Buddy Kennedy was recently called up from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phillies’ top minor-league team.
The name Buddy was heard spontaneously in the eighth inning of a recent Phillies-Mets game, reverberating among a sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park, much as it had less than a week earlier.
Buddy is Buddy Kennedy, a recent call-up from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Phils’ top minor-league team. He’s also a native of Millville.
The Buddy chant was first heard on Sept. 9, when Kennedy came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth in a 1-1 game against the Tampa Bay Rays. With two outs, Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott got on base. Manager Rob Thompson tapped Kennedy to pinch hit. As he walked to the batter’s box, more than 39,000 fans chanted his name.
With a hit, Kennedy could have driven in the game-winning run. Instead, he worked a walk. The base on balls extended the inning, but even more important, it moved Harper to third. The Buddy chant was again heard as the next batter, Kody Clemens, stroked a single to score Harper.
Game over.
Kennedy didn’t work a walk on Sept. 15. With the division rival Mets up 1-0, Weston Wilson opened up with a double. Up stepped Kennedy, down came the Buddy chants. But he responded with a double of his own, tying the game. The Phils won an inning later.
Another milestone in a September of milestones for the 25-year-old infielder.
“That was definitely different,” Kennedy told MLB.com Phillies writer Todd Zolecki after the earlier game. “Obviously, growing up a Phillies fan (and) obviously being on the fan side of it and chanting all my life, then being in the (batter’s) box. I was calm and collected when I got in there.
“When I heard the Buddy chants I was like, ‘OK, dude, you’ve got to relax. Be in the moment and do your job.'”
“Being on deck, hearing Buddy’s name was pretty surreal,” Clemens recalled. “I was getting chills for him. And for them to just roll it over to me was just super cool as well.”
Don Money can relate to how “super cool” it was to hear his grandson’s name in a stadium full of supportive fans. But Money and Kennedy have a bond that goes beyond family, beyond living in close proximity in Cumberland County. Grandpop, a Vineland native, spent the first part of his big-league career with the Phillies.
“It was nice the way they chanted Buddy’s name,” he said.
Kennedy got the first call from the Phillies a couple of weeks ago, to put in 24 hours as a replacement for a player on paternity leave. He returned to the IronPigs, but days later, he again got the call for a longer stretch with the team after third baseman Alec Bohm went on the injured list.
“It’s a great thing for him,” Money noted of his grandson’s promotion.
Things got better on Sept. 10. After home-run leader Kyle Schwarber set a major-league record with his 14th leadoff homer, he left the game with a sore elbow. Thompson sent Kennedy to replace him as a designated hitter. He struck out and grounded out on his first two at-bats. But with the game tied 4-4 in the eighth, Kennedy got his first hit in a Phillies uniform, driving in a run and scoring another when Trey Turner cracked his second homer of the game in a five-run inning.
And then came Sept. 15. It was a good week for Kennedy, who played baseball at Millville Senior High School. He hit close to .500 as a senior in 2017, prompting interest from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Another alum of Millville High, superstar Mike Trout, graduated eight years before Kennedy. The two hang out in the off-season, train and hunt together.
“He always pushes me to be the best I can and has always helped me whenever I need it,” Kennedy noted in an interview. “A great player on the field, but even better person off the field.”
Kennedy enjoyed the September ride, but the reality is, it may not last. The expectation was that Bohm’s return would send Kennedy back to the minors. Instead, he and Bohm both started on Sept. 15.
As the Phillies enter the playoffs, it’s possible Kennedy will be activated. Possible, but not likely. Yet Money believes his grandson has the tools he needs to succeed in the majors.
“He’s solid, good defense and gets to first base a lot,” he observed.
If Kennedy doesn’t make the playoffs, there is always next year. But for now, he will remember the spotlight and the chants.
“It was something very special,” he said. “I’ll always remember that for the rest of my life.”
