On Monday night, Reed Weiner was standing in left-center field at Citizens Bank Park when the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker hit a pop-up to center.
It was the first round of the Home Run Derby, and Weiner and his friend, Ashton Kaliner, were shagging baseballs.
Weiner started running and stuck his glove out, but didn’t catch it. He received a hearty round of boos from the Philadelphia crowd.
Weiner’s misplay, and the ensuing reaction, quickly went viral on social media. Within 20 minutes, he started to receive a flood of text messages.
Family members and friends saw the video on Jomboy, Barstool, Bleacher Report, and House of Highlights. Some pointed to it as evidence of Philadelphia’s cruelty.
Not Philly fans booing after this kid didn’t make the catch 😭
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The 17-year-old from Lower Merion, who recently graduated from Harriton High School, had a different take.
“I loved that,” he said of the boos. “I think it’s an honor, to be honest. Like, when I go to Phillies games, I love that stuff. I’ll boo everyone.”
Weiner said that was the only catch he missed all night. He is not much of a baseball player; the teenager briefly joined Lower Merion Little League, but hasn’t roamed an outfield since.
He found out he’d be shagging baseballs on Saturday. Kaliner’s father works for the Phillies, and was able to pull some strings.
The teenager said most of the “kids” participating were 15 and 16 years old. He and Kaliner were on the older side, but still had a great time.
“It was awesome,” Weiner said. “It was electric. All the fans were asking for baseballs. They were screaming at us, offering money. It was everything I imagined it would be.”
The teenager chalked up the fateful moment to a faulty read. Weiner saw the pop-up going to center, and started jogging in that direction. “I was pretty confident I was going to get there,” he said.
“But at the very last second, the ball kept traveling,” Weiner added. “And it happened again later in the night. The ball goes so much farther than how you see it. And I kind of lost it in the light.
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“I saw it, and then it kept going, so by the time it kept going, I was like, ‘Damn.’”
Before long, Weiner became an internet celebrity. His brother, Wyatt, and dozens of friends from school sent him the clip.
His parents saw it, too. They had slightly mixed reactions.
“They loved it,” Weiner said. “They loved it. My dad was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re famous, this is awesome.’
“My mom is not a Phillies fan. She’s a Mets fan. And she was like, ‘I hate those Philly fans.’”
When Weiner and Kaliner weren’t shagging, they were booing non-Phillies relentlessly, along with their Citizens Bank Park counterparts.
This was not out of vindictiveness. Weiner said he always boos opponents at sporting events. In the 2023 NLDS, when Bryce Harper famously stared down Orlando Arcia, the brothers jeered the then-Braves shortstop “all game.”
They also participated in the “We Want Strider” chants that same playoff series aimed at Braves pitcher Spencer Strider. He doesn’t see his viral moment as something to be ashamed of.
When asked if he would’ve booed in the same situation, Weiner said he would — with a caveat. “Age 10 and over, you can boo,” he said.”
If anything, it memorialized the night, for years to come.
“I deserved those boos, but I liked it,” Weiner said. “Like, if I didn’t get those boos, I would’ve never remembered this.”
Ryan Howard was a three-time All-Star and champion of the 2006 Home Run Derby in his legendary run with the Phillies. With the baseball world coming together in Philadelphia for the 96th All-Star Game, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra to discuss his All-Star memories, his expectations for a Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park, his outlook on the Phillies’ season, Kyle Schwarber’s chances of breaking his single-season franchise mark for homers, and more. Watch here.
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