No matter where Kahleah Copper’s basketball journey takes her, she continues to carry North Philadelphia with her — even on her shoes.
The Phoenix Mercury guard and four-time All-Star debuted a custom “Norf Philly” Adidas Harden Vol. 10 player-exclusive sneaker during Wednesday night’s game against the reigning WNBA champions Las Vegas Aces.
The black-and-white shoe features “Just a kid from” on the left heel and “Norf Philly” on the right heel. Copper has adopted the phrase “just a kid from Norf Philly” throughout her time in the WNBA. It’s a nod to the neighborhood that helped shape her.
Her love for basketball started on the streets of North Philadelphia. She practiced shooting by attaching a crate to a one-way sign on 32nd & Berks Streets.
“There wasn’t a lot of opportunities for young girls to play in different leagues, so I played in a league with a bunch of guys,” she said in an interview in 2025. “The things those guys instilled in me, whether it was that toughness or that grit or just always having that chip on my shoulder because I wasn’t as strong as them … shout out the guys.”
In 2021, Copper was named WNBA Finals MVP after leading the Chicago Sky to their first championship. After winning the championship, she paid it back to her Philly roots.
“North Philly is different,” she said in a 2021 article in the Players’ Tribune. “It’s a place I love, the place where I learned how to play tough.”
The Aces won Wednesday’s game, 86-76, and Copper, who finished with 26 points, is averaging a team-best 19.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists for the Mercury (4-12), who are 13th in the WNBA standings.
Copper has joined the tradition of Philadelphia basketball stars using sneakers to show where they’ve come from. The Nike Kobe 4 Philly dropped on Jan. 1, 2009, with a color scheme of red, white, and blue to pay homage to Kobe Bryant’s hometown and the 76ers. A “Philly” Nike Kobe 4 Protro was released in 2024.
Official Look at the 'Philly' Nike Kobe 4 Protro
This "Philly" colorway pays homage to Kobe Bryant's connection to the Philadelphia area, as his father, Joe, played for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1970s.
Rasheed Wallace, a 2004 NBA champion with the Detroit Pistons and Simon Gratz graduate, was known for wearing high-top Nike Air Force 1s.
“The strap was a Philly thing,” Wallace told the All the Smoke podcast in May 2025. “In Philly when we wear the high-top Air Force 1s, you keep the strap on the back.”
This Juneteenth edition of Shackamaxon looks at the housing debate in Harrisburg, the recent state Supreme Court decision on skill games, and some Revolutionary Era stories you might not have heard before.
Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir exits a Santa Monica, Calif., accessory dwelling unit in 2022.
Preemption the key
It is increasingly clear that legislators in Harrisburg want to do something about housing affordability in Pennsylvania. What’s less clear is whether they’re willing to take the most necessary step: preempting local governments.
The recent push to legalize accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, is a classic example of this tension. For the wide coalition of supporters, ADUs — think a backyard apartment — represent an obvious fix to the housing crisis. They allow families to live close to one another without the awkwardness of sharing a kitchen, while empty nesters can monetize their homes without moving and typically rent at affordable rates. There’s also significant demand for them.
Mario Mascioli, from Acorn Built Homes, says his company gets between 200 and 300 inquiries a month. A recently passed bill in the state House would allow property owners to build one unit per lot and restricts the ability of local authorities to regulate them out of existence.
It is now up to the state Senate to pass the bill. The Senate’s housing committee has met just twice so far this year. Some Republicans have been reluctant to embrace housing reform, citing a desire to avoid infringing on local control of zoning.
While the input of local communities will always be part of development politics, housing affordability is a regional issue. Acting as a commonwealth ensures that all of our cities, townships, and boroughs do their share when it comes to new housing — and that no municipality can sabotage ADU construction.
Additionally, some conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity have backed the bill. For these groups, property rights and economic opportunity make embracing preemption worthwhile.
In fact, the coalition to reform housing rules is refreshingly broad. From right-leaning groups like Americans for Prosperity to self-described socialists like State Sen. Nikil Saval, there is a growing understanding that change is essential. This need is underlined by the rapidly increasing costs to purchase a home. In Villanova, even the most affordable options now cost $1 million.
Unregulated gaming devices known as “skill games” in a barber shop in Hazelton in August.
Same old slots
For the entirety of Josh Shapiro’s first term as governor, one question has dominated the revenue side of state budget proceedings. Will Pennsylvania regulate and tax so-called games of skill, and at what rate, and under what authority?
Proponents of the games argued they are distinct from slot machines and should pay a lower rate. They also want the devices to avoid being placed under the state Gambling Control Board. Critics say otherwise. Some want the machines to be gone altogether, citing their negative impact on communities. Others want them restricted and taxed like slot machines, which can only operate at licensed casinos and hand over most of their revenue to the commonwealth. Efforts by local governments, like Philadelphia’s, to ban the machines have been stymied by the courts.
At least until this week.
After years of debate, the state Supreme Court ruled that the devices are actually slots after all, reversing an earlier Commonwealth Court ruling that had maintained there is a difference. This new ruling aligns with my own experience testing the machines. You put in cash, press a button, and hope the symbols align.
Given this fact, which is now the legal opinion of Pennsylvania, it doesn’t make much sense to tax the machines at a different rate than existing slots. Neither does allowing them to proliferate in every gas station, corner store, and bar that wants them. Like slots, skill games should be limited to operating in designated areas, and access must be controlled by age. They should also be controlled by the same regulators as other gaming devices. While the commonwealth absolutely could use the revenue boost legalizing the machines will bring, the priority should be on mitigating their impact.
The historian Michael Idriss dressed as Cyrus Bustill, an 18th-century baker who supplied George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge.
Remembering revolutionaries
Philadelphia has been known as the home of Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross for centuries and boasts several professional reenactors who bring these Revolutionary Era leaders to life. While both Franklin and Ross have earned their public profiles, they are far from the only local figures worth memorializing.
Michael Idriss, a former classmate of mine at Temple University who now manages the Museum of the American Revolution’s African American Interpretive Program, has brought another name to light: Cyrus Bustill, an enslaved baker who freed himself, supplied George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge, and helped found the Free African Society of Philadelphia.
Idriss also helped set up the museum’s Black Founders exhibit, which focused on James Forten, a Black patriot and business owner who funded abolitionist causes.
