⚾ Reconnecting with baseball | Sports Daily Newsletter

There’s a lot to unpack today.

Starting with Thursday’s World Cup game in Philadelphia and the late night United States men’s national team match with Turkey, where the U.S. allowed a last-second goal that cost them in a 3-2 loss in its World Cup group finale game.

There’s also the NHL draft tonight, with the Flyers on the clock with the 21st pick — and the MLB announced the first phase of fan voting for the All Star game. Can you guess which Phillies are in the running to start?

But before we get into all that, Alex Coffey delivered a powerful story on the late Hall of Famer Roy Halladay. Halladay, who won two Cy Young Awards in his 16-year career, including in 2010 with the Phillies, died of blunt force trauma and drowning after he crashed his Icon A5 into the Gulf of Mexico in 2017. The night before, he was with his team.

Halladay served as a pitching coach at Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, Fla. The boys he coached are now men, and they still cherish that 2017 season.

But what the players didn’t realize was that they were giving Halladay something too: “A way for him to enjoy baseball in a very pure form again.”

— Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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The Flyers decided to make some moves ahead of the draft and traded veteran forward Garnet Hathaway to the Panthers, along with a 2026 sixth-round pick, for a fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-rounder.

The Flyers now own four picks this weekend, but all eyes will be on Danny Brière and Co. in the first round. While they have quite a ways to go till their pick, here are nine players who could be there.

And if you missed our Reddit AMA, where Jackie Spiegel answered your questions, we’ve got all the highlights here.

🏀 Analyzing: How Labaron Philon Jr. will fit in with the Sixers backcourt led by Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe.

🤔 Wondering: Now that we got that covered, what is Philon like on and off the court?

👀 Seeing: Hershey’s Co. celebrated Christian Pulisic with a pop-up “Soccerland” at Dilworth Park on Thursday.

🚣 Learning: Drexel men’s rowing has three boats heading to the Henley Royal Regatta in England.

In between the two dense blocks of orange and dark blue, fans came bearing jerseys and flags from any national team you could think of — even some Eagles jerseys — in the stands at Philadelphia Stadium on Thursday.

Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast was the least marquee matchup of Philly’s World Cup slate, which made it the easiest ticket for local and passionate soccer fans, as well as diehard supporters of both nations.

In the end, it was the fans in orange who went home happy, as Ivory Coast secured its first trip to the knockout rounds with a 2-0 win. For Ivory Coast forward Yan Diomande, the accomplishment was a triumph.

And check out what fans of all allegiances were saying after watching both Ivory Coast-Curaçao and Germany-Ecuador in Lemon Hill Park at the FIFA Fan Festival.

Don Mattingly is officially the Phillies’ first All-Star. The interim manager will be on the National League’s staff as an honorary coach.

As for the players, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and Brandon Marsh are each second at their respective positions after the first phase of fan voting. Surprisingly, Bryce Harper isn’t among them.

Another day, another ninth inning comeback for the Phillies, who were powered by Harper’s two-run homer to complete a third straight late-inning comeback win over the Nationals.

While the offseason focus was centered around the impending trade of A.J. Brown and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, the Eagles new cornerback Riq Woolen had plenty of buzz during spring workouts.

Woolen has an opportunity to flourish at a spot where the Eagles’ defense struggled last season. His skill also allows them to put All-Pro Cooper DeJean in position to be even more effective.

With that being said, let’s take a look his film from Seattle and see why the Eagles are excited about Woolen.

Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best sports images from the last seven days. This week, the World Cup craziness continues, despite thunderstorms attempting to put a damper on Philly’s celebration. Check out our best sports photos of the week.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Alex Coffey, Jonathan Tannenwald, Scott Lauber, Lochlahn March, Gabriela Carroll, Jackie Spiegel, DeAntae Prince, Matt Mullin, Gina Mizell, Jeff McLane, Devin Jackson, Ariel Simpson, Owen Hewitt, Mia Messina, and The Inquirer photography staff.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

And that’s it for me this week! Have a great weekend, we’ll be back in your inbox on Monday. — Bella