Phillies Red October Memories: Ambushing the Braves
After the Philadelphia Phillies broke a long playoff drought with a wild card berth in the MLB Playoffs in 2022, the city suddenly remembered the euphoria of Red October at Citizens Bank Park.
The Golden Era of Phillies baseball took a sharp turn after a disappointing playoff exit in 2011, but the expectation of an annual playoff appearance is back.
The rally towels at Citizens Bank Park in Red October create some of the best memories in the history of Philadelphia sports.
- #1 Comeback Over Cardinals Sparks Momentum
- #2 NLDS 2022: Ambushing the Atlanta Braves
- #3 Kyle Schwarber NLCS Moonshot at Petco Park
- #4 Harper Homer Clinches World Series Berth
- #5 World Series Game 1 Forces Sleepless Night Before 97.5 The Fanatic Fan Fest
- #6 John Kincade Intro Begins World Series Game 3 Slugfest
October 14-15, 2022
National League Division Series, Games 3-4 at Citizens Bank Park
Phillies 9, Atlanta Braves 1; Phillies 8, Atlanta Braves 3
11 Years Without A Home Playoff Game
The weekend sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals passed so fast that Phillies fans barely realized the magnitude. When a suddenly hot wild card team stole Game 1 against the heavily-favored Atlanta Braves, things started to seem real.
A costly error from Rhys Hoskins in Game 2 gave the Braves hope, but they had no idea what was waiting for them at Citizens Bank Park in Games 3 and 4.
Fans that had enjoyed a nice afternoon in the parking lots stepped through the gates, collected their red rally towels, and quickly reignited the best home field advantage in Major League Baseball.
The dormancy of the down years after 2011 was finally over. Red October was back.
A chorus of boos for the Game 2 blunder wasn’t how Hoskins imagined his playoff debut in Philadelphia. The narrative quickly flipped in the third inning.
The Phillies took a 1-0 lead on a double by Bryson Stott to set up one of the most memorable moments in Citizens Bank Park history. Hoskins stepped to the plate and smoked a fastball from Spencer Strider over the right field wall to give the Phillies a lead they never ceded.
His emphatic bat spike celebration symbolized the franchise’s perseverance through the down years and a return to MLB prominence.
Braves Stunned at Citizens Bank Park
Bryce Harper went deep two batters after the notorious bat spike. Aaron Nola blanked Atlanta for six innings and let the raucous Philadelphia crowd overwhelm the visitors.
The jaw-dropping “DUI” chants to condemn Marcell Ozuna showed the wrath that any visiting team faced in Red October. A Friday night crowd shocked a Braves team that didn’t know what hit them.
The whirlwind continued less than 24 hours later. Brandon Marsh unleashed the crowd with an early three-run homer.
J.T. Realmuto let one fly to left center field to what’s now known as “Monty’s Angle,” and an inside-the-park home run that created spontaneous euphoria at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies rolled in convincing 8-3 fashion and announced their legitimacy as a red hot wild card team that nobody wanted to face.
It wasn’t hard to find a 97.5 The Fanatic event handing out signature Red October t-shirts all around Philadelphia.
World Series hopes had just become real.