Idriss refers to himself as an interpreter rather than a re-enactor and has brought to light a pivotal but until now under-appreciated Founding Father. Bustill’s work has even qualified his descendants, like Joyce Mosley, for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, an elite service organization.
An elder statesman to figures like Forten, Absalom Jones, and Richard Allen, Bustill represents the lesser-known stories of the Free Philadelphians of African descent before, during, and after the revolution. By 1838, there were 20,000 free Black Philadelphians.
In many ways, their story should sound familiar. After the revolution, many felt that America should live up to its lofty ideals. Pennsylvania passed a law ensuring gradual emancipation, and many people of all races became abolitionists. Then came the backlash. A populist and crass president had come to power and Black stories were buried. It sounds sadly familiar, doesn’t it?
Two years ago, La Salle College High School fell to Radnor in the PIAA 3A boys’ lacrosse championship. Just last Saturday, the Explorers flipped the script.
La Salle earned its first state crown since 2019 and sixth overall title after defeating Radnor, 16–9. The Raptors were making their sixth consecutive championship appearance. The victory, however, was the culmination of a season that hardly began according to plan.
La Salle opened the year 1–2 after losses to St John’s College High School in Washington, D.C, and Malvern Prep. While head coach Jack Forster understood that his team was up against tough competition, he knew they were leaving a ton on the table, especially with a roster consisting of seven seniors who are committed to Division I schools.
“I remember Coach Forster in the locker room before the [next] game was like, ‘I’m sick of telling people that we almost had them. Let’s go out there and win, and put all those little things together,’” said senior long-stick midfielder Johnny Wachs, who will play at Jacksonville University.
The Explorers went on go undefeated in Catholic League play and won 21 of 22 games en route to a state final victory.
“I think we kind of just took [the losses] as learning opportunities,” said senior attacker Will Trymbiski, who scored five goals in the championship game. “We saw the cracks in the sidewalk and knew how to fill them.”
Forster also believes that his team’s transformation occurred during their spring break trip to Bradenton, Fla. While there, the Explorers picked up a decisive 9-5 win over IMG Academy, but lacrosse was secondary to the relationships developed across the team.
“Just being around each other all week — and guys getting to know everybody and not just their class, and [upperclassmen] bringing the freshmen and sophomores along. … [The trip] was a big turning point for our team,” Wachs said.
“Some of the kids I talk to most are underclassmen. I feel like that made us a better team, because there was no separation between classes.”
This year’s senior class made sure to savor their last season playing together. Trymbiski and midfielder Dylan Malone, who’s heading to Duke in the fall, had played together since second grade, when the two were on the same club lacrosse team.
“It was super special to finish off the season with him and finish off the season in that way with him,” Trymbiski said.
This year’s seniors are most proud of the legacy they’ll leave behind.
La Salle has consistently been a dominant program and hasn’t dropped a Catholic League game in four years.
Before last weekend, the Explorers last won a state title in 2019, which marked their longest drought since winning their first in 2004. After going the distance this season, the seniors believe that they’ve left behind a structure that will return La Salle to the championship, even without their presence.
“Leaving a blueprint behind for underclassmen to follow, having leadership where you’re not too strict and not too lenient is where we had a great balance, and we found equilibrium between the two,” said Malone.
Trymbiski added, “I’m most proud of how the senior leaders handled this team, and hopefully for years to come, we can have a huge [winning] streak for La Salle.”
Five months later, almost to the day, Bo Bichette stepped in the batter’s box in Citizens Bank Park.
Boooooooo!
(No, they weren’t calling his name.)
Depending on who you ask, Bichette was either on the verge of signing with the Phillies or deep in talks about their seven-year, $200 million offer. It was the middle of January, a pivot point in the offseason.
“I thought it was an opportunity, for sure,” he said. “But there was definitely things that needed to be worked out for that to become a possibility. So, no, I didn’t think that [it was close].”
In any case, Bichette is in town this weekend with the rival Mets, who swooped in with a short-term (three years), high-salary ($126 million) deal with two opt-outs. And not that anyone has forgotten, the visit is a helpful reminder that the Phillies still are searching for a big right-handed bat.
Bo Bichette, who signed with the Mets over the Phillies’ seven-year, $200 million offer in January, is in town for the first time with his new team.
The trade deadline is six weeks away — 6 p.m. on Aug. 3, if you want to set a calendar reminder. It’s a long way from here to there. The market hasn’t taken shape and likely won’t for a while.
Entering the weekend, 12 National League teams and 11 in the American League were no more than three games out of a playoff spot. Some are more realistic contenders than others; none is ready to wave the white flag.
“It’s pretty quiet right now,” Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly said this week on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “You’re talking to teams and checking in, and we’re having conversations to kind of lay some groundwork. But pretty quiet right now.
“I’m sure over the next two to three weeks to one month, things will start to pick up a little bit.”
The Phillies made a small trade last week to address a lack of outfield depth after losing Adolis García to a season-ending muscle tear near his right shoulder. They sent two minor leaguers to the White Sox for platoon outfielder Derek Hill.
It’s possible they will have to make a similar trade for starting pitching depth after demoting Andrew Painter to triple A with a 7.06 ERA.
But the deadline represents a chance to take a bigger swing. And the perception within the sport, based on conversations with league sources, is that the Phillies are prioritizing a right-handed hitter for the top half of the order to offset lefty-swinging Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh.
Let’s take a still-too-early dive into a few players who may be available before the deadline by dividing them into categories:
The Phillies haven’t shown any interest in moving Bryce Harper back to the outfield.
Non-outfield options
The outfield is the most obvious place for the Phillies to add a hitter.
Unless …
“I’ve said it multiple years before — and this year, still — for the right player, I would do it,” Harper said of moving back to right field. “I mean, that’s as real as it gets. I don’t want to do it long-term. But if the right player comes along and that’s what we need, or if that’s what we want, I’d be open to it at any point.“
Could the right player be Willson Contreras? Or fellow first baseman Christian Walker? The free-falling Red Sox could move Contreras, who is under contract next year for $18.5 million. Astros owner Jim Crane once vowed to never be a seller. But if Houston keeps fading, Walker and third baseman Isaac Paredes could bring value.
Harper hasn’t played right field since April 2022, when he tore a ligament in his right elbow. He moved to first base a year later.
“I still feel like I can throw a baseball from right field, and I can catch a fly ball,” Harper said. “It’s been a long time. But, yeah, I would do it in a heartbeat for us to win a World Series, without a doubt.”
