Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber greet Phillies fans as team returns from Houston
Reaching the World Series was a surprise for the Phillies, who were 22-29 when Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi on June 3.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- It was a disappointing end to a heart-pounding postseason run. The Philadelphia Phillies fell short of a World Series title in Houston.
Fans waited outside Citizens Bank Park on Sunday evening to greet the players.
Reaching the World Series was a surprise for the Phillies, who were 22-29 when Rob Thomson replaced fired manager Joe Girardi on June 3. They were the 12th and final team to clinch a berth in the expanded playoffs, an October afterthought that would have been watching at home under the previous postseason format.
Some of the smallest but mighty fans came to show their support outside of the ballpark.
"I think this city was proud of them," said 5-year-old James Tucker, who was dressed as Bryce Harper.
Action News was there as Harper and Kyle Schwarber took photos with fans.
After finishing 87-75 during the regular season, Philadelphia swept two games from NL Central champion St. Louis in the new wild-card series and upended NL East champ Atlanta, a 101-game winner, over four games in the Division Series. Then the Phillies beat San Diego in five games in an all-wild card NLCS.
After the Astros' 4-1 World Series win Saturday night, Harper looked ahead to 2023.
"I'd imagine that we're going to be the same team but with some more pieces to make us that much better," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
