PHILADELPHIA — As Buddy Kennedy termed it on Monday night, “it’s insane … it’s like a party. It’s like a little party on the field.”
There’s no cake cutting, though there does seem to be some cork-popping here and there with these parties, also known as Phillies walk-off wins.
When Kody Clemens singled through the hole with two outs to bring home Bryce Harper for a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night, it was, impressively, the ninth walk-off win of the season. It was also something else – another sign that this team has a better bench than people might give them credit for.
Their winning rally in the ninth inning against the Rays came via two surprising sources in Kennedy and Clemens.
Both have been around professional baseball for a while now, essentially identifying as Triple-A level players getting their occasional major league chances, usually when a regular goes down with an injury.
The Phillies are going through ailing times these days, with a more crowded than desired injured list. Third baseman Alec Bohm has been out since Aug. 29 with a hand injury. His main backup Edmundo Sosa has been out with back spasms. J.T. Realmuto and Austin Hays are also ailing.
That gave Clemens, who can alternate in the outfield and has played first in Harper’s stead, another place to play. At third base, he’s been able to make tough defensive plays, and the more he’s played, the more effective he’s been at the plate. He entered a second game against Tampa Tuesday with a .242 average, 37 points above his career mark.
Kennedy, 25, the Millville native and fifth-round pick out of high school by Arizona back in 2017, was playing career major league game No. 49 Monday. Although he has made it known he was a Phillies fan growing up, he only landed here this season.
That’s why when he came to bat with two on and two outs in the ninth Monday he was a little stunned to hear a “Buddy! Buddy!” chant arise from the nearly 40,000 fans at Citizens Bank Park.
“That was definitely different,” said Kennedy, who has been with the Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers. “Growing up as a Phillies fan … being on the fan side of it and chanting all my life, and then, being in the (batters) box, I was calm and collected when I got in there. And then when I heard the ‘Buddy’ chants I’m like, ‘OK, dude, you’ve got to relax. Let it all just be in the moment and obviously do your job.’
“It was something very special, and I’ll always remember that for the rest of my life.”
It was also memorable for the 28-year-old Clemens, who said, “I was getting chills for him.” When fans started chanting his name with the bases loaded, he made another memory with his single to right.
“Buddy had a great at bat to get me up there,” Clemens said. “I was just going to be super selective and stay on the fastball. … He put one over the plate and got a good swing on it.”
No longer young prospects, both Kennedy and Clemens will always consider themselves major league hopefuls until they stick in the bigs. They’re trying to get over a hurdle most pros can’t, to not only get to The Show but play a regular role there. They both have it in their genes, Kennedy the grandson of long-ago Phillies infielder and four-time Brewers All-Star Don Money, and Clemens … well his dad used to pitch a little with the likes of the Red Sox and Yankees.
Such experience didn’t set them apart from the rest of the youth dreamers crowd.
“That’s a backyard dream,” Clemens said of his walk-off hit. “Saying there’s two outs, bottom of the ninth, playing Wiffle Ball with your friends when you’re 5, 10 or 13 years old. For that moment to come up for me, in the big leagues … it’s pretty cool.”
Such cool moments at the MLB level are rare for so players like Kennedy and Clemens, rarer still when trying to crack the lineup of one of baseball’s best teams. But for every 10 demotion disappointments for players riding the line between Triple A and the bigs, there are moments of personal triumph, all of them worth a thousand memories.
“There’s been plenty of times where I’ve gotten the short end of the stick,” said Clemens, a fixture in the Lehigh Valley over the past two seasons. “If you pout when you go down to Triple-A or sulk … you’re not going to be able to come back up here. “So I just kind of stay straight, have a good mindset, stay positive and just grind my way and hope for another opportunity where I can slide in here.”
Actually, with his versatility, Rob Thomson should find a way to slide Clemens onto his bench for the rest of the year and into the playoffs. With Sosa, and who knows, maybe even Kennedy, they can combine to be an effective bench for a talented club that needs one.
Contact Rob Parent at rparent@delcotimes.com
Source: Berkshire mont