A diehard Phillies fan and Astros fan planned their wedding around Monday’s game: ‘She deserves a win’

When Beau Parker and Michele Ozer first met about eight years ago, they didn’t think their baseball fandoms would intersect. Parker, a Houston native, is a diehard Astros fan. Ozer, who’s from Northeast Philadelphia, is a diehard Phillies fan.

That changed in 2022. The couple tried to watch Game 1 of the Phillies-Astros World Series together, which ended in a 6-5 Phillies win, and watched Game 2 in person at Minute Maid Park.

It was not what Ozer was used to. When she sat down in her seat, an Astros fan noticed her Phillies gear, and turned to her.

“You must be so proud of your team for making it this far,” the fan said.

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Ozer wasn’t having it.

“They were so nice to me,” she said with a hint of disgust. “Like, too nice. A Phillies fan would never say that.”

Everything went downhill from there. The Phillies won Game 3 in Philadelphia and lost the next three games. Ozer watched from the couple’s home in Texas. Parker watched from a bar in Houston.

“You go have fun,” she told him. “Be happy somewhere away from me.”

A lot has changed since then. Parker, a 35-year-old engineer, and Ozer, a 31-year-old marketing coordinator, moved from Houston to Philadelphia last year and got engaged. When they were planning their wedding, they looked at the Phillies schedule to make sure their guests wouldn’t run into game-day traffic.

That’s when they saw that the Phillies were scheduled to play the Astros at home on Aug. 26. They decided to plan their wedding around that date. After getting married at the American Swedish History Museum on Sunday, they put their marriage to the test on Monday by attending the game as newlyweds.

It’s unclear what the best outcome of this series would be for their future as husband and wife. The Phillies gave Ozer a leg up, with a 3-2 walk-off win over the Astros on Monday night.

“She deserves a win,” Parker said.

“What a gentleman,” Ozer said sarcastically. “That’s not what he’s actually thinking, though.”

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Ozer grew up in Somerton. She was raised by two diehard Phillies fans in her parents, Alan and Joy. Alan, who grew up in Mount Airy, was in seventh grade when the Phillies collapsed in 1964.

He made sure to teach his daughter a lesson.

“Prepare for disappointment,” Michele said he advised. “Just be pleasantly surprised.”

Added Joy: “Our teams raise us up so high, we’re so euphoric, and then they bring us down really fast.”

Parker was raised similarly. He remembers going to games at the Astrodome, where the Astros last played in 1999. He grew fond of the Phillies over time because some of his favorite Astros players ended up playing in Philadelphia.

“[Billy] Wagner, [Roy] Oswalt, [Brad] Lidge,” Parker said. “It was an easy transition at first, because like Michele said, they don’t play too often.”

What once was easy has become considerably more difficult over the past few years. A few of Parker’s groomsmen made comments about the 2022 World Series during the wedding. On the bus ride back to the hotel, they tried to start a “Let’s go, Astros” chant, which quickly was shut down.

A few of those same wedding guests were in attendance Monday night. Ozer and Parker hoped everyone behaved themselves. But they were focused on the game and hoped to catch a glimpse of their favorite player.

“Obviously, it’s Garrett Stubbs,” Michele said. “Because he played for both of our teams.”