As many of you know, I am a huge Philadelphia sports fan, and last weekend I got to watch Cole Hamels retire as a Philadelphia Phillie. Hamels was an important part of the Phillies pitching rotation during the early 2000s and a key player in the 2008 World Series.

Despite the high temperatures, my friends and I headed into the game. Luckily, my friend scored tickets from work, and we were able to sit behind the Phillies dugout in the Diamond Club area; so not only did we have amazing seats, we also had access to air-conditioning.

We got to our seats just in time for the ceremony to start. They first announced Cole Hamels, then introduced former beloved players in attendance — ones he played with and some he didn’t, as well as the manager from when he was on the team. Once everyone was settled, they played a video of highlights and messages from some of his friends/former teammates. Not going to lie, I teared up a little bit from the messages and memories.

Throughout the ceremony, Hamels was gifted with memorabilia from key moments throughout his career. Afterward, he made a speech talking about how much it meant to be a Phillies player and how nice it was to have the city of Philadelphia behind him. He also gave a shout out to the current Phillies team and mentioned how special they are and how much they remind him of the ’08 World Series team (fingers crossed for the same outcome).

The ceremony concluded with Hamels being presented a Phillies jersey with his name and number by Charlie Manuel, former Phillies manager, then he threw his final pitch of his MLB career to his old catcher, friend and beloved Phillies player, Carlos Ruiz — the crowd went wild!

Even though the Phillies ended up losing the game, it was still worth going just to be present for that special moment in Philadelphia sports history.

— Mary Melnick, social media & editorial coordinator