Bruce Springsteen confusion at Citizens Bank Park as stars come out

Was Bruce Springsteen actually at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday?

In the middle of the sixth inning during the Phillies’ loss to the Houston Astros in Game 4 of the World Series, cameras on the ballpark began scanning the crowd for celebrities to show fans in the stadium.

While the Citizens Bank Park crowd was subdued by that point, fans cheered loudly when screens appeared to show The Boss standing next to Top Gun actor and Phillies superfan Miles Teller.

But it wasn’t Springsteen decked out in Phillies garb — it was Mike Teller, Miles’ father.

During the next inning, the real Springsteen flashed onto the screen, leading to the biggest cheer in a while from the crowd, who had to endure the Phillies losing in just the second no-hitter in World Series history.

The camera also panned back to Mike Teller, adding the caption “Not Bruce Springsteen.”

With Jason Kelce in Houston preparing for the Eagles’ Thursday Night Football matchup with the Texans, the Phillies gave Saturday Night Live alum Cheri Oteri the impossible task of revving up a crowd lulled to sleep by the lack of scoring.

Oteri, who like fellow SNL alum Tina Fey is an Upper Darby native, joined the Philly Phanatic in a riff of her classic cheerleader sketch, minus Will Ferrell.

First lady Jill Biden — the White House’s top Phillies fan — was also in attendance.

As part of Major League Baseball’s Stand Up to Cancer initiative, Biden held a sign honoring the memory of Phillies minor-league pitcher Corey Phelan, who died Oct. 13 from cancer. Biden’s sign also honored Beau Biden, President Joe Biden’s son who died of brain cancer in 2015, aged 46.

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley — key players during the Phillies’ last World Series championship, in 2008 — tossed out the ceremonial first pitch alongside their former manager, Charlie Manuel.

The duo played 15 seasons together with the Phillies, the longest double-play combination in National League history. Prior to the pitch, they gave nostalgic Phillies fans something extra to cheer about by bringing back their famed pregame handshake.

“I’ve said it time and time again that Jimmy makes everyone around him better,” Utley said of Rollins after the Phillies traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014. “The team will miss his leadership on the field and his infectious smile, but most of all, I will miss our pregame handshake.”

Rollins tossed his pitch to Teller, while Utley slinged his to actor Rob McElhenney, the second time he’s fulfilled a request his Always Sunny in Philadelphia character, Mac, made during the show’s fifth season, after the Phillies won the World Series.

Here’s the letter that Mac wrote to Utley, which he read out loud during the episode to Dee, who was played by McElhenney’s wife, Kaitlin Olson:

Utley first responded to the letter in 2013, politely turning down Mac because he was “really busy playing a lot of baseball for the Phillies.”

In 2019, in a pregame ceremony honoring Utley’s retirement from baseball, the second baseman tossed out the first pitch to the Always Sunny in Philadelphia star, fulling a request made 10 years earlier.