Schwarber has debut to chant home about
PHILADELPHIA » Before he made one regular-season play in a Phillies uniform, Kyle Schwarber was a Citizens Bank Park favorite.
By the time he made one, he was a developing legend.
That would have been Schwarber Friday, trotting to left field for the first shift of a four-year hitch that will pay him $179,000,000, saluting the outfield fans and being welcomed in song.
“Kyle Schwar-ber, Kyle Schwar-ber, Kyle Schwarber,” the crowd chanted.
Soon after, when Schwarber drilled a Frankie Montas splitter 426 feet to right-center — not including the six inches deep it went into an advertising board — the entire crowd of 44,232 was in a similar mood, demanding he spring from the dugout for a curtain call.
“It was a little early, a first-inning curtain call,” Schwarber said after a 9-5 victory over the Oakland A’s. “But that was a really exciting moment. After our last (exhibition) game in Tampa, I was able to go back home and see my wife and kid, and spend about 12 hours with them. It gave me that little rejuvenation before the season starts.
“And to be able to do that today, that’s pretty special.”
Schwarber was hired for many reasons, highest among them to fill Bryce Harper’s order to the front office to fit the lineup with more “dogs.” One of those reasons was to be a workthe-count leadoff hitter with the ability to hit for power.
For that, in his first game, Schwarber would go 2-for4, scoring twice with two RBIs, a walk and his 14th career leadoff home run.
“I thought he had great at-bats today,” Harper said. “I thought he saw a lot of pitches. Of course he hits the home run the first atbat and then he walks and then his last at-bat, he hits a single. He never gives up his at-bats in any situation.
“He gets that knock, another RBI. I think 1 through 9, the lineup flowed really well.”
That’s how it was designed, with free agents Schwarber and cleanup hitter Nick Castellanos in close lineup proximity to Harper, who hit third.
“You think about his atbats,” Joe Girardi said. “He was 3-2 the first at-bat. He was 3-2 the second at-bat. I
think there was a walk in there. I mean, a base-hit off a lefty. He hits left-handers, right-handers. It was kind of what we imagined.”
Schwarber and his wife, Paige, welcomed their first child, son Kade, three weeks ago. By Friday, a near capacity crowd made him feel like family in a different way.
“To step out there when you get your name called to
take the field and then hear the ovations and things like that, it was really cool,” he said. “Your first at-bat, the end of the game, it was all special. I’ve always enjoyed coming here as a visiting player, and now to be here on the home side, it’s special.
“I couldn’t have written it any better for myself. It was a great team win in all aspects of the game. We kept
adding on. We responded. And that’s what it’s supposed to look like, going out there with a full team and winning.”
For the Phillies, it was a victory set in motion the first time Schwarber had a chance.
“I was happy for him,” Harper said. “The dugout was full of smiles. That was a great moment for him and his family.”