But the Phillies didn’t take Harper up on his previous offers, and it doesn’t sound like they’re about to start.
“I know he’s always been very open-minded to trying to help the organization however he can, but we haven’t talked to him,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said this week. “And I really don’t contemplate it because I really like the way he goes about his business at first base. … I’m looking at him as being a first baseman.”
With the Angels sinking to the bottom of the American League, outfielder Jo Adell could be on the move at the trade deadline.
Midrange outfield targets
Drafted a year apart, Marsh and Jo Adell came through the minors together with the Angels and became close friends.
What if they were reunited with the Phillies?
“That’d be kind of a cool reunion if they could get Jo there,” former Angels manager Joe Maddon said on a recent episode of Phillies Extra. “Because that man’s got some power.”
Indeed, Adell broke out last season with 37 homers and a .778 OPS. The 27-year-old’s production has dipped (10 homers, .683 OPS through Thursday) and isn’t helped by a 2.9% walk rate that ranks among the lowest in the majors.
But Adell would fit the Phillies as a right-handed hitter who bashes lefties (.862 OPS through Thursday). His defense has improved over the years in right field, too.
And the Angels are headed for their 11th losing season in a row. With one year left on Adell’s contract, this might be their time to cash in, especially if they won’t move Mike Trout, who went on the injured list this week with a hamstring strain.
Taylor Ward, a former Angels outfielder, represents an option as an outfield rental. A right-handed hitter and a free agent after the season, he has been an on-base machine for the Orioles, reaching at a .394 clip through Thursday, though he hit only three homers.
Lefty-hitting outfielder Jarren Duran is a trade candidate if the Red Sox continue to fall out of contention in the American League.
Lefty-hitting outfield options
The Phillies had seven left-handed hitters in the lineup Wednesday against Marlins ace righty Sandy Alcantara.
“I actually like it,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “I do. I just think hitting left-handed against righties, it’s an advantage, right? And there’s pitchers that get righties out maybe better. … It just takes certain pitches away from a righty.”
Said general manager Preston Mattingly: “I probably would side on the side of my dad. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to run out seven, eight, nine left-handed hitters vs. a right-handed pitcher. And I think we have [lefty hitters] that are well equipped to hit lefties.”
File that away. Because although rival evaluators are expecting the Phillies to hunt for a right-handed hitter, Dombrowski may not shy away from an appealing left-handed bat.
Maybe someone like Jarren Duran. The Red Sox will have a surplus of outfielders when Roman Anthony returns from an injured finger. Duran, drafted by Boston when Dombrowski headed its baseball operations department, could finally be the odd man out in left field.
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton would be among the most coveted hitters on the market if he waived his no-trade clause.
Pie in the sky
At last year’s All-Star Game, Byron Buxton pledged his allegiance to the only organization he has known.
“I’m a Minnesota Twin,” he said, “for the rest of my life.”
Buxton actually has control over that. The 32-year-old center fielder has no-trade protection and no desire to waive it, even after the Twins traded 10 players at last year’s deadline, including star closer Jhoan Duran and center fielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies.
Amid another stellar season (23 homers, .919 OPS through Thursday), Buxton is doubling down on his loyalty.
“I ain’t said nothing about leaving, nor will I,” Buxton told The Athletic. “I’m a Twin.“
But what if the Twins sell again at the deadline? What if they move ace Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers? Maybe that would change Buxton’s tune. Maybe not.
The Phillies appear to lack the prospect capital to get him anyway. Justin Crawford and Gage Wood might be a start. But the farm system is in the bottom third of the sport, according to many evaluators, after the Phillies used Mick Abel, Eduardo Tait, Starlyn Caba, George Klassen, and Sam Aldegheri in deals over the last two years.
“We feel good where our system’s at,” Preston Mattingly said. “We’re not concerned about a lack of assets in the minor leagues. A lot of times you see that top-100 [prospects] list. That’s not necessarily what teams internally talk about, and those are not the players they ask about.”
It would be moot anyway if Buxton wants to be a Twin forever.
BELFAST, Northern Ireland — The morning of our walking tour of Belfast, my first task was to check Twitter for updates on local rioting the night before.
This tour covered “The Troubles” — the period in the 1970s when Catholics in Northern Ireland first marched for their civil rights, then escalated to vicious bombings to pressure the British Army to leave.
Now The Troubles 2.0 seemed to be erupting, threatening to plunge this weary city back into those dark times.
The spark was a shocking knife attack the evening of June 8; a Sudanese immigrant, who was in the country legally as a refugee, was charged in connection with it. The attempted beheading had been caught in a viral video so brutal it came with warnings.
For the next two nights, violence flared in several neighborhoods. Masked rioters quickly set up barricades, burned cars, torched the homes of ethnic minorities, and pelted police with paving stones they’d pulled from the streets and smashed with sledgehammers.
A generation after the Good Friday Peace Accords ended sectarian violence in 1998, rioting techniques live on in the muscle memory of Belfast. Need something to chuck at police? Ask your Da — he’ll show you how to break up the paving stones.
News of the riots spread internationally, and soon I had to reassure worried relatives back in the States that our vacation itinerary kept us in the city center, miles away from any commotion. Fanning the flames in the U.S. were the likes of Steve Bannon and Elon Musk, who both cheered on the pushback against immigration.
Police attempt to disperse protesters near Newtownabbey, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on June 10, following a stabbing incident two days earlier.
Yet over the next several days, a small miracle unfolded: There were two nights of rioting, followed by appeals for calm from the five main political parties, then a large peace march.
The march was even attended by 77-year old Gerry Adams, the reputed head of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who reinvented himself and went into politics. Earlier this week he wrote on Twitter, “Elon Musk and others who support these despicable actions from afar should shut up. Belfast says NO to racism.”
That a man whom many suspected was associated with flat-out terrorism was condemning the riots embodied the change that has taken root here.
Then lo and behold, the rioting stopped.
The incident actually dropped off the front page, temporarily replaced by this universal headline: “Belfast residents upset over pickleball noise.”
Belfast let the world know it has come too far — and its collective PTSD is still too raw — to be dragged back to that traumatizing era.
To be clear, riots or not, immigration remains a smoldering political issue in Northern Ireland. Immigrants from anywhere can apply for political asylum in any European Union country. Once that is granted, they are free to hop over to the Republic of Ireland, which is also in the EU.
