PHILADELPHIA — RJ Boyle’s stream of Sunday’s Philadelphia Phillies game lagged about a minute or so behind the live broadcast on ESPN. The delay isn’t usually much of an issue - until the 26-year-old “big time” Phillies fan got a quick call from a family member.
Boyle’s cousin asked, “Is that you on TV.”
“Well it can’t be me, I’m sitting in my living room,” Boyle recalled. “He goes, well, is your Twitter profile @RJBoyle28?‘”
Uh, yeah. Why?
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball commentator Karl Ravech had plucked Boyle’s question off social media thanks to the #AskSNB hashtag and asked it to mic’d up Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh.
“If you had to start a rock band, who would you take from the team and what’s the band name?” Boyle wrote.
PHOTOS: This one time, with a band question, Phillies fan sparks a 'Sexy' slogan
Marsh rattled off catcher Garrett Stubbs, slugger Kyle Schwarber and outfielder Cristian Pache as his fellow band members, then as he hustled off the field after making a catch, blurted out the first ridiculous name that popped in his head.
“Stay Loose and Sexy, baby,” Marsh said.
Like that, a Phillies’ catchphrase was born.
And maybe a new favorite player blossomed for Boyle.
“It’s been (Bryce) Harper,” Boyle said, “but right now, I think I need to order a Brandon Marsh jersey.”
This is how organic slogans and social media recognition erupt - as well as the kitschy merchandise such as bobbleheads and T-shirts that have sprouted all over Philadelphia in less than a week all thanks to a rather innocuous question.
“I figured, what’s the most random thing that still fits Marsh that I could ask,” Boyle said. “I can’t believe it caught on like this but it’s cool.”
There are no discounts for anyone these days, though, even for a baseball fan who stuffed a few bucks in small business coffers this week. Boyle still had to pay $32 plus shipping for his AC/DC inspired SL/SS shirt from breakingt.com.
The ESPN broadcast had an audience of 1.68 million fans and quite a few of them called or contacted Boyle. His social media following grew by a few hundred. Who knows? Maybe he’ll even get his hopeful shoutout from Marsh and the Phillies.
Marsh said he has his own band shirt - which he has yet to reveal - and the Phillies have reveled this week in the attention the fictional name has stirred.
It’s doubtful any of the other questions found under the hashtag - such as “How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?” and “Assuming you use shampoo, what brand is it?” - would have elicited the kind of response worthy of a T-shirt slogan.
Even if Boyle fails to get his flowers from the Phillies, he’s thrilled to have such a small, amusing role in this season.
“People are blowing up my phone, hey you were on SportsCenter,” he said. “I think my brother sent me about seven different TikToks.”
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