Kevin McGonigle was Delco’s No. 1 Halloween costume. Now he’s the AL Rookie of the Year.
Seven-year-old Finn Reilley was one of several kids in Delaware County to dress as McGonigle in a Tigers uniform for Halloween. The support has "meant the world to me," McGonigle said.
Finn Reilley didn’t want to just dress as Kevin McGonigle for Halloween. The seven-year-old wanted to be Kevin McGonigle, the Detroit Tigers sensation who grew up in Delaware County just like him. The boy had a McGonigle jersey, a Tigers hat, baseball pants, and even an orange undershirt.
That wasn’t enough. Reilley needed a green blazer with the patches inside just like the one McGonigle — who was named Monday as the American League’s Rookie of the Year — wore in July at the All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
His mom got to work.
“It was a journey,” said Becky Reilley, who lives in Springfield. “We ordered the All-Star patch. I ordered a shirt from the Bonner-Prendie store and cut the shield off. I went to the Lids at the Springfield Mall and they sewed me a Delco patch. A woman sewed it all together. Everywhere we went, people were like ‘This is awesome. We’re going to help you.’”
Delaware County is still crazy about the Phillies but their favorite player is on the Tigers. Reilley wasn’t the only Delco kid to go trick-or-treating like the Rookie of the Year. There were kids knocking on doors across Delaware County in Detroit jerseys.
“My dad asked him ‘Did you ever imagine kids would be dressing up like you on Halloween?’” said Bonner-Prendie coach Steve DeBarberie, who took the job over from his father. “I never thought I would own merchandise of another MLB team. And the amount of people in Delco who rock Tigers gear, even jerseys. Delco fans are Philly diehards. They don’t wear the other team’s gear. So to see people rocking Detroit Tigers and Kevin McGonigle, that just shows how much they support him and back him.”
McGonigle grew up in Aldan, went to grade school at Saint Eugene’s, and became a first-round pick at Bonner-Prendie with a swing tuned by his dad on a pitching machine in a Delco backyard.
They wore McGonigle shirts this summer in Delco and traveled to Baltimore and New York to watch the Tigers. They packed Citizens Bank Park for the All-Star Game, roared when McGonigle was introduced — “From Delco, shortstop Kevin McGonigle,” the PA announcer said — and then they dressed like him on Halloween.
“I was having dinner with a few of my buddies and one of the kids who dressed up like me was at the restaurant,” McGonigle said. “I was able to say hi to him and say hi to his family. He was a baseball card of me. He went back home and came back with the cardboard box of the baseball card and gave it to me. It was really cool to run into him. I didn’t think anyone would be me for Halloween.”
» READ MORE: The Kevin McGonigle Fan Club has traveled far and wide to see him play. Now, Delco’s All-Star is coming home
The Tigers drafted McGonigle in 2023’s first-round and signed him in April to an eight-year contract worth $150 million. McGonigle played everyday and hit .278 with a .806 OPS, splitting his time between shortstop and third base. His 7.1 Wins Above Replacement led all AL players, not just rookies. McGonigle was just the fourth rookie since 2000 to reach base at least 266 times as he joined Ichiro Suzuki, Albert Pujols, and Aaron Judge. He turned 22 in August, started 155 games and led the AL in plate appearances (707).
“He’s not used to that at all,” DeBarberie said. “The year before he only played 81 games and then played a few in the Fall League. It’s a lot, especially when you’re young, to play that many games. But he didn’t even labor. I’m sure he never asked for an off day or anything. He’s a gamer.”
McGonigle received 28 of the 30 first-place votes and watched the TV special at Barnaby’s in Havertown — “They took care of me,” McGonigle said — with 50 friends and family.
“All the support they had for me and showing up whenever I was close to the Philadelphia area to watch me play,” McGonigle said. “It meant the world to me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the people in my corner.”
McGonigle returned to Delco in July when he slept in his childhood bedroom before walking the red carpet in that green blazer and playing at Citizens Bank Park in his first All-Star Game.
He finally met Chase Utley before the game, the player his dad told him to study as a kid. McGonigle loved the way Utley played — “The way he hustled on and off the field. The way he never took any pitches off,” McGonigle said — and tried to replicate it. He grew up wanting to be Utley. Now a generation of kids from McGonigle’s old neighborhood are trying to be like him.
» READ MORE: Kevin McGonigle had ‘unbelievable’ All-Star weekend, from sleeping in his childhood bed to meeting Chase Utley
“The text messages I get during the year about little kids supporting me and watching how I play, that’s one of the things that drives me each and everyday to show up to the field and play my butt off and try to help this team,” McGonigle said. “There’s a lot of kids out there watching and they all have dreams. You just have to work hard and good things will happen.”
Finn Reilley, his mom said, is the type of kid who wakes up and puts on baseball pants. He’s known every Phillies player since he was two years old and plays on a local team. He loves baseball.
“The fact that the Rookie of the Year went to school down the street is larger than life to him,” Becky Reilley said. “Having a pro baseball player from around here, he’s like ‘This is my guy. This is my idol. This is who I want to be.’”
The first grader went to his Halloween parade at school dressed like McGonigle, just like another buddy in his class. Reilley left the blazer at home as a surprise for the big night. He didn’t even tell his dad and brother. He walked downstairs on Halloween night wearing a green blazer — with the Delco and Bonner-Prendie patches sewn inside — over his Tigers uniform. Reilley was McGonigle, the kid from Delaware County who loved baseball just like him and became a star.
“This has been such an inspiration for my son,” Becky Reilley said. “All the neighborhood kids, all the school kids, all the kids on the Hilltop Baseball team, they love Kevin. We have allegiance to our sports teams and will live and die for our teams. But our people — when you’re from Delco — you’re here for life. Wherever you go, you’re going to love you.”
