City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

Nile Mosby strode to the pitcher’s mound at Citizens Bank Park, a leather Rawlings ball in his right hand. More than 40,000 Phillies fans watched and waited as he approached the pitching rubber, World Series fever once again gripping the City of Brotherly Love. Mosby gripped the rally towel in his pocket, whirled it about his head, drawing a cheer and a response from the sold-out crowd.

“I looked up and I saw myself on the [Jumbotron] screen, and my name,” he said, “and I was like ‘Oh, my God.’”

A crazy dream? Nope, that was Mosby’s reality on Tuesday night, the 17-year-old from North Philadelphia getting to play his small role in the Phillies’ chase for their second championship in 13 years.

Thanks to his volunteer work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia, Mosby got to deliver the game ball to the mound before Game Three of the World Series on Tuesday night, the last ceremonial act before the Phillies took to the field and beat the Astros.

“I’ve always been a big Phillies fan,” he said by phone on Wednesday, but: “this just heightened my fanatic spirit — it’s unbelievable.”

(Photo courtesy Dustin Hardy-Moore)

A senior at Engineering & Sciences and a member of the Engineers basketball team, Mosby has spent the last three years working and volunteering at the Wissahickon branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs. That’s where E&S assistant boys basketball coach Dustin Hardy-Moore works as the Social Recreation Director, running all sorts of programs for the hundreds of youth who come through his facility each week; Mosby is one of several E&S players who volunteer and work there.

Much of Mosby’s volunteer work has been with a program known as the “Keystone Club,” where he works with elementary school-aged children on everything from homework to sports, providing a friendly voice and some guidance along the way. He’s one of eight finalists for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Philadelphia Youth of the Year, which will be announced in February.

“He’s kind-hearted,” Hardy-Moore said. “He’s always open, he’s available, [...] he makes himself available for the youth, they attach to him well. When he walks into our building, into the gymnasium, into our program rooms, the kids are excited to see him. He’s a big kid with the little kids, and he’s also so positive with them. 

“He just shows up — that’s just Nile, he’s the kid that gives back to the community.”

“It’s fun,” Mosby said of his volunteer work, “but every teacher I ever had, I got a lot more respect for them now than I did before, because it’s really difficult.”

That demeanor and work ethic caught the attention of Libby Lescalleet, who serves as Executive Vice President of Programs, Partnerships, and Development for the Boys & Girls Clubs. It was Lescalleet who selected Mosby for the honor, though she left it to Hardy-Moore to deliver the good news last Monday.

First, Hardy-Moore filled in Mosby’s parents, Viola Mosby and Tony Ellis. Oh, and the entire Engineering & Sciences basketball team. Then he told Mosby, who absolutely did not believe him.

“I said ‘stop playing,’” Mosby laughed. “I thought he was joking. Honestly. I really couldn’t believe it. 

“I’d just went to the Phillies game I think two weeks prior when they were playing the Braves, and when he said I was going to get to the World Series, I was like ‘no way,’ because I thought that might be the only Phillies game I ever go to in my life.”

It was only when Hardy-Moore showed Mosby the email that he figured out that no, his coach was not joking, and yes, he was going to take the field at Citizens Bank Park in a week’s time. 

“The whole week leading up to it, I was like, there’s no way it’s going to happen,” Mosby said. “I was waiting for something to happen, like ‘alright, you couldn’t do it.’ It just didn’t feel like it was supposed to happen.”

His premonition came somewhat true when Game 3 was initially postponed from Monday to Tuesday, after Mosby and Hardy-Moore had already gotten to the stadium before Monday night’s rain. But the postponement wasn’t all bad; in addition to Mosby getting to shake out some nerves, the pair also got to see the Los Angeles’ Dodgers’ Justin Turner being honored with the Roberto Clemente Humanitarian Award, given out for his work in supporting homeless veterans and other social causes.

“How I looked at it was, with (Nile) being able to see that, he sees recognition that’s coming in for doing this give-back type of work, which is incentive for him to do more,” Hardy-Moore said. “He’s noticing that people are getting recognized.”

They came back the next night, arriving well ahead of their 6 PM call time, spending an hour-plus in the parking lot just talking about the night, about the meaning it had for the city. Though Mosby’s first athletics love is basketball, for which the 6-foot-4 forward is being recruited by several area Division III programs, he’s grown to love watching the Phillies over the years with his dad. Hardy-Moore wanted to make sure Mosby understood the power of sports, was truly soaking it all in, getting pumped up before his big moment.

(Photo courtesy Dustin Hardy-Moore)

They got to see the behind-the-scenes at Citizens Bank Park, Mosby going into the media room and pretending he was giving a press conference, then going out to the field to watch the Astros take batting practice. He didn’t get to meet any of the Phillies legends who threw out the first pitches, but he did see quite a few famous names from just a few feet away.

“I was starstruck,” he said. “[Eagles star] Fletcher Cox walked right past me, when I saw Fletcher Cox, I was like ‘oh my god, I couldn’t believe it,’ [...] I got butterflies in my stomach, I’ve been watching the Eagles for I don’t know how long, so when I saw Fletcher Cox, I couldn’t believe it.”

After the national anthems and multiple first pitches, after the reading of the lineups, the last thing that everybody was waiting on was for Mosby to take the pitch. The video Hardy-Moore took of the moment tells it all, of a confident young man striding out to the mound, placing the ball, whirling a towel. Within 30 seconds, it was all over.

“I couldn’t hear a thing. I really couldn’t hear a thing,” he said. “I didn’t even have any time to really think about anything. It was such a surreal moment, I couldn’t believe it until it was over. [...] I was still in shock, so when it happened, it was just like everything, my mind went blank and once it was over, it was over.” 

“It was an amazing sight,” Hardy-Moore said. “I actually got a little emotional at one point, because he deserved that opportunity. And to be able to be there with him, and right now talking about it, to be there with him for that type of recognition, not many people have it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Mosby and Hardy-Moore took in the game from Section 216, staying in their seats as the Phillies hit five home runs, winning 7-0, Citizens Bank Park rocking from start to finish. (After going to get food during the Phillies’ six-run third inning two weeks prior, when he attended with a number of other Boys & Girls Club Volunteers, Mosby didn’t leave his seat). No, the stadium didn’t cause any earthquakes — a popular rumor was debunked Wednesday afternoon — but it sent shockwaves through the city, a most improbable World Series title suddenly just two home wins away.

And that was the biggest takeaway for Mosby from the entire event, the part he said he’ll remember 20 years down the road and further. The emotion of being that small part of something much bigger than yourself, of feeling the grass beneath his feet and being lifted by tens of thousands of your neighbors for three hours in South Philly.

“Really, the joy the city had,” he said. “That’s one thing I always like about when Philly’s in the spotlight like this. We take so much pride in our sports, and for the city to be electric, for this team to make all 40,000 people in the stands to see them play, and [for] me to be a part of that, that’s always going to be something I take with me. 

“I’m going to tell my grandchildren about it, I know I will.”