nice. The blue t-shirt is a good shirt. The Fightin Phils have some real good colors over there:

Congrats on the title, Fightin Phils. You’ve done Philadelphia/Reading proud. Here’s to hoping your major league affiliate feels inspired by your run and makes a run of their own. That’d be nice.

Matt Schultz
Matt Schultz

Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…) email: M.Schultz@sportradar.com