From there, they can saunter into Northern Ireland without having to cross any physical border because all residents of the island are able to live, work, and travel freely between the two countries.
(As foreigners, we had to get a visa to enter the United Kingdom, but never had to show it to anyone. The only sign we’d driven across the border was a text message from Verizon, welcoming us to Northern Ireland.)
Demonstrators gather June 13 during an anti-racism rally outside Belfast City Hall sparked by a knife attack on a man in North Belfast.
That makes Northern Ireland’s immigration concerns world’s apart from those of the United States, no matter how hard Musk wants to link them. Both the details and the scale are vastly different.
Our tour guide, who wrote her doctoral dissertation about the generation born after the 1998 Peace Accords, said what bothered her most about these newest riots was the sight of “40-year-olds egging on teenagers.”
That view was echoed by the elderly proprietor of our bed-and-breakfast just south of the border the next day. She shook her head sadly, pursing her lips as she dismissed the rioters. “They’re just young tugs” — thugs, in her Irish brogue.
That generation has grown up in peace, spared the trauma of their elders. In the key years of The Troubles, 3,700 people were killed in bombings and executions, more than half of them civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Imagine if Pittsburgh, nearly the same size as Belfast, had seen that many deaths.
We heard sickening stories of “No warning” bombs, execution-style slayings of young off-duty British soldiers out for a night at a pub, and an unrelenting stream of tit-for-tat retaliatory killings.
It was a descent into pure madness, as chronicled in Belfast, actor Kenneth Branagh’s movie about his childhood, and Say Nothing, the true-crime novel about the 1972 disappearance of a widowed mother of 10 thought to be a police informant.
The long shadow of those tragic years denied Belfast the economic development that makes Dublin a robust city of building cranes. Tourists still visit Belfast to see the Titanic Museum, but the designer shops catering to them disappear just a few blocks from City Hall.
The city’s nightlife remains muted — a legacy of the “Ring of Steel,” the fortified perimeter of barriers, turnstiles, and military checkpoints installed by the British in 1972 to protect the city’s commercial center.
Strikingly absent from this tragic landscape is any public expression of grief. Memorials to the innocent victims of the bombing campaign are absent in the “shared space” of the city center, our guide said, because they are too polarizing.
Instead, a discreet panel of ceramic tiles is embedded in a wall in Jubilee Square. Called the “Numbers Wall,” it assigns a digit to each of the first 1,500 victims of sectarian violence. However, it comes with no key, no way of telling which number represents which person. That’s intentional — a statement that each loss is equal.
The “Numbers Wall” in Jubilee Square in Belfast, Northern Ireland honors each of the first 1,500 victims of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
Our vacation itinerary also took us 125 miles to the west, where a picturesque County Sligo harbor village has its own link to The Troubles. It’s where an IRA bomb killed Lord Mountbatten on his fishing boat in 1979, an attack designed to devastate Britain’s royal family. (See Season 4, Episode 1 of The Crown.)
Here, too, there is little in the way of a public memorial. There was a photograph displayed of the 2015 reconciliation visit by Prince (now King) Charles and his wife Camilla, but since the harbor is in the Republic of Ireland, it was soon vandalized, Charles’ face scratched out.
Instead, our travels through Northern Ireland revealed many examples of artwork dedicated to peace. There is a Peace Bridge in Derry/Londonderry, peace statues and murals in Belfast, and “Peace Walls” in both. Such walls are there not to celebrate a solid peace, but rather to help protect a fragile one by separating neighborhoods.
Our Derry tour guide, who as a teenager hid under his bed whenever he heard bombs explode nearby, summed up the irony of the term: “They’re evidence we’re not in a perfect peace.”
Perhaps this last week has shown Northern Ireland’s peace may be sturdier than people thought. It teetered for a few days, but Belfast displayed the resolve it showed three decades ago, when 71% of Northern Ireland residents voted in favor of the Peace Accords, turning a page on violence.
For a city in which everyone over the age of 30 is likely to have known a victim of The Troubles, peace is more than the absence of violence. It is a tangible state of being — and precious enough to be nurtured and protected.
Kathleen OʼBrien is a retired newspaper columnist who lives in North Jersey. While her recent DNA analysis shows her to be 78% Irish, she returned from her trip feeling 100% American.
As Philadelphia prepares to welcome visitors for the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, one of its most notable historic sites will stir back to life — at least outdoors.
Historic Philadelphia Inc., through an agreement with Independence National Historical Park and in partnership with event company Cescaphe, plans to open the Garden at City Tavern on June 25, transforming the shaded plot behind City Tavern into a seasonal destination featuring food, drinks, historical interpreters, lawn games, and special events.
The garden behind City Tavern, Second and Walnut Streets, on June 18, 2026.
The garden will operate from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday to Sunday through Labor Day on the grounds behind the shuttered restaurant at Second and Walnut Streets, offering visitors a chance to gather at a site that played a prominent role in Revolutionary-era Philadelphia.
What visitors will not find, though, is a reopened City Tavern.
The restaurant inside the three-story brick building has been dark since October 2020. Though the closure became associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, former chef-proprietor Walter Staib said the building’s mounting physical problems were the larger issue.
City Tavern chef/proprietor Walter Staib serving Ralph Archbold, portraying Benjamin Franklin, on Dec. 21, 2005.
“COVID was the perfect excuse to close, but it wasn’t the real reason,” Staib said Thursday. “The tavern would have closed anyway. The liabilities had become too great.”
The National Park Service sought a long-term operator in 2023, but no successor has been announced. “Lease negotiations are in process, which we hope to conclude by the end of summer,” park superintendent Steven Sims said in a statement to The Inquirer.
For now, Historic Philadelphia is concentrating on the garden.
“We really wanted to activate City Tavern itself,” said Amy Needle, president and chief executive officer of Historic Philadelphia. “The garden has always been a gorgeous space. For now, we’re focusing on that.” She said the seasonal run could be extended if demand remains strong and hopes to bring the pop-up back each summer.
City Tavern, on Second Street near Walnut, on Jan. 26, 2023.
Founded in 1773, City Tavern served as a gathering place for merchants, politicians, and many of the nation’s founders. Delegates to the First Continental Congress dined there, while George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were among its patrons.
