Orion Kerkering’s dad crying for an entire inning in his son’s MLB debut was one of the coolest moments. I don’t care what team you root for.

37 comments

  2. Pretty cool, apparently he also had the same look on his face in the 9th inning of Game 4!

  6. I remember watching this game, definitely one of the more emotional parent watching kid’s first game moments. Was really cool.

  9. Just came here to say, I think it’s good we all separate the human from the game here and there. And here is certainly one of them. This is nice and pure and shows how emotional his father is. So for anyone who wants to rip the guy for what eliminated the Phils I get it, but all I can think about is how *this* poor guy felt when his son made such a crucial mistake. By the looks of it he’s an empathetic guy and clearly loves his kid. If this guy was this into it for his debut you can only imagine how he felt during that play and subsequent hate that followed.

    And I say all of this as a Mets fan who can’t stand my rivals. But you never want to see a guy go through that, and seeing his father here adds one more layer to that.

    Having empathy is an important human quality.

  10. Parents crying over their child’s MLB debut is my second favorite sport, just enhances the humanity of it all.

  11. I’d be crying the whole goddamn game and majority of the rookie season probably, can’t imagine how awesome and surreal it is being amongst thousands of people cheering on your kid

  13. That’s Dad’s validation for hundreds of little league games, thousands of practices, traveling to regional tournaments, school fundraisers, etc where he supported his son’s passion. And such a very small % of ballplayers ever ascend to that big league debut moment. They did it.

  14. honest question for Phillies fans: how good is Kerkering? On a scale of 0-100 what score would you give him?

  15. Most romantic sport in the world, there’s no question about it. Can’t wait for season to start again!

  17. Goes without saying at this point but still gotta give props to Gary and Ron for how much they add to the moment here. Any booth can point out the dad in the stands but the way they talk about it makes you feel like you’re part of the family.

  18. Not a Phillies fan fan for sure, but a big fan of a father being proud of his son and the emotion he had to feel watching his son fulfill a dream.

    Great video, thanks for sharing

  22. Literally the first thing I thought of when he fucked up the play in the NLDS. Poor kid, hope he balls out this year.

  23. This is beautiful. What is happening since last night to the Ravens kicker is horrific.

  24. Orion Kerkering began the 2023 season playing Single A for the Clearwater Threshers.

    By September, he was called up to the MLB, and pitched in 3 games before the end of season. An incredible year just to make it there.

    But you know what Rob Thomson did? He said, hey, you know that relief guy we just called up that has only pitched 3 innings in the MLB?

    Let’s put him in to pitch in the NLCS.

    Kerkering was 2 months removed from minor league baseball, and proceeded to make 7 MLB Postseason appearances in one run.

    He allowed 2 runs in those 7 playoff games, with 50 pitches worth of MLB experience. 4 of his first 10 MLB outings were NLCS games, and he allowed 2 runs.

  25. I’d be happy with an annual “parents watch their son’s MLB debut” montage video.

    It would be better than the “best moments” aka “hitter passes manufactured milestone with home run” video collection that MLB likes to put out.

  28. It’s a special thing to see your child accomplish something they have worked very hard their whole life for and to arrive at. It takes you to an emotional place where you relive all of those key moments in the process of getting there. And you also think about of all the time you spent helping them get there…. 1000s of hours guiding, helping, driving, attending, and watching them. The sense of pride and happiness for them is overwhelming and emotional. I definitely get where that dad is at that moment and it definitely hits you in the feels. Good for him.

  31. My undersized barely 9 year old wanted to catch for the first time this past Fall. I’ve been working with him since he started in Tee-Ball… He threw out 2 kids in his first game, one and 2nd and one at 3rd on back to back plays and I was tearing up like a mofo, was so happy for him… Can’t imagine what I’d do if he made it to the bigs like this and was strking guys out and strutting on the mound.

  34. It’s really cute but it’ll never beat Matz’s grandfather to me. Guy was going nuts as his pitcher son was *driving in winning runs at the plate.* Was unforgettable. I’m happy Matz seems to have settled into a role as a pretty good relief pitcher.

  36. As someone who does not follow the Phillies or the NL east, what happened to Kerkering and why are so many people feeling sorry for him?

  37. It all just hit him. All the rides to baseball games, all the late night practices, all the encouragement, all the money spent on gear, all the ups and downs, all the dreams. It was all for this. It’s both their moment.

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