PHILADELPHIA — Atop the celebratory stage quickly constructed on the Citizens Bank Park infield Sunday night, Rob Thomson clasped his hands behind his back, and several Phillies players rubbed the head of their closer-in-a-pinch, Ranger Suárez, and Bryce Harper cradled the trophy he had won, as the 2022 National League Championship Series’ most valuable player, as if it were a baby he was trying to settle into a deep sleep. But on the soft, moist grass near second base, maybe the most famous attendee of the 45,485 on hand to see the Phillies reach the World Series for the first time in 13 years was talking to someone, and he wasn’t quite certain who it was.
“Hey,” Miles Teller said as he turned away from his partner in conversation, a beefy Phillies player in a white commemorative T-shirt, “is this Darick Hall?”
Yes, it was. Clad in black jeans and an ‘80s-era, maroon Phillies cap and mesh shirt, Teller — a Downingtown native, Tom Cruise’s costar in Top Gun: Maverick — was indeed sharing a moment with Hall, who as a 27-year-old rookie hit nine home runs in 41 games this season. One man had played a big role in a billion-dollar box-office blockbuster. The other had played a small role in a story that might yet have the sweetest, most satisfying ending for the Phillies since 2008.
