Harrison Bader knows what October baseball feels like. The 31-year-old outfielder has played under bright lights before — in St. Louis, in the Bronx, and in Queens. But even with that résumé, he admits there’s something different about Philadelphia.
“The fans are what keep us all going. Especially here, the fans play a large role in what makes this place so special,” Bader said Saturday before Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. “I learned that very quickly. The first or second thing that was said to me after I got in the clubhouse was, ‘Wait until you see the fans out there.’ And then we get to the postseason — ‘Wait until you see them then.’”
Bader has experienced some of baseball’s most passionate fan bases, but he says none match the atmosphere that builds inside Citizens Bank Park in October.
“Every place I’ve gone, they’ve had tremendously passionate fans,” he said. “St. Louis was amazing. Got a chance to play for the New York Yankees — obviously that was great. New York Mets, the fans, in their own right, are also very passionate, very special, I think. And now I get to play with the Phillies.”
For Bader, it all comes down to one shared obsession — winning.
“The thing that baseball players at this level and fans also share in common is their desire to win,” he said. “Whatever it takes — it doesn’t really matter what or how you do it — just the passion and the consistency among all the fans and simply wanting to win. That’s what drives it here. It’s about that winning culture, and I think the fans reflect that tremendously.”
“The fans are what keep us all going. Especially here, the fans play a large role in what makes this place so special,” Bader said Saturday before Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. “I learned that very quickly. The first or second thing that was said to me after I got in the clubhouse was, ‘Wait until you see the fans out there.’ And then we get to the postseason — ‘Wait until you see them then.’”
Bader has experienced some of baseball’s most passionate fan bases, but he says none match the atmosphere that builds inside Citizens Bank Park in October.
“Every place I’ve gone, they’ve had tremendously passionate fans,” he said. “St. Louis was amazing. Got a chance to play for the New York Yankees — obviously that was great. New York Mets, the fans, in their own right, are also very passionate, very special, I think. And now I get to play with the Phillies.”
For Bader, it all comes down to one shared obsession — winning.
“The thing that baseball players at this level and fans also share in common is their desire to win,” he said. “Whatever it takes — it doesn’t really matter what or how you do it — just the passion and the consistency among all the fans and simply wanting to win. That’s what drives it here. It’s about that winning culture, and I think the fans reflect that tremendously.”
Bader, who hit .305 with five homers and 16 RBIs since coming to the club at the deadline, will hit eighth in Game 1.
"From day one we knew we were getting good defense, plus defense, and he got hotter than a pistol for a while, said skipper Rob Thomson. "He's cooled off a little bit, but he's looked good in the past couple of days.
"But he's just played himself into the everyday center fielder in my mind because of the defense, and I trust that he's going to swing the bat and he's going to get on base. And hitting him in the 8 slot today, it's more about turning the lineup over with him and [Bryson] Stott at the end, and we get to Trea [Turner] and [Kyle] Schwarber and [Bryce] Harper."
Los Angeles Dodgers NLDS Game 1 lineup
Shohei Ohtani — DH
Mookie Betts — SS
Teoscar Hernández — RF
Freddie Freeman — 1B
Tommy Edman — 2B
Kiké Hernández — 3B
Alex Call — LF
Andy Pages — CF
Ben Rortvedt — C
Philadelphia Phillies NLDS Game 1 lineup
Trea Turner — SS
Kyle Schwarber — DH
Bryce Harper — 1B
Alec Bohm — 3B
Brandon Marsh — LF
J.T. Realmuto — C
Max Kepler — RF
Harrison Bader — CF
Bryson Stott — 2B
Kyle Schwarber — DH
Bryce Harper — 1B
Alec Bohm — 3B
Brandon Marsh — LF
J.T. Realmuto — C
Max Kepler — RF
Harrison Bader — CF
Bryson Stott — 2B
Pitching Matchup NLDS Game 1
Cristopher Sánchez will open the Division Series for the Phillies, a reward for a breakout season that saw him evolve from rotation depth into one of baseball’s steadiest left-handers. He finished with a 2.50 ERA, over 200 innings, and the calm, rhythmic tempo that has come to define his starts. Few could have imagined back in February that Sánchez would be the tone-setter for October, but his command and poise have made him the perfect fit for this moment — especially in front of a home crowd that feeds off his quiet confidence. Across the diamond, Shohei Ohtani steps into uncharted territory — his first postseason start on the mound. For all his global fame and MVP credentials, this is the one chapter that’s been missing from his story. He arrives armed with an arsenal that borders on unfair: a triple-digit fastball, a slider that vanishes, and a split-finger that buckles hitters. But beyond the pitches, there’s intrigue — the two-way phenomenon finally taking the October stage, facing a city that lives for it, in a ballpark that might as well have its own Richter scale.
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