PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Phillies fans have the reputation of bringing the noise and making Citizens Bank Park the toughest place to play in baseball. But every now and then you’ll find a group of fans who take their passion to new, creative levels.
The Wolf Pack celebrated strikeouts thrown by Randy Wolf, and Padilla Flotilla did the same for Vincente Padilla.
Howard’s Homers caught everyone’s attention when Phillies legend Ryan Howard launched 58 home runs in 2006.
And, in recent years, the Phandemic Krew showed that a pandemic wasn’t going to stop them from cheering on their favorite team, even if it meant standing beyond the gates of the ballpark. And when those barriers opened in 2021, they were still there in full force, eventually finding themselves in their permanent home of section 301 — a place for any Phillies fan to hang out and bond over the red pinstripes.
That’s where Marilee Gallagher comes in. If the Phandemic Krew was a hit TV series, you can consider Marsh’s Marshmallows the spinoff.
“There would be no Marshmallows if no Phandemic Krew,” Gallagher said. “We are a subsidiary of you.”
Gallagher is the co-founder of the fan group that honors Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh — the likable, hard working, high energy, bushy bearded 26-year-old from Buford, Georgia who embodies the tenacity of a Philadelphian. He’s not the best player on the team by any means, but he’s a fan favorite, leaving no surprise that Gallagher and her friend Rachel Olga came up with the idea last season, calling him their “marshmallow,” then finding DJ Marshmellow masks online.
They were all in. Marsh’s Marshmallows was going to be a thing. They were going to make shirts and signs to celebrate one of their favorite players.
Then, the story took on sentimental meaning.
They decided their debut would be June 5, a Monday game against the Tigers. But leading up to the game, one of their friends and fellow Phillies fan Jim Frick passed away. The funeral was the day of the game. After attending the funeral, the lineup came out without Marsh. That didn’t stop them from attending, though. They wanted to go to honor their late friend, especially after passing Marsh Road on the way to the funeral.
That night they got some online criticism for debuting when Marsh wasn’t in the lineup, but it didn’t deter them. Gallagher says Marsh recognized them on social media.
“From there, we kind of just were off and running,” Gallagher said.
And later in the season Gallagher and a fellow Marshmallow got to take a picture with Marsh on Photo Day.
So, when you go to the ballpark this season and see a bunch of fans wearing Marshmellow masks, feel free to say hello, because as long as the ascending Marsh is a Phil, all indications are Marsh’s Marshmallows will be rooting him on, just like the fan groups before them.
“Philly fans, they get the reputation, they are what they are, but we support our teams like no other,” Gallagher said. “I think that’s kinda been the coolest part of being a part of this — seeing the playoffs come back, seeing the way that the fans respond to the players and the way that the players respond to the fans. They feed off our energy, I believe, as much as we feed off of what they’re doing on the field.”