A Post-Celebration Chat with Phillies Owner John Middleton

This time, John Middleton wasn’t in his flip flops.

Oh, he celebrated. He was part of the postgame festivities that are becoming routine at Citizens Bank Park. For the fourth time in a calendar year, a temporary carpet was laid down in the clubhouse, large sheets of plastic were taped over the players’ stalls, and tubs filled with Budweiser and champagne bottles, lined either side of the room.

The “Phils Win” Spotify play list was blaring. The alcohol was being sprayed everywhere. The floor looked like the end of an initiation party at a frat house. Empty bottles and caps strewn everywhere. Puddles forming in multiple places. And dancing, there was a lot of dancing.

ITS THE WHOLE TEAM #RedOctober
pic.twitter.com/Y34j92Fuzx

— Underground Sports Philadelphia (@UndergroundPHI) October 13, 2023

Middleton wasn’t in the middle of it for long. He reserves his heavier partying for the bigger moments – making the playoffs, or winning a trophy of some kind. But he was there, and was smiling and happy, and dreaming of what could still be coming in two weeks time.

He’s smart enough to know that to get to where he wants to go, his team needs to better two other teams also trying to reach that same pinnacle of the sport.

So, rather than immerse himself in the celebration, Middleton stayed on the outskirts. He shared handshakes with everyone. He had a warm embrace for Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski. But more than anything, Middleton, in his slacks and loafers, wearing the official NLCS T-shirt over his button-down and new NLCS hat, decided he wanted to take some time just before the clubhouse was closed off, to be philosophical:

John Middleton to Nick Castellanos b/f Game 4: “He was in the dugout & I was on the field. He was the only one of the teammates out, & I said to him, ‘Nick, you have the ability to put this team on your back & carry it … I need you to do that tonight.’ And he did. He responded.” pic.twitter.com/eavojDWkiT

— Dave Uram (@MrUram) October 13, 2023

He started with a handful of media, and eventually, it whittled down to a chat between two people who grew up in Philadelphia watching a lot of baseball for a half century or more, and discussing what makes this current Phillies team so special.

I’ve been saying for two months now that this group of Phillies is already one of the most beloved teams in the history of the city, and that if they win a championship, they will, in fact, ascend to the top of that list, but I was wondering what the owner felt about this team. How it was constructed. Why it’s successful and why the relationship with the city is so very special.

We talked of marriages, and homework, and character, and connections.

And one thing is for certain, the players are able to be themselves, and let their personalities shine as much as their talent because:

• They have a manager who creates a culture that nurtures the meshing of personalities.
• They have a President who does his homework to make certain that the players he brings in fits that culture as much as they bring talent to the field.
• They have a principal owner who spends whatever it takes to bring in that talent, but also insists upon everyone who works for him creating a special bond with the people who cheer on his team, whether it’s at the ballpark, online, on social media, or just sitting at home consuming Phillies content on the television, or on the radio.

It’s that triumvirate that has the town buzzing. That has Middleton inching ever-closer to his ultimate goal. So, without further ado, here’s a conversation with the Phillies owner, who might not show us how much he can really party with his team until he gets his damn trophy back.

When you signed Bryce Harper, could you have ever imagined it being this perfect of a match? It seems like he was born to play here.

“It’s a little bit like getting married. I love my wife. I thought (when I proposed) that we’d be a perfect match. But, you know, it’s one thing to think that before you get married. But now that we’ve been married for 45 years, I know that we were meant for each other. And so, I thought Bryce was the right guy for the organization and for the city. I think he and I see the world the same way competitively. We’re both committed to winning. Like, until you kind of go through some time together – that’s what I experienced – going through that time you get to see the other person. I got to see how he reacted when he was struggling and how he fought back. I got to see him when he got injured, how he worked hard to rehabilitate himself and come back way before anybody thought he could. For him, he looked at me and said, ‘O.K., the guy signed me, he signed (Zack) Wheeler, he re-signed J.T. (Realmuto) – this guy actually does want to win. He puts his money where his mouth is.’ He and I have a great relationship because we are absolutely on the same page – and Dave Dombrowski is too.”

Speaking of Dave, there are teams in this league that spend a lot of money and in the last couple of years haven’t had much success. This year the top three teams in salary (Mets, Yankees, Padres) didn’t even make the playoffs and No. 4 (Dodgers) didn’t win a playoff game. What is it about your group, which is also in the Top 10 salary-wise, is able to find that success that other teams trying to do it the same way as you do?

