Every young baseball fan has the same World Series dream. It’s a home run in the ninth inning for his favorite team.
Chas McCormick’s moment didn’t unfold that way. The former Millersville standout’s chance at immortality arrived in a different form.
Instead of lifting the Philadelphia Phillies, he crushed them. Instead of hitting one over the fence, he crashed into one.
McCormick grew up in West Chester and sat in the bleachers as a fan at Citizens Bank Park. He fondly remembers Brad Lidge’s strikeout and Carlos Ruiz running into Lidge’s arms in 2008.
The Houston Astros center fielder robbed a generation of fans of the same type of championship memory. It was nothing personal. He was just doing his job.
McCormick’s life changed a bit in the immediate aftermath of that play. Suddenly, more people noticed him when he walked around Chester County.
“There were a lot of looks,” said McCormick, who now lives in Chadds Ford. “There was a lot of support but also a lot of, ‘Wow, I can’t believe he did that.’ I got both sides of things.”
It happened in the ninth inning of Game 5 in 2022. McCormick raced into the right-center gap, leaped against the wall and tumbled to the warning track with the ball in his mitt.
J.T. Realmuto was denied a potential double or triple. The Phillies, trailing by a run, were denied a chance to tie the game. The Astros won that night and clinched the series two days later. The play endures even as the calendar flips.
“It seems like to this day, I know it’s been three years, people still recognize me or talk about the catch,” McCormick said.
It’s a source of nostalgia in one city and anguish in another. That part will never change.
The story of that play runs deeper than those few seconds when No. 20 was chasing a fly ball in the air. A series of disconnected events earlier that November night made it possible.
Let’s start with the glove that squeezed that famous out. The one that made its way to Cooperstown. That didn’t even belong to McCormick. It was borrowed from teammate Jake Meyers.
Chas McCormick’s glove on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York in 2023.
JASON GUARENTE | Staff Writer
After the Astros won Game 6, McCormick tossed it aside during the celebration without a second thought.
“It was going into a trash can,” he said. “It was super old, and I was like, ‘I don’t need this anymore.’”
A representative from the Hall of Fame approached McCormick in the locker room once the champagne had been sprayed. He asked for the glove. McCormick said it was in the outfield somewhere. The man retrieved it. It went from a trash can to a trophy case.
The catch itself was a study in how every piece of information gathered through the first eight innings can influence the ninth.
Jose Altuve hit a ball similar to Realmuto’s leading off the game. Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh backed off and let it ricochet into a double. McCormick was watching from the dugout.
Bryson Stott hit a fly ball into right-center in the sixth inning. McCormick and right fielder Kyle Tucker both paused before Tucker reacted and saved the day.
Pitcher Lance McCullers approached McCormick after that near-mistake and reminded him that the center fielder must take charge. He can’t defer again.
All of this was in McCormick’s head when Realmuto took his swing. Don’t let it hit the wall. Every ball is yours. A split-second of hesitation and a different story might be told.
“I went head-on into the wall,” McCormick said. “I didn’t feel a thing.”
The play bothers some Phillies fans more today than it did back then. It was a turning point for this chapter of the franchise’s history. The Phillies, who have won two championships in 142 years and none since 2008, have yet to return to the Fall Classic.
Those closest to McCormick, his childhood buddies, stuck with him even though he was on the opposite side of that matchup. They became temporary Astros fans.
Other people McCormick knew, more casual acquaintances, were annoyed by his flash of greatness. Sports can make things feel personal.
“I didn’t get the best messages from them,” he said. “Jokingly or not jokingly. They were all Phillies fans, and they were all hoping for the Phillies to win.”
The catch added 6% to the Astros’ win probability with one out remaining. Bryce Harper was on deck. Who knows? Maybe he could’ve driven in the tying run. Maybe the Phillies rally to win in extra innings and take the series lead. Maybe …
McCormick is a free agent this offseason. He said five teams have shown interest, and he’ll likely sign in late December or early January.
The West Chester Henderson grad left an indelible mark in Houston. He has a championship ring to prove it. Fate just happened to put the Phillies in the batter’s box.
There was no parade on Broad Street in 2022. Or any year since.
“I feel like the Phillies need to win a World Series,” McCormick said. “Then I think my catch won’t hurt as bad.”
Houston Astros’ Chas McCormick, center, collects high-fives in the dugout after his home run in the secoond inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Monday, June 6, 2022, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Michael Wyke
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