Phillies: Domonic Brown to manage youth baseball showcase

Exactly seven years and one day after playing in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game, former Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown will serve as a manager

A little more than one month since competing in a charity Wiffle Ball tournament, former Philadelphia Phillies organization outfielders Domonic Brown and Michael Spidale are back on the baseball diamond — this time as opposing managers of 13U teams in the Rip It Baseballtown Charities Showcase at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The showcase, in support of Baseballtown Charities, is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, July 17; there is no cost to attend.

One decade after the former Double-A Reading stars were teammates in 2009 and 2010, Spidale now serves as head coach of the Berks County Bulls youth team, as well as assists with lessons at area camps and clinics. Brown, likewise, now teaches the game he played as a part-owner of Athletes Academy, a sports training facility.

“Dom is a really good friend of mine,” Spidale told the Double-A Fightin’ Phils. “I love that he is giving back and teaching the great game of baseball close by. Dom goes about everything the right way.”

Spidale, 38, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 12th round of the 2000 draft. He began playing in the Phillies system in 2006, and reached as high as the Triple-A level through the 2012 season. The 2011 season, just as the Phillies were thriving in the majors, was one of Spidale’s best; he slashed .326/.375/.401 at Double-A with 24 extra-base hits and 35 RBI across 133 games. He has since been inducted into the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame.

Brown, 32, meanwhile, rose relatively quickly to the majors after being selected in the 20th round of the 2006 draft. He would play 493 games in the majors, all with the Phillies, from 2010 to 2015. In 2013, he earned his way to the National League All-Star Game at Citi Field, slugging 27 home runs and 83 RBI that season. That year’s Midsummer Classic took place almost seven years exactly prior to the date of Friday’s showcase, July 16, 2013.

Brown went on to play for the Triple-A affiliates for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2016 and the Colorado Rockies in 2017, and later, shined down in games in Mexico.

Brown says that no matter whether his or Spidale’s team wins on Friday, it will be “a lot of fun.”