PHILADELPHIA -- One of the lasting images from Orion Kerkering's Major League debut was his dad, Todd, overflowing with emotion as he watched his son on the field at Citizens Bank Park.
Well, the roles were reversed on Saturday evening -- and there was, again, plenty of emotion.
As part of their "Salute to Service" day, the Phillies honored a number of active duty members and veterans on the field before their 3-0 win over the Guardians. Among those celebrated from across the armed forces was Todd Kerkering, a former U.S. Marine.
Todd once again choked back tears, this time while standing along the first-base line. Orion, meanwhile, watched the ceremony from the first-base dugout before embracing his dad on the top step.
"It was awesome," Orion said. "Just seeing him out there like that, and kind of getting the recognition he deserves, because I know people know what he's done -- like being in the Marines for 20 years -- but nobody knows how much he's actually done behind the scenes and everything. So I thought it was really cool seeing him get that full acknowledgement for it."
Safe to say Orion got a little emotional this time around, too?
"Oh yeah, I was. For sure," he said. "It was just cool to see."
And Kerkering wasn't the only one getting a little emotional in the Phillies' dugout.
"That was really cool," said interim manