PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Phillies are headed to the World Series, and superstitious fans don’t want to change anything that might derail their team’s streak of good fortune.
It hadn’t seen the light of day for a decade, but Ryan Godfrey of West Philadelphia dug out his Phillies bucket hat for the National League Championship Series.
When he wore it, he said, the Phillies won. He didn’t wear it for NLCS Game 2, the only one the Phils lost.
“I forgot to put it on at the beginning of the Saturday game,” Godfrey said, noting that the Phils fell to an early 4-0 deficit in the top of the first inning of Saturday night’s NLCS Game 4.
“The first inning was kind of bad. Then I remembered, and I put in on after that. And the team obviously came back and won,” he told KYW Newsradio.
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“As fans I feel like once we hit on something that works, we have to do something very similar there. I can’t break the streak at this point. I’ve just got to wear it for all the games, and come what may.”
Philadelphia attorney Eileen Hurley offered World Series tickets to her nephew Matthew Zwiercan, a sophomore at Penn State University.
Superstition, however, made him turn them down, Hurley said.
“He has a chance to go to the World Series game number one here in Philly, and he has declined because he doesn’t want to mess up the mojo,” she said.
Hurley also admitted to superstitions of her own. She doesn’t want any new Phils gear until the World Series is over.
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“Because I’m going to be wearing the same thing that I wore for every game that we watched, which is my old-school Phillies hat and my new Phillies scarf,” Hurley told KYW Newsradio.
PECO once shied away from sports congratulations on the Crown Lights on its headquarters building, for fear of jinxing local teams. In January 2018, PECO decided against running an Eagles message before the NFC Championship Game, noting that championship losses followed Eagles messages before Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005, and Phillies messages for the 2009 World Series.
PECO communications manager Ra’Chelle Rogers said the Birds disposed of that superstition.
“The curse was broken when the Eagles won the Super Bowl,” she said. As a result, the PECO building has a message saluting the Phillies.
“It’s actually running now,” Rogers said. “The message says ‘Congratulations on reaching the World Series. Let’s go Phillies!’”
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Mayor Jim Kenney, though, apparently still believes in a City Hall title hex.
Referring to championship losses by the Phils in ’93 and the Flyers in ’97, Kenney said there will “absolutely” be no Phillies hat or jersey on Billy Penn atop City Hall.
“No hats, no Flyers jerseys. Leave Billy Penn alone,” Kenney said Monday. “He’s fine. He’s good.”
The mayor also didn’t want to jinx the Phillies by mentioning any preparations for a citywide celebration in the event of a World Series championship.
“Really happy and proud of our own citizens and fans,” Kenney said. “We’ve got to take this all through to next week and have a parade. Oops – I’m sorry. I’m not supposed to say parade. To have an event!”