Phillies fans show they bleed red - generously
2,000-plus turned out at Citizens Bank Park to donate blood.
These 2,000 aren't just any loyal Phillies fans. They opened a vein for their team - and for the region's blood supply.
The Phillies held their seventh annual blood drive Sunday with the American Red Cross at Citizens Bank Park, an event that has become one of the region's largest blood drives. The summer is generally a slow time for blood donations - but not Sunday.
"We had more interest than we could accommodate," Phillies spokesman Rob MacPherson said.
Some people were asked to donate another time, but they won't have Sunday's perks as incentive. Those who claimed the 2,000 appointments got to give blood in the Hall of Fame Club, surrounded by portraits of baseball greats and overlooking a stadium left empty as the Phillies played the Nationals in Washington.
Donors received a free Shane Victorino T-shirt (he was the drive's spokesman), though most people wore their own Phillies T-shirts. The donors, and the spouses and children they brought with them, could get their photos taken alongside the team's 2008 World Series trophy and tour the field - or the track around it anyhow, including a visit to the Phillies dugout.
Kim Goodwin, 40, walked into the dugout, looked around stealthily, and quickly picked up the phone that's connected to the bullpen as a companion snapped a photo.
"I'm glad the Phillies think giving blood is important," said Goodwin, a pediatric nurse from Chalfont. "It's crucial that blood is available to patients who need it."
On the ball field, though, what's crucial is making the call to the bullpen. Goodwin wanted to pretend "I'm the one sending out the pitcher who's going to finish the game."
Jerry Brophy, a 61-year-old Gloucester City resident, is a lifelong Phillies fan who has stuck by the team when it struggled and reveled when it triumphed. He likes giving blood, but now can also show a photo of himself standing by the championship trophy.
"I'm going to show the picture to my family so they'll be jealous," said the Lockheed Martin worker. "I'll tell them, 'Maybe you should give blood, too.' "