SAD NEWS: phillies star player just lost his father today…
NEW YORK — James Norwood grew up here, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As a kid, he attended games at both Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium with his baseball-loving father, Mark. So it was always going to be emotional when the Phillies’ recently acquired reliever finally played in his first game in New York against the Mets or the Yankees.
And then, last month, Mark Norwood died of heart failure. He was 74.
Imagine the emotions, then, when James, 28, not only faced the Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field but recorded three outs in the sixth inning and picked up the win — the first of his 35-game major-league career — after a few big swings from Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins powered the Phillies’ come-from-behind 4-1 victory.
NEW YORK This is where James Norwood was raised in Manhattan, on the Upper East Side. He went to Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium games as a child with his baseball-loving father, Mark. Therefore, it was inevitable that the recently acquired reliever for the Phillies would have an emotional debut against either the Mets or the Yankees in New York.
Subsequently, Mark Norwood passed away from heart failure last month. He was seventy-four.
So you can only imagine the feelings James, 28, felt on Saturday night at Citi Field when he faced the Mets and finished with three outs in the sixth inning to earn his first victory in 35 major-league games. A few powerful smashes from Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins drove the
And that might have been enough to make Norwood’s night. His aunt was in the stands, along with several family friends. His wife, Meredith, was here, too, with her family, which was visiting from Illinois to lend support.
“For it to be the first appearance I had at Citi Field, that was really cool,” Norwood said. “It was just a surreal experience.”
It got better after the Phillies rallied to take the lead in the top of the seventh before the Phillies replaced Norwood with Seranthony Dominguez. Jeurys Familia and closer Corey Knebel overcame bouts of control problems to nail down the final seven outs, and make a winner out of Norwood and kick off a beer shower for him in the clubhouse.
