Baseball is fun. Almost everyone involved in the game agrees with that, but we get caught up in negativity and forget about it more often than we should. Brett Phillips, however, seemingly does not. He is a ray of sunshine, a wholesome, happy reminder of the childlike joy and abandon we’re supposed to feel when we play and watch the game we love.

Brett Phillips is one of the top 750 or so baseball players in the world, better at baseball than 99.9% of the population. In the context of Major League Baseball, however, he’s a light-hitting role player, known primarily for his speed, defense, and the energy he brings to the field, which outweigh his less-than-impressive offensive stats. I can relate. I’m currently in my fifth season playing third base for the Columbus Coyotes of the Central Ohio Men’s Adult Baseball League. I want to be a great hitter so badly. I’ve wanted it my whole life, especially since the start of high school, when I stopped being above average at the plate compared to my peers. In recent years, it’s been an on-and-off mental health battle with my struggles at the plate, which seems incredibly silly since I’m in a rec league and it’s not even close to the most important thing going on in my life. I love the guys on the Coyotes, and it’s been great to watch the team grow and get better over the years. I’m known as a strong defensive third baseman, and I like to think I’m well-liked and bring good energy to the team. I have my moments at the plate, but I’ve never been able to get the consistency going to put up solid numbers for a full season. In a way, I feel like I’m the Brett Phillips of the Columbus Coyotes.

Honestly, maybe I should embrace this, because Brett Phillips is fucking awesome. I had seen clips of his epic dance competitions with teammate Randy Arozarena during the 2020 playoffs, but like much of America, I fell in love with him after Game 4 of the 2020 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays. Phillips had come in for Tampa as a pinch runner and stayed in to play the outfield. Because of this, he came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with runners on first and second, two outs, and the Rays down by a run. Against L.A. closer Kenley Jansen, in the biggest at-bat of his life, he stroked a game-tying single to center, and on a crazy comedy of errors, Arozarena also came around to score the winning run on a truly goofy play. It was the beautiful chaos of baseball coming together just right for the perfect man in the perfect moment. Phillips was chased through the outfield by his teammates as he did his signature “airplane” celebration. He looked like he was about to cry, and teammate Brandon Lowe asked him if he was all right. Phillips then proceeded to give the greatest postgame interview of all time with Ken Rosenthal. His demeanor was that of a random guy off the street who had suddenly been thrown into the World Series and come out as the hero. He was out of breath and incredulous, full of equal parts joy and disbelief. He said, “I’m having a difficult time putting my emotions into words,” and raved about how everyone on the Rays had contributed to the win. After recapping the events that had led up to the insane play, he did a slow-motion, eyes-closed demonstration of the airplane celebration before concluding with, “And here I am, talking to the boys.” I had never heard anyone refer to Ken Rosenthal as “the boys” before. It was so relatable, so everyman, so unlike the composed, confident machismo that most athletes display in interviews. It was straight out of a movie, a true “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” moment.

Unfortunately, the Rays didn’t get the Hollywood ending as they lost the World Series to the Dodgers, but Brett Phillips’ good vibes continued into 2021 and beyond. 2021 was arguably the best season of his career, as he became a fan favorite in St. Pete and got a few more clutch hits. He also began his wildly entertaining pitching career, which continued into 2022 and provided consistent comic relief late in blowout games (along with some impressive defense on the mound). I watched him make a guest appearance on the Chris Rose Rotation YouTube series with his teammate Tyler Glasnow. I always like watching Glasnow’s interviews because he just seems like a cool dude that I’d be friends with, and having Phillips there only enhanced that positive energy. Even though he played for a division rival of my Red Sox, Brett Phillips was impossible not to root for.

All good things, sadly, have to come to an end. At the 2022 trade deadline, the Rays added to their outfield, and in the midst of a rougher-than-usual year at the plate, Phillips was the odd man out. Many baseball fans, myself included, were very sad to hear that he had been designated for assignment. Phillips, however, could not have handled the news in a better or more professional way. In the video he posted on Twitter (@Brett_Phillips8), he was his usual happy-go-lucky, joyful self. 

“Rays fans! It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor to play for my hometown team,” Phillips said to the camera. “It sucks, but we all know business is business. I’ll dust myself off and keep moving forward, but I appreciate each and every one of y’all for the support the last couple of years … never forget baseball is fun, baby! God bless.”

I’ve always thought about what players who get DFA’d must go through mentally. The stress of having to suddenly pack your bags, get your agent on the phone, and start scrambling to find a new team. The frustration of feeling like you didn’t do your job well enough with your previous team. I know I would go through it big-time, with my baseball anxiety and deathly fear of ever getting fired. Brett Phillips, however, is a gem of a human. He was confident and unfazed, with the rationality to be understanding of the move and the resiliency to instantly move on from it. Basically, it was the exact reaction that the most happy, well-adjusted, mentally healthy person on the planet would have, the person deep down inside most of us that we struggle to bring out. Phillips could’ve been heartbroken to be let go by his hometown team, but he knew that wasn’t the best reaction to have. Instead, he dusted himself off as promised after being traded to the Baltimore Orioles, a recent laughingstock turned exciting team on the rise. It seems like a solid fit. I wish Phillips didn’t keep playing for the Red Sox’ AL East rivals so I could root for his teams, but he deserves nothing but amazing things in Baltimore. On a purely individual level, there’s no player in baseball — or any sport — who I root for more than Brett Phillips. Baseball is fun.