The original structure was damaged by fire in 1834 and demolished two decades later. The current building is a reconstruction commissioned by the park service and opened in 1976 as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration.
For decades, City Tavern operated as both a restaurant and a living-history attraction, eventually becoming closely identified with Staib, the German-born chef, historian, and television personality who took over the operation in 1994. Under his stewardship, the restaurant gained national recognition for menus inspired by colonial recipes and traditions, helping launch cookbooks and the PBS series A Taste of History.
Chef Walter Staib is shown at City Tavern in 2013.
Staib said many people still contact him, especially around patriotic holidays, asking when the tavern will reopen. “I tell them, ‘I’ve got nothing to do with the tavern,’” he said.
He said he declined an invitation to appear at the garden’s opening, but he would be delighted to advise a new operator. At 80 years old, he said, his days of restaurant ownership are history.
Among the building’s challenges, Staib cited the lack of a sprinkler system in dining rooms, aging infrastructure, and the absence of an elevator. Even before the closure, he estimated that bringing the property into compliance would require millions of dollars. “Add another six years of deterioration,” he said, “and it’s even more expensive now.”
The garden behind City Tavern, Second and Walnut Streets, on June 18, 2026.
Historic Philadelphia, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to bring activity back to the property. Backed by a grant from the Connelly Foundation, the organization upgraded the garden with new landscaping, seating, and other amenities. It also enlisted Cescaphe — Historic Philadelphia’s partner in other ventures, including Franklin Square — to operate the seasonal pop-up; financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
Despite the historic setting, the food and beverage offerings are decidedly contemporary. The menu includes turkey sandwiches, wraps, charcuterie boards, pretzels, beer, wine, and canned cocktails with names such as Patriots Punch, Birthday Brew, and Liberty Lemonade. Cescaphe will use an off-site commissary rather than City Tavern’s dormant kitchens. Unlike the former restaurant, staff will not wear colonial-era clothing.
City Tavern, Second and Walnut Streets, opened in 1976 on the site of a former colonial tavern.
Historic Philadelphia’s “History Makers” interpreters will appear regularly at the site, and the organization’s Independence After Hours tours will conclude at the garden on Saturday evenings. During the Historic District’s Red, White & Blue To-Do celebration on July 2, the garden also will host live music.
Needle said the project reflects Historic Philadelphia’s broader mission of bringing activity to public spaces and historic sites.
“The garden is already used by neighborhood residents,” she said. “People walk their dogs there, and visitors come through as well. Part of our mission is bringing these places to life, so we’re excited to do that here.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has declared a public safety emergency at Bartram Village, a vacant Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) complex in Southwest Philadelphia, after squatters moved in and caused extensive damage.
This declaration clears regulatory hurdles that had delayed PHA’s plans to rapidly demolish the 45-building complex, where the last tenant moved out in 2025.
“For too long, these vacant buildings have posed serious safety risks to surrounding residents and the broader community,” Parker said in a statement Thursday. “This action clears the way to remove those hazards and replace them with new housing, new opportunity, and new investment.”
Bartram Village dates to World War II, when it was built to host defense workers during the wartime industrial boom. The site was later transitioned to the traditional public housing program, providing affordable housing for up to 500 households.
PHA has been planning a probable demolition for a major redevelopment since at least 2018, when it was estimated the buildings required repairs reaching almost $200 million in today’s dollars. Former residents would have a right to one of the 688 new units planned for the site.
But after tenants were moved out, the 22-acre property attracted squatters despite PHA’s security patrols in the area. Beyond occupying the space, squatters tore copper wiring from the buildings and damaged the popular neighboring park and historic site of Bartram’s Garden.
“We boarded it up, it was secured, and almost immediately we realized that folks were penetrating those areas in the back and coming in through Bartram’s Garden,” said Kelvin Jeremiah, president of the housing authority. “But because of the size … it became a real issue. The more we removed people, the more they came in.”
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s office began raising alarms in February about the state of Bartram Village.
“I warned that failing to act quickly would [exacerbate] safety issues and cost taxpayers’ money,” Gauthier said. “The buildings became hot spots for squatters and provided cover for inflicting over half a million dollars of damage to Bartram’s Garden.”
An abandoned Bartram Village apartment, which will soon be demolished.
Jeremiah said the housing authority couldn’t move to demolish the buildings immediately because Bartram Village is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. The mayor’s emergency declaration allows the agency to bypass a lengthy federal review process. The buildings are not protected by local preservation regulations.
Following Parker’s actions Thursday, “we are now prepared to move forward on an expedited basis to have the site demolished,” Jeremiah said.
PHA plans nine apartment buildings and over 150 townhouses for the Bartram Village site, supported in part by a $50 million grant from the federal government.
It is a major part of Jeremiah’s aggressive plan to renovate all of the authority’s existing holdings while building 3,000 new units and buying at least 4,000 units from the private sector.
The redevelopment has been years in the making because of tenant relocations and the federally mandated delay in demolition.
“Southwest Philadelphians have waited far too long for promised improvements at Bartram Village,” said Gauthier, who represents the area.
“I’m glad that Mayor Parker took the important step today of signing a public safety declaration giving PHA permission to demolish existing structures because they have been causing unsafe conditions to the community for a very long time,” Gauthier said in a statement.
Summer music is here in earnest, and the majority of the concerts on this curated list of highlights in a jam-packed season are happening outdoors.
Besides those featured below, there are still more: like Coltrane 100: Legacy featuring Ravi Coltrane with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Highmark Mann on July 22, or Ed Sheeran on Sept. 19 and AC/DC on Sept. 29, both at Lincoln Financial Field.
Singer-songwriter Noah Kahan throws a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs in 2024 in Boston. Kahan plays Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on June 26. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Noah Kahan
June 26, Citizens Bank Park
Noah Kahan broke through big-time with his 2022 album Stick Season, which the Vermont songwriter, who grew up on a tree farm, described as “a love letter to New England.” His new The Great Divide, produced with Gabe Simon and the National’s Aaron Dessner, is even huger. New Jersey’s Gigi Perez and Wayne’s Annabelle Dinda open. mlb.com/phillies/noah-kahan
River Roads Music Festival
June 27, Heuser Park
Dar Williams’ River Roads Music Festival has found a home in Heuser Park, the King of Prussia space that accommodates crowds larger than the nearby Concerts Under the Stars series (which has choice shows with Nasir Dickerson’s Coltrane tribute July 11, Preservation Hall Jazz Band on July 23, and Joan Osborne on Aug. 7). Williams co-headlines River Roads with 10,000 Maniacs, and the bill includes English punk-folk firebrand Billy Bragg and superb songwriter Amythyst Kiah. risingsunpresents.com
Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
All summer
The lineup at the Camden amphitheater with a lawn’s eye view of Center City spans genres. Hardy’s “The Country! Country! Tour!” is June 27, Dave Matthews Band’s two-night stand is July 10-11, and Tim McGraw plays July 23. Fresh from the Roots Picnic, Kehlani is Aug. 26, Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show” arrives Aug. 28-29, and TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue team up Sept. 13. FreedomMortgagePavilion.com
DJ Jazzy Jeff during the second day of the Roots Picnic on May 31 in Philadelphia.
