Stacey Gallen grew up at the Vet, was raised on Harry Kalas, and will watch her son pitch against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLCS

A few days ago, Stacey Gallen was reading her family’s group chat and saw a message that piqued her interest. It seemed like one of her relatives was unsure of who to root for in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

Against any other team, it wouldn’t be a question. The Gallens are a Philadelphia sports family. Stacey grew up going to games at Veterans Stadium. She was raised on Harry Kalas. Her favorite player was Bob Boone. She still listens to Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen in her car during games.

But when the Phillies are playing the Diamondbacks, and her 28-year-old son, Zac, is on the mound to start Game 1 for Arizona, there’s more ambiguity. So, Stacey decided to clear things up.

“I fired back right away,” Stacey said. “I said, ‘Anyone who is a blood relative of Zachary is immediately a Diamondbacks fan.’”

This transition will be easier for some of Gallen’s relatives than others. Stacey, who was born in Philadelphia, raised in a small town called Hi-Nella, N.J., and now lives in Gibbsboro, is a “Diamondbacks fan until the Diamondbacks are eliminated,” and is then “a Phillies fan, 100%.”

Zac’s brother, Jay, is half a Diamondbacks fan, and half a Phillies fan. Zac’s cousin, Sean, is a Diamondbacks fan when Zac is on the mound, and a Phillies fan “the other four of the five days.” He was at Citizens Bank Park for Game 2 of the wild-card series, but was watching his cousin’s start against the Milwaukee Brewers on his phone at the game.

“I think we have to get behind the family team to win,” Sean said. “Which is definitely hard to say, as a Phillies fan. I have no reason to not root for a Philadelphia sports team other than family. I’m just thankful he doesn’t pitch for the Marlins or the Braves or the Nationals or the Mets.

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“He did pitch for the Marlins at one point, in 2019. And we were like, ‘At least we get to see him six times a year.’ But still not great.”

A team out of the division is easier until the playoffs roll around. Stacey said that in the past, friends and family have shown up to games wearing Diamondbacks gear with Phillies caps. The stakes are higher now.

“That’s OK for the regular season but not for [Monday night],” she said. “There were times when people would say, ‘OK, I’m rooting for Zachary for as long as he’s in, and then when the bullpen takes over, I’m going back to rooting for the Phillies.’ I’m like, ‘Really? Really?’

“They better not do that tomorrow. Regular-season games, whatever, but this is do-or-die now.”

Despite the fact that he was raised by a woman who starts her day with WIP and ends most nights with a Phillies (and now, Diamondbacks) broadcast, Zac fell in love with the St. Louis Cardinals as a kid. Mark McGwire and Albert Pujols were his favorite players. This was a point of contention in Stacey’s household.

“I’d tease him,” she said. “No rooting against my team in my house.”

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Things came to a head in 2008, when the Phillies won the World Series over the Tampa Bay Rays. Zac, a Bishop Eustace alum who was 13 at the time, wanted to skip school and go to the parade on Broad Street. Stacey had other ideas.

“He was like, ‘I’m going to take off school and go to to the Phillies parade,’” Stacey said. “And I told him, ‘No, you’re not.’ And he was like, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘You’re not a Phillies fan. You don’t get to take off school to go to a party.’

“All of his friends were going, so he figured he was going. You can’t have it both ways.”

Added Jay, who attended Game 5 of the World Series and went to the parade with his friends: “I remember her being adamant about it. She was like, you’re not a Phillies fan, you can’t just take off school to go to the parade.”

Jay, 37, lives in Washington Township, N.J., and works as a referee and umpire for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. He is cut from Stacey’s cloth. Like his mother, he is a die-hard Philadelphia sports fan, who always has 94.1 WIP and 97.5 The Fanatic on. He’s even called in a few times, mostly to talk about baseball.

In the summer of 2014, radio host Mike Missanelli was doing a segment on The Fanatic about who the Phillies should take in the upcoming MLB draft. Jay, who had watched Zac pitch at University of North Carolina against Louisiana State University, had some thoughts.

“I was like, you know what? Let me call in,” Jay said. “And I told them, the Phillies should definitely take this kid Aaron Nola out of LSU. I’ve seen this guy, he’s pitched against my brother, he’s legit.

“And the next thing you know, people were calling me and they were like, ‘Yo, were you just on the radio?’ And then a week or two later they wound up taking Nola. It was hilarious.”

A few days ago, Stacey was driving in her car, listening to WIP host Joe Giglio. He was talking about her son, which is still not something that she is completely used to.

“He saying one of Arizona’s best pitchers is from here, and he was like, ‘Isn’t that weird?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it is weird,’” she said. “And I almost called in. I thought about it for a half a second but then … nah.”

Despite her Phillies fandom, Stacey is happy with where Zac ended up. He loves his teammates, he loves his coaches, and his manager. He is happy with the Diamondbacks. She wonders, if he were drafted by the Phillies, if he would have had more distractions with so much family around.

In that sense, maybe it all worked out the way it was supposed to. But for now, the Gallens are focused on one thing — Zac on the mound in Game 1. They know Citizens Bank Park is in a playoff atmosphere, and they are hopeful fans will give Zac a hometown discount.

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But it is certainly not a guarantee.

“He has a pretty clean record at this point, and he keeps his mouth shut, so hopefully he doesn’t get many boos,” Sean said.

Added Stacey: “I try to laugh it off. But it depends on what you’re saying. Because I get very protective. If you’re just being a person who’s taunting or whatever, I can laugh it off.

“But if you get rude, obnoxious, then I might think about not being so happy about it. But I guess, at the end of the day, what good does that do? Just let them chirp.”