Keith Maguire recently had an interaction with a Major League Baseball player that the Clemson linebacker won’t soon forget.
A native of Philadelphia, Maguire made a trip back home earlier this summer during a weekend off from workouts. While there, a friend invited Maguire to watch his favorite MLB team, the Philadelphia Phillies, take on the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park.
Maguire said he left all of his Phillies apparel in Clemson, so he bought a white Phillies-themed hat and a jersey once he arrived at the stadium. Once Maguire and his friends took their seats near the home dugout, they spotted star outfielder Bryce Harper, who wasn’t playing that day.
“He gave us a head nod early,” Maguire recalled. “And we were like, ‘That’s pretty cool.'”
Little did Maguire know that was only the beginning of the interaction between himself and the seven-time All-Star. During the game’s latter innings, Maguire’s friend noticed a couple of Phillies players, including Harper, summoning in their direction.
“My buddy was like, ‘Yo, I think someone knows you in the dugout.’ Because they were trying to get our attention,” Maguire said. “And I was like, I don’t think anybody knows me on the Phillies’ side.”
Harper wanted the hat, a request Maguire was happy to fulfill.
“I was like, ‘You can take it,” Maguire said. “It was like $25. I got it that day in the stadium. I can just get a new one. It’s Bryce Harper. I’m not going to say no.”
What happened after he gave Harper the hat came as a surprise: Harper offered Maguire the hat that he was wearing in exchange.
“He threw back a hat to me, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool,'” Maguire said. “And I looked, and it was signed. I was like, ‘Ah.’ So it turned out to be a pretty cool thing.”
Maguire said it was pure luck that the encounter occurred. He’s never met Harper, and there’s no other connection between the two. If not for the proximity of the seats to the Phillies’ dugout, it’s a moment that likely never happens.
The Phillies lost, 2-0, that day, but Maguire won.
“He definitely doesn’t know me,” Maguire said. “Would be pretty cool if he did, but I think he just liked the hat I got. I would like it, too. It’s pretty good. That’s why I got it that day. It was just a random, kind of cool experience though.”
Photo credit: Eric Hartline/USA Today Sports
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