One Philly: Unity Concert For America
July 4, Ben Franklin Parkway
Pittsburgh-raised Christina Aguilera tops the bill of the free 250th birthday party concert, and British pop star Seal and New York family band Infinity Song are toward the bottom. Otherwise, it’s an all-Philly affair with Jill Scott, plus the Roots performing and serving as a backup band for Will Smith. Then there’s DJ Jazzy Jeff, State Property, Kathy Sledge, and more. phila.gov
Paul Simon was supposed to play three shows on his “A Quiet Celebration” tour at the Academy of Music last year, but the final two were canceled due to his bad back. Now he’s back, in a larger space, and, as always, with a stellar band. highmarkmann.org
Patti LaBelle performs during the “Victory at Sea” concert at the Temple Performing Arts Center in 2025.
Patti LaBelle
July 9, Dell Music Center
The highlight of the Dell season is this America 250 concert with hometown hero LaBelle, who will be joined by Chester, Pa., Grammy-winning R&B singer Avery Sunshine. The Isley Brothers on Aug. 6 are also standouts on the old school R&B and hip-hop calendar. DellMusicCenter.com
Camden County Concerts
All summer, Cooper River Park, Haddon Lake Park, and Wiggins Park
Across the river on the Jersey side, multiple concert series feature national and local acts. The Haddon Lake Park Sundown Music Series has Delco native Devon Gilfillian on June 24 and Young Gun Silver Fox on Aug. 12. Cooper River Park presents Color Me Badd July 9, and Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band on July 16. And Wiggins Park has Will Calhoun celebrating Miles Davis on Aug. 24. They’re all free. camdencounty.com
Megan Moroney performing in Nashville in 2025. The country singer will headline Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly in July.
Megan Moroney
July 11, Xfinity Mobile Arena
The country songwriter, with sharp words for foolhardy dudes, is on her first arena tour behind her album Cloud 9. The presence of Musgraves and Ed Sheeran on the album shows how big a star Moroney has become. XfinityMobileArena.com
Todd Rundgren
July 11-12, Keswick Theatre
Upper Darby’s own reluctant Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is playing the hits. The “Damned If I Do” tour is subtitled “The Fan-Favorite Classics Return.” So get ready to “bang on the drum all day.” KeswickTheatre.com
Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts
All summer
Acts hitting the under-the-gazebo stage on the Main Line include Shovels & Rope on July 12, John Gorka on July 24, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams with Mutlu on July 31, and Mdou Moctar on Sept. 11. brynmawrtwlightconcerts.com
Bob Dylan
July 14, TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann
The world’s greatest living songwriter, who turned 85 this year, has been pulling surprises out of his hat of late, playing long-neglected songs like “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.” Jimmie Vaughan & the Tilt-A-Whirl Band and Brittney Spencer are also on the bill. highmarkmann.org
Lionel Richie at Union Transfer on March 29, 2025.
Ben Gibbard and Death Cab For Cutie sparkled at the NonCommvention this spring. The band is touring behind their excellent new I Built You a Tower, with Philly proud Michelle Zauner and Japanese Breakfast opening. HighmarkMann.org
Pavement will headline Connor Barwin’s Make The World Better Concert Weekend on Friday July 24 at the Dell Music Center.
Make The World Better Concert Weekend
July 24-25, Dell Music Center
After a year at FDR Park, former Eagle Connor Barwin’s fundraising event for his MTWB Foundation is back at the Dell. The Strawberry Mansion weekend’s bang-bang lineup features Pavement and Ratboys followed by Kurt Vile and the Violators with They Are Gutting A Body of Water and Twisted Teens. r5productions.com
Jill Scott is playing on the Ben Franklin Parkway on July Fourth and has four shows at the Met Philly later that month.
Jill Scott
July 24-25, and July 27 and July 29, The Met Philly
Multiple concerts will bring music to the Delaware River waterfront. Wild Pink plays July 23, Spirit of the Beehive is July 24, Snacktime plays Aug. 14. The 502s are Aug. 1, Ripe is Aug. 29, and Folk Bitch Trio is Sept. 26. delawareriverwaterfront.com
Morgan Wallen
July 31-Aug. 1, Lincoln Financial Field
The Sneedville, Tenn., country superstar’s South Philly weekend on his “Still The Problem” tour teams him with Brooks & Dunn on his first night at the Linc. Night two looks more enticing, with Ella Langley, whose Dandelion is the biggest country album of 2026. LincolnFinancialField.com
Dinner Party
Aug. 2, Heuser Park
Dinner Party, the supergroup that features adventurous jazz-funk-soul-hip-hop hyphenate Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, and Terrace Martin, have all of one date listed on their 2026 calendar. It’s in King of Prussia, with Digable Planets opening. RisingSunPresents.com/heuser-park
Lyle Lovett performs at the Lansdowne Theater on March 12.
Lyle Lovett & Esperanza Spalding
Aug. 4-6 and Aug. 25-26, City Winery
Two of the coolest, coziest indoor gigs of the summer. Lyle Lovett plays solo and tells tales in a three-night “Songs & Stories” stand. Then Esperanza Spalding, the jazz bassist and composer, plays two nights with her full band. citywinery.com/philadlelphia
Silvana Estrada plays Longwood Gardens on Aug. 13.
Arooj Aftab & Silvana Estrada
July 29 & Aug. 13, Longwood Gardens
World class global music-making women coming to Chester County. Arooj Aftab is a Pakistani American composer whose transporting 2024 album Night Reign features Chocolate Genius, Kaki King, and Philadelphians Moor Mother and Cautious Clay. Silvana Estrada, who grew up in rural Mexico, shines on Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, a luminous mixture of folk, jazz, and traditional Mexican musical forms. longwoodgardens.org
Jon Batiste performs at the Met in Philadelphia on Oct. 30, 2025.
