I have had Sunday Phillies season tickets dating back to Veterans Stadium. My family and I have seen lots of good games and lots of not so good games. On May 17, my daughter and I hoped for a good game when the Phillies took on the Pirates. As we boarded the Phillies Express at Fern Rock Station, the train was abuzz with the breaking news of José Alvarado’s suspension, the anticipation of whether Paul Skenes was really as good as advertised (he is), and how Mick Abel might fare in his MLB debut (better than anyone could have imagined). 

We got to our seats (400 level — first row directly behind home plate — in plenty of time to finish our Federal Donuts chicken sandwiches before the first pitch.

Soon, a man and his adult son sat in the seats to our right. Our new seatmates were in town for the daughter/sister’s graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. The man shook my hand and said this was their first game, could I please explain some of the rules and how the game was played? They had never seen a baseball game in their native Mongolia. 

They were told they had to experience a baseball game when they were in the U.S. to get a better sense of our sporting culture. The man wore a Yankees cap. When we explained the Yankees were another team, he was apologetic. He said he thought the logo just represented New York City. When it was time for pictures he laughingly turned the hat backward so its logo wouldn’t show.

We explained the gameplay, and the man asked, “How long would the game last?” (They had a dinner to get to.) I said games were usually about two-and-a-half hours.

Soon they got the hang of things, clapping when Phillies fans clapped and cheering for things they didn’t understand. My daughter remembered she had past years’ Phillies rally towels in her bag. She gave one to each of our visitors, and right away they waved them, looking like lifelong Phillies fans.

Between innings we asked them how they got to Philly. The son traveled from Ulaanbaatar to Tokyo to Houston to Philadelphia: 20 hours. The dad said he went the other way around: also 20 hours. They told us Mongolia is literally on the other side of the world from us, a 12 hour time difference. 

Between another inning we asked about Mongolian sports and the dad proudly showed us pictures on his cellphone of horse racing across open land and freestyle wrestling. He said that per capita, (Mongolia’s population is 3.5 million) they had more gold and silver Olympic medals than any other country, all in wrestling, judo, and boxing.

As the game continued, when fans cheered for one of the Fightins’ few hits, the pair wondered if our team scored and we explained that the runner had to move all the way around the bases before a run was counted. The son figured out how to read the scoreboard, but as Skenes threw pickoffs to first base, we wondered how to explain why Phillies fans were booing. We decided that was too complicated. Why do fans boo pickoff attempts anyhow? 

Finally, the Phillies scored and Abel and the relievers held the Buccos scoreless. In the top of the ninth inning, we needed to give one final explanation. If the Pirates didn’t score, the Phillies would not need to bat in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs in the top of the ninth and two strikes on Ke’Bryan Hayes, everyone stood for the final strike, and so did our visitors, now full-blown Phillies fans. 

At the game’s close, they asked about the best way to get back to Center City, and we told them to follow us to NRG station where they could take SEPTA. After one last picture with the field in the background we thought they would take us up on our offer to lead them to the subway. But no, they were headed to the team store to get some merch.

So we bid them farewell and good luck and we were all smiles about our day at Citizens Bank Park. A Phillies win, a great MLB debut, and an unexpected and delightful afternoon with two new friends from the other side of the world.

Carl Tannenbaum is a retired teacher, coach and athletic director at Germantown Friends School. Although he grew up rooting for the Yankees, he has been a Phillies fan for nearly 50 years.