“First of all, luck has to be a factor in life. If anybody who’s successful doesn’t acknowledge that luck played a part in their success, then I think they’re just not paying attention to reality. But, for us, what Dave spends a lot of time worrying about and talking about is character. And I do too. It’s why, ultimately, when we signed Bryce, we thought he had the character that when you handed him a $330 million guarantee, he was going to respond. Bryce looked at that contract and said, ‘I need to live up to this. I need to earn this,’ as opposed to ‘I’ve earned it already and now I can coast because I’ve got it made.’ That’s what helped us. Every time we go to sign one of these guys, the biggest question is, ‘What’s their character?’ We make a lot of effort to go to people, to talk to players, coaches, whoever it is, to get to know the player we’re looking to sign to make sure that he’s going to fit in here. It’s very important. … Dave Dombrowski has been around the block a few times. He understands that part of it. You really just got to trust Dave.”

Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner took a minute to adjust to either the team or the city, or what have you. What did it mean for you to watch those guys perform (against Atlanta) and also the way they bounced back and really assimilated into what you’ve got here?

“It’s great, but let’s give the fans some credit for that. The passion of the Philadelphia fans is unmatched. When you channel passion positively, it’s an extraordinarily motivating force. They really are responsible for the turnaround because, you know, passion, when channeled negatively, is a really corrosive force. These fans stood up and supported Nick, supported Trea, and they supported Bryce. You may remember Bryce didn’t get off to a great start (here) in his first month or so, and the fans kind of helped him along. … Like (Michael) Lorenzen said, ‘I’ve never been to a place where the fans were actually part of the team.’ These fans are spectacular.”

What is it like to see your club partying like they do and having the time of their lives after winning each round?

“It reminds me of when I was like 20-years-old and I remember locker room celebrations [Middleton didn’t play baseball, but he was a wrestler]. It’s great. They deserve it. They’re blowing off some steam and I think it’s really good. I know some people say you shouldn’t celebrate until it’s officially (over). But you know what? What they have accomplished is significant and they ought to celebrate. They’ve worked hard to get here and be here. They need to step back and relax. Now, tomorrow morning, you got to flip the switch and be focused only on the Diamondbacks.”

But these guys, have such chemistry. They just seem to really like each other.

“They really do. If you look at the 1980 team and the 2008 team, it was the same. They were really close, too. That 2008 team has couples that still vacation together. This team is the same way.”

What can you say about Rojas and the play he made tonight in the seventh inning?

“Do you remember that line about Gary Maddox where it was, ‘Three-quarters of the earth is covered by water the rest is covered by Gary Maddox?’ I said to Gary, when he was down here for alumni weekend, ‘Gary, it’s early and he hasn’t shown that he can hit like you can, but this guy has the ability to be as good as you were defensively.’ And Gary was the best defensive centerfielder I’ve ever seen in my life.”

This is what Johan Rojas robbing Ronald Acuña of a go-ahead hit sounded like with no commentators.

[via @steph_turkey] pic.twitter.com/e4KplWyt7P

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) October 13, 2023

You made a marriage analogy earlier. You grew up in this city. When you were thinking about getting into ownership, is the relationship between the team and its fans one that you were certain would be a permanent bond?

“Oh yeah, yeah.”

I ask because I grew up here too and I think there’s just something a little bit different, a little bit more special between your team and the fans right now. To me it almost seems more sympatico, if that’s even possible, than it was in 1980, or the group centered around 2008. 

“I think that’s right.”

You do? So you can feel that different energy too?

“Yeah.”

So why is that? Why is the connection between city and team with this group even more special than ever before?

“It’s a really, really good question. I think fans really respond to players reaching out to them and embracing them and these guys have done that. I was 17 years old when Mike Schmidt broke into the big leagues, so I’ve seen all those times. But when you look at this group, you see Bryce putting the Phanatic on his shoes and on his head bands and things like that, it’s a way to connect with the fans. This is a special place because a lot of the guys are like that. Especially Bryce. When he says, “I love this place,” if you’re a fan, ad you are hearing one of the greatest players of his generation, a surefire Hall of Famer say that, how could you not like that? How do you not respond to that at all? That’s kind of the difference. Baseball is awesome because the very nature of the game and the pace of the game gives the players the opportunity to interact with fans. There are things that we can do, and we do do, and they’re just total connections with the fans [think back to cheering on the Media Little League team at the Little League World Series]. And that matters.”

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