Phillies fan Geoff Crawley lost his father to cancer over the summer. Crawley then traveled to Game 2 of the NLCS in San Diego to pay tribute to his father while cheering the Phillies on. When Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott found out about Geoff, he got him tickets to Games 4 and Game 5. Stott spoke with NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark about his kind gesture.
Phillies fan Geoff Crawley knew he couldn’t afford to watch his favorite team play in Philadelphia during the National League Championship Series against the San Diego Padres. But he was determined to still see the Phils in person and traveled all the way from Washington, DC to San Diego for Game 2 of the series.
During the game, Geoff paid tribute to his father who died from cancer in July. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark tweeted a photo of Geoff sitting in one seat with a sweatshirt with his father’s picture on it in the next seat.
John shared Geoff’s story on Twitter which ultimately went viral and caught the attention of Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott. Stott then got tickets for Geoff for Saturday’s Game 4 and Sunday’s Game 5 in Philadelphia.
Get Philly local news, weather forecasts, sports and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia newsletters.
Geoff’s story hits particularly close to home for Stott who lost his childhood friend to leukemia. Stott wears the number 5 in tribute to his friend and also honored him during Childhood Cancer Awareness Night in September.
“I mean I hate cancer,” Stott said. “Cancer is the worst thing on the planet. For [Geoff] to cheer us on all the way in California and honor his dad was pretty cool.”
Philadelphia Phillies
Complete coverage of the Fightin' Phils and their MLB rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Geoff isn’t the only Phillies fan to recently honor his late father by attending a game. A 16-year-old boy paid for his own ticket and took an Uber to a Phillies game from Delaware to watch the Phils alone to pay tribute to his father who died in December. Phillies fans then rallied in support of the teen and got him tickets to the NLCS.