Jon Batiste
Aug. 14, Highmark Mann
Jon Batiste’s joyous show at the Met Philly last fall ended with New Orleans’ second line parade out of the theater and onto Poplar Street. The bandleader will bring the life-affirming spirit of his 2025 album Big Money to Fairmount Park. HighmarkMann.org
Philadelphia Folk Festival
Aug. 14-16, Old Pool Farm
The storied Philly Folk Fest returns for its 63rd year with a lineup that includes progressive bluegrass innovator Sam Bush, tough-minded songwriter Mary Gauthier, brilliantly witty tunesmith Robbie Fulks, blue guitar wiz Eddie 9V, folk troubadour Tom Rush, and Philly’s the Tisburys. John Flynn will perform and emcee. FolkFest.org.
Mannequin Pussy’s Marisa Dabice performs at Union Transfer in 2024. The Philly band is scheduled to open for the Foo Fighters this summer.
Foo Fighters
Aug. 13, Lincoln Financial Field
The “Take Cover” tour brings Dave Grohl’s stadium rock band to the Linc behind the new Your Favorite Toy. It’s the band’s first time here with new drummer Ilan Rubin, who replaced Josh Freese, who briefly replaced Taylor Hawkins after his death in 2022. Openers are Queens of the Stone Age and Philly punks Mannequin Pussy, getting a deserved spot on the big stage. LincolnFinancialField.com
Rush
Aug. 21 & 23, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Rush fans are over the moon about the reunion of the Canadian prog-rock group. Core members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are back, with Loren Gold on keyboards and more importantly, new drummer Anika Nilles, who has won universal praise for taking on the daunting task of stepping in for Neil Peart, who died in 2020. XfinityMobileArena.com
Bruno Mars in Las Vegas on “Bruno Mars Day.” (Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Bruno Mars
Sept. 1-2, Lincoln Financial Field
The hits never stop coming for Bruno Mars, from “Just The Way You Are” in 2010 to his “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga and “APT” with Rosé in 2024. Fabulous British vocalist Raye opens, as does DJ Pee .Wee, who is Mars’ Silk Sonic partner Anderson .Paak in disguise. LincolnFinancialField.com
Kacey Musgraves
Sept. 4, Xfinity Mobile Arena
The Texas singer has circled back to her country roots on her self-reflecting new album Middle of Nowhere, which features collabs with Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Billy Strings, and Philadelphia-raised singer Gregory Alan Isakov. XfinityMobileArena.com
Charli xcx performs during the Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Saturday, June 28, 2025. She opens her ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ tour in Philadelphia on Sept. 11. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Charli XCX
Sept. 11, Xfinity Mobile Arena
Charli XCX is covering all the bases with her new album Music, Fashion, Film, which represents those realms with contributions from John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese. (Yes, really.) She opens her tour for the album, which drops July 24, in Philly. XfinityMobileArena.com
Angine de Poitrine plays Underground Arts on Sept. 16.
Angine de Poitrine
Sept. 16, Underground Arts
The masked Canadian math-rockers who hide their identities but not their musical prowess, are doing a UA basement show before returning to play Franklin Music Hall on Nov. 20. UndergroundArts.org
The WXPN-FM (88.5) weekend at Wiggins Park in Camden features headliners Dawes, Little Feat, Portugal. The Man, plus S.G. Goodman, Te Vista, Cyril Neville playing the Grateful Dead, Madison Cunningham, Sierra Hull, Rebirth Brass Band, and more. xpn.org/xpnfest
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court finally made clear what has been obvious to every other commonsense observer: Skill games are slot machines.
The question now is what will the General Assembly do about the estimated 70,000 skill games that it irresponsibly allowed to proliferate across the commonwealth?
If Gov. Josh Shapiro and state lawmakers place public health and safety above raking in more tax revenue, they will follow Kentucky’s lead and ban skill games.
But don’t expect Harrisburg to do the right thing when it comes to gambling. Governors and state legislators here have been hooked on gambling for two decades.
They view the billions in tax revenue that comes from gambling as easy money that helps avoid raising taxes or operating the government more efficiently. But they ignore the hard truth that much of that tax revenue comes from billions of dollars in losses from repeat and problem gamblers.
Research has found that slot machines are designed to addict users. Indeed, some Pennsylvania casino operators boasted early on that many customers came as often as six times a week.
The explosion of online gambling apps — especially on sports — via smartphones, is even more addictive. One Pennsylvania man said he sometimes placed 500 bets a day.
Unregulated gaming devices known as “skill games” inside a convenience store in Philadelphia. The State Supreme Court recently ruled the devices are slot machines.
Studies have linked problem gambling to job loss, depression, suicide, domestic violence, and divorce. But lawmakers continue to ignore the growing public health crisis that impacts broader society. That’s because the same lawmakers are also in the vise grip of the influential gambling lobby that pours millions into their campaign coffers.
Recall that the gambling lobby helped write the law that legalized slot machines in Pennsylvania back in 2004. Then-Gov. Ed Rendell and former State Sen. Vince Fumo (D., Philadelphia) pushed through the measure with little debate. They morphed a 33-line document about background checks at horse racetracks into a 145-page bill known as Act 71, which cleared the way for up to 61,000 slot machines in 14 locations.
In the ensuing years, Harrisburg lawmakers have legalized more and more gambling, adding table games, online betting, and sports betting.
Pennsylvania now leads the country in gambling revenues it takes in, thanks to a surge in online betting that is reaching teens and kids as young as 11.
Casino backers argue that problem gambling only affects around 3% of the population. But that includes most people who do not gamble.
Advertisements for sports betting apps are seen in downtown Kansas City, Mo., in November.
Studies found 60% to 90% of casino revenues come from problem or at-risk gamblers. When it comes to sports betting, 86% of the revenues come from just 5% of the gamblers. So, the business model essentially depends on problem gamblers.
But as Harrisburg lawmakers rushed to legalize additional gambling options, they looked the other way as thousands of skill games popped up in local taverns, gas stations, laundromats, convenience stores, and social clubs, like VFW halls.
In the gambling industry food chain that preys on the most vulnerable, skill games are among the bottom-feeders.
