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.
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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.”
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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.
