PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Redfern family not only loves baseball, but they are intertwined with the team they adore: the Phillies.
“People have different things they do, different hobbies, or different activities, and I guess ours maybe is baseball,” says Jack Redfern, 73, of Fox Chase.
But maybe might not be the best way to describe it.
Jack and his wife, Linda, have been lifelong fans, going back to the days when the Phillies played at Connie Mack Stadium, which has been long gone for more than 50 years. They have been partial season ticket holders with the Phillies – currently with four seats – since 1979 at Veterans Stadium.
“Without a doubt, we know from April to October, we’re going to be spending a lot of time at the ballpark,” says their daughter, Heather.
And even when no spectator could be in the ballpark during the pandemic-affected 2020 season, the Redferns were a handful of the thousands of fans who purchased cardboard cutouts so they could spiritually be in attendance at Phillies games.
They’re addicted to the team and enjoy going to the ballgames, even during the lean years.
The many, many, many lean years.
“Seeing the good, the bad, the ugly and the great,” Jack said.
Parents to two – Heather and Jack, and grandparents to one, Kayla – the Redferns’ admiration for the Phillies has been passed down for multiple generations.
They also have a unique connection to the ballclub.
“For the last 25 years,” Jack says, “my wife made every game.”
Linda has been a Phillies game day employee for the past quarter century, starting as a volunteer for the 1996 All-Star Game, becoming a hired hostess at The Vet, and then becoming the supervisor of the Phillies family room – a private space for the players’ families.
“You meet a lot of people,” Linda said. “A lot of really, really great people. People are people, they just have a talent that most people don’t have. You see them in a different light. You see them as parents, and sons and daughters of parents, and mothers and fathers and husbands and wives. You see them in that light as opposed to being in uniform on a field playing a game. It's entirely different. They’re entirely different people.”
Linda’s experience with this job, which used to include Heather working with her as well, has given the Redferns a different perspective about the athletes that are held to huge standards by the majority of the fan base. They’ve gotten to interact with them and their families, recognizing they’re regular people who live high-profile lives.
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Linda has made such an impact with this role, that Heather said when the World Champion 2008 Phillies reunited for their 10th anniversary, players stopped by the lounge to see her mother. It speaks to the type of culture the Phillies have strived to maintain.
“The Phillies are a very family-oriented organization,” says Linda. “They do a lot for the players and their families. There are a lot of teams that don't do as much for theirs as the Phillies do and we've been told that by visiting players and families that have come from other teams that the Phillies are top-notch in their family field.”
Which is why on this Mother’s Day weekend, it felt appropriate to make the Redfern family KYW’s Philadelphia Sports Fans of the Week. It’s a family that has embraced the beloved ballclub of their city, through thick and thin, as fans and employees.
“I’m a Phillies fan, win or lose, live or die,” says Linda.
“All of us aren’t ‘Negadelphians,’” says Jack. “where you get down on a team, and oh this and that, and you gotta be a bandwagon and you jump on. We’re just baseball fans and we’re Phillies fans.”
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