Former Phillies stars reminisce on Alumni Day — and urge current players to carry on their traditions

In May 2006, Aaron Rowand famously put his body on the line and crashed into the center-field wall at Citizens Bank Park to make a game-saving catch. In exchange, he fractured his nose and several bones around his left eye.

Rowand fielded questions about the catch at a news conference later, with his nose in a splint. One reporter asked him: “For who? For what?”

It was a quote from former Eagles running back Ricky Watters, said after Watters didn’t stretch for a pass in his first game in 1995. But Rowand didn’t understand the reference.

“I had never even heard of that, before I got the question, and so they asked me, ‘For who, for what?’ I said, ‘For who? My teammates. And for what? To win.’ That’s what we were all there to do,” Rowand said Sunday.

Following Sunday’s Alumni Day festivities, Rowand, former teammates Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, and manager Charlie Manuel sat at the podium trading memories of the early days of the Bank and that era of Phillies baseball. The ballpark is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this season — though the center-field wall has added more padding since Rowland’s collision with it.

“Running through walls, that’s the epitome of who we were,” Howard said. “ … We showed up expecting to win. Everybody wants to win. But when you show up expecting to win, that’s when things take off. And I think that’s what we had, like ‘Row-row’ said, ‘Hey, we’re not coming to try to just beat you. We’re trying to take your soul.’”

Phillies past and present mingled during the pregame ceremony on the field. Members of the 2008 World Series team emerged to loud applause as a montage of the franchise’s biggest moments played on the screen.

“Being on the field today, and I’m standing in the dirt, you feel it under your feet again,” Rollins said. “I’m looking at the grass, and, of course, I’m looking at the shortstop position. OK, need to mow this down a little bit. You know, there’s all those little things that come back to you.”

Rowand signed with the Giants in December 2007, so he wasn’t there to lift the World Series trophy with Howard, Rollins, and Manuel in 2008. But he certainly wasn’t surprised to see it happen.

“I was watching on TV, and I was in tears, thinking to myself, ‘I am so happy for these guys, because I have bled with them,’” he said. “It’s about being a team. It’s about doing it for each other and not just for yourself, and that is how I played the game. They know it because they played with me, and I watched it throughout that entire clubhouse, and you just knew something great was coming.”

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All four said the clubhouse culture was the key to the team’s success.

“[It was] the best team I’ve ever been around for attitude and pulling for one another,” Manuel said. “I see a lot of similarities in our team as far as passion for one another and way to play. I love our team now. We got a chance to do it, do it all.”

Rollins added that he texts Bryce Harper and Trea Turner on occasion, urging them to carry on the tradition.

“I tell them, I’m sure they’re tired of hearing about the ‘08 team. Yes, we were here when this ballpark started. We created an atmosphere, and I’m glad that you guys got to reignite that atmosphere that we got to experience.

“But I’m sure you’re tired of hearing about the ’08 team, the way we were tired of hearing about the ’80 team. So change that narrative.”

Manger Rob Thomson left Harper and J.T. Realmuto out of the starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Nationals. The Phillies have an off day Monday, and Thomson wanted to give Harper and Realmuto two days off their feet. Before Sunday, Realmuto had played five games in a row, the most he has played consecutively since being reinstated from the injured list on July 20. … Austin Hays (hamstring strain) ran the bases on Sunday. If he feels good on Monday, he will start a rehab assignment Tuesday in Lehigh Valley. Thomson said Hays remains in play for a return during the Kansas City series from Aug. 23-25. … Zack Wheeler will start the opening game of the Braves series on Tuesday, followed by Aaron Nola on Wednesday. Thomson wants to see how Cristopher Sánchez feels after pitching a complete game on Saturday before announcing the third starter and could opt for a bullpen game if he needs extra rest. Sánchez was back on the field throwing long toss on Sunday as part of his regular routine.