This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
José Alvarado fired three nasty cutters to strike out Josh Bell, Dylan Crews and Alex Call swinging in the eighth inning on Tuesday night.
Alvarado had escaped a bases-loaded jam.
It was the first time a Phillies pitcher had struck out three consecutive batters with the bases loaded in the eighth inning or later since 1968.
It was cool.
But the kid -- the kid was cooler.
“I want to know that kid,” Alvarado said on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. “I want to give him something. I want to sign a jersey or ball for him. Something. I want him to come to a game.”
That kid is 12-year-old Princeton Bailey, who goes by Prince. An NBC Sports Philadelphia camera found Bailey in the stands during Alvarado’s bases-loaded jam. The broadcast kept cutting back and forth from Alvarado to Bailey, who mimicked Alvarado’s setup and delivery.
“It was wild,” Alvarado said. “Two outs, bases loaded, 2-2 count, I threw my pitch, I struck him out, I went crazy, he went crazy. It was fun.”
Bailey will be back at the ballpark on Friday for the Phillies’ series opener against Arizona. Troy Bailey is Prince’s grandfather. He attended Tuesday’s game with him. He told Prince that he got free tickets from the Phillies.
“How’d they do that?” Prince said.
Prince lives with his grandparents in Newark, Del., because his mother Sarah works two jobs. Prince had begged his grandfather forever to go to a Phillies game. Troy got a pair of tickets for Prince’s 12th birthday.
It was Prince’s first Phillies game.
“We finally made it,” Troy said.
Prince is on the lower end of the autism spectrum, according to his grandfather. He is introverted but interactive with kids at school.
“He’s shy,” Troy said. “He loves baseball, football, karate. He does well in school.”
Prince will imitate batting stances and pitching deliveries. He loves Kyle Schwarber. He loves Alvarado now, too.
“A couple friends at school and a few teachers came up to him today,” Bailey said. “They said they saw him on TV. I don’t think he grasped the attention, but he’s trying to. It’s been a whirlwind.”
The Baileys felt so good about everything that happened in the eighth inning – Alvarado escaped the jam, then the Phillies scored two insurance runs to take a 5-2 lead – that they left the game before the top of the ninth. Of course, the Phillies blew the lead, then came back to win the game in dramatic fashion when Bryson Stott scored on a walk-off wild pitch.
“We were listening in the car,” Troy said. “He scored and Prince says, ‘Pop Pop, did I help them win?’ I said, ‘Yeah, buddy. You helped them win.’ He’s just a very lovable kid. You know what I mean? He might have some difficulties, but he’s very interactive with other kids. He just enjoys life.”
Should Prince meet Alvarado, they would get along well. Alvarado enjoys life, too.
“In that moment, I’m living in the moment,” Alvarado said. “It’s unbelievable. If I look back, there are bad moments. But I don’t want to look back at last year. This is a new year. I’m coming to the park, I’m the same guy. A bad day might be coming, but that’s normal in this game. This game is so hard. I’ve learned a lot from this game. I don’t know. I just know that right now I want to learn about that kid that was pitching.”