PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It was another action-packed year for Philadelphia sports. Most of its professional sports teams had decent to excellent chances to win championships, several stars thrived, and, naturally, there were huge disappointments.
This year, we asked you to help us decide the best and worst moments from this huge sports town in 2023. Here are the results of our end-of-year sports polls.
Player of the Year
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was arguably one drive away from leading the Eagles to victory over the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. Sixers star Joel Embiid won an MVP award. But, the voters chose “The Showman,” Bryce Harper.
Harper missed the first month of the Phils season but returned from Tommy John surgery in record time. He still hit 21 home runs and also learned how to play first base in the absence of Rhys Hoskins. And as if that wasn’t enough, he even dedicated one of his home runs to a diehard fan — Chuck from Mount Airy, a caller to WIP Sportsradio.
The truth is, few athletes have ever expressed such love for Philadelphia the way Harper does.
While Harper would say he would love Games 6 and 7 of the NLCS back, he still had huge moments in the playoffs — from “atta boy, Harper,” to a home run on his 31st birthday.
Next year will bring more high hopes for the Phils — in part because they will presumably have a healthy Harper for an entire season, who will be looking to make up for the way the 2023 season ended in heartbreak.
Hurts came in second in our Player of the Year poll, and Embiid third.
Biggest disappointment
In no way would we have ever thought that the Eagles blowing a 10-point lead in the Super Bowl would lose this poll. It did.
The Phillies getting upset by the Arizona Diamondbacks was voted as the biggest disappointment of the year, by those who participated.
The Phils dominated, for the most part, Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS at Citizens Bank Park. Then they went to Arizona for three games, and something changed. Many will point to Game 4 when former Phils reliever Craig Kimbrel was charged three runs late in the game. The Phils won Game 5, giving them two opportunities to win back-to-back National League pennants at Citizens Bank Park.
But, their bats went cold. The Diamondbacks won the series.
As the series went on, manager Rob Thomson was questioned about his moves, which he reflected on after the series:
Who knows what would have happened in the World Series against the eventual champion, the Texas Rangers. Thomson admitted during the Winter Meetings that he didn’t watch the World Series. It was too painful.
The Eagles losing the Super Bowl came in a close second in our poll, while the Sixers falling to the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs was a distant third.
Favorite moment
This poll was 100% write-in. The Eagles winning the NFC Championship came in second as fans' favorite moment. Bryson Stott’s grand slam against the Marlins in the Wild Card Series was tied for third, when the Phils eliminated the Braves for a second year in a row. The latter is a perfect segue to the winner of this poll:
Jake Mintz of Fox Sports heard the comment from Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia after Game 2 of the NLDS, in which the Braves won to tie the best-of-five series at one. They rallied to win, ending the game on a dramatic double play in which Harper made an aggressive base-running miscue.
That made big headlines and obviously got back to Phils players, including Harper.
Two nights after Game 2, Harper responded in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park. He hit two home runs, staring at Arcia as he rounded the bases.
Arcia thought his comment should never have been public.
The next night, the Phils won a nail-biter over the Braves to bump them from the playoffs. Some of Harper’s teammates knew exactly what to say in the clubhouse celebration:
Appropriately, Opening Day 2024 is March 28 at Citizens Bank Park — Phillies against the Braves.