But skill games have been allowed to operate for years with no regulation or taxation. Many machines are in poor neighborhoods in Philadelphia and small towns.
Some small business owners — such as the corner taverns and social clubs — argue that skill games help attract customers. But if a business is dependent on repeat gamblers mindlessly pumping money into a machine, it is time to innovate.
In addition, skill games have been linked to increased crime, including armed robbery and murder.
Last year, a Philadelphia jury ordered Pace-O-Matic, the leading skill game maker, to pay $15.3 million to the estate of a Hazleton store clerk killed during a 2020 robbery.
A convenience store clerk in Frankford who was shot during an armed robbery recently sued Banilla Gaming, a North Carolina-based skill games manufacturer, alleging it enticed the robbery because of the large amounts of cash the store maintained to pay gamblers.
Skill game devices inside Philly Market in the city’s Frankford section.
In 2024, the Philadelphia City Council voted to ban skill games because they attracted crime, but the Commonwealth Court quickly lifted the ban.
Now, it is up to the General Assembly’s lawmakers to fix what they have long ignored.
Shapiro has proposed regulating and taxing skill games at 52% — the same rate as slot machines in casinos. Before becoming governor, he expressed disdain for gambling, but now he is all in. Shapiro estimated skill games could bring in $2 billion in revenue for the state — glossing over that the money comes from individual gambling losses. (The state doesn’t even use the word gambling; they call it “gaming” as if it is all good, clean fun.)
Pace-O-Matic, the most influential skill game player, wants a much lower tax rate of around 16%. Its army of lobbyists — and lawmakers willing to do their bidding — will surely have a lot to say about what comes next. So will the lawmakers on the side of the casino lobby, which wants an even playing field.
Average citizens don’t have a voice in this fight.
The state Supreme Court gave the General Assembly 120 days to figure out what to do next. If the legislature fails to act within that period, the skill games will be deemed illegal and could be subject to seizure.
During the 2023-2024 session, three state Senate Democrats introduced a bill that called for banning skill games. That remains the best path forward.
But expecting Harrisburg to protect citizens from gambling ills is a long shot.
Mike Schmidt returned to the Phillies television booth Thursday night, but not to call the game.
The Phillies legend walked away from NBC Sports Philadelphia this season after 12 years as a part-time announcer, but jumped back in the booth Thursday night to spend the fourth inning with Tom McCarthy, John Kruk, and fellow Hall of Famer George Brett.
It was a fascinating way to spend 20 minutes, especially considering the many ways Schmidt and Brett are linked. Two of the best third baseman in the history of the game, taken one behind the other in the 1971 MLB draft. Brett had 1,596 career RBIs, while Schmidt had 1,595 (Brett “hired someone to go back through his career and find an RBI” Schmidt once jokingly claimed).
And of course, there’s the 1980 World Series, where the Phillies defeated the Royals and Schmidt was named MVP, which Brett said was “hard to swallow.” They were both named the respective MVPs of their leagues that season, with Brett ending the season with a batting average of .390.
George Brett and Mike Schmidt, seen here ahead of Game 1 of the 1980 World Series.
“By the way, I had .260 in the bag,” Schmidt joked. “I went 0-10 in the last series and dropped down to .250.”
“I feel so bad for you, Mike. You only had 50 home runs that season,” Brett shot back.
For the record, Schmidt ended the 1980 season with 48 home runs and 121 RBIs.
Schmidt and Brett compared stats, busted chops, and shared a life-long friendship borne through intense competition on the field.
“I hated him. I didn’t like him at all,” Brett said, noting Schmidt beat him “every time I played against him.”
At one point, Phillies announcer Ben Davis, positioned in the dugout during the game, chimed in to note that between Schmidt, Brett, Phillies manager Don Mattingly, and Mets announcer Keith Hernandez, there were 31 Gold Gloves and 9,723 hits in the building.
“Who’s that talking?” Brett jokingly replied before taking a shot at himself.
“They always say you got 3,000 hits. I say, ‘No, I made 7,000 outs,’” Brett said, turning to Schmidt. “How many outs do you think you made?”
“Well, I know I made 7,000 strikeouts. I mean, I can count those,” Schmidt said.
The two even joked about their current roles. Brett serves as the Royals’ vice president of baseball operations, while Schmidt complained he can’t get a title with the Phillies.
“John Middletown, if you’re listening, give Mike a title,” Brett said. “I’m Mike Schmidt, and I own this stadium.”
So why was Brett in town for a Phillies-Mets game? To help Schmidt promote his “Play Sun Safe” skin cancer awareness campaign, something he’s been passionate about since being diagnosed with melanoma in 2013. As part of his partnership with the Phillies, 12 sunscreen stations have been placed across Citizens Bank Park during games.
As interesting as the pairing and the history was, the broadcast did lose focus of the game at times. Thankfully, McCarthy and company refocused after Derek Hill drove in Bryson Stott to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.
Phillies head to national TV, but Kruk will still be around
John Kruk will jump to NBC Sunday to call the Phillies on national TV.
The Phillies have Friday night off, but NBC Sports Philadelphia won’t be broadcasting the team again until Monday.
Saturday night’s game will air on Fox, with Joe Davis and John Smoltz calling the game and Ken Rosenthal reporting from Citizens Bank Park. Chris O’Connor, the brother of Pennsylvania State Police Corporal Timothy O’Connor, who was shot and killed during a Chester County traffic stop in March, will throw a ceremonial first pitch.
NBC will take over for Sunday Night Baseball, with Kruk back on the network to broadcast the game alongside play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti and former Mets pitcher John Franco.
While Benetti is the voice of baseball on NBC, the network decided to turn to a rotating crew of analysts to call each game, one representing each team on the field. It’s largely a response to the biggest complaint networks hear when broadcasting baseball games — fans just want to hear their local announcers.
It’s the second game Kruk has called for NBC this season, though the first — an April loss to the Atlanta Braves — only streamed on Peacock. Hopefully this time Kruk will be a bit luckier for the Phillies. Having Zack Wheeler (6-1, 2.01 ERA) on the mound should help.
The Phillies will be back on Peacock July 5 when they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates, but they won’t be alone. Peacock will exclusively stream 13 baseball games that day as part of an event NBC is calling “Star-Spangled Sunday.”
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Andrew Painter has a 1-8 record and 7.06 ERA, and opponents are batting .404.
