By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer
RJ Boyle’s stream of last 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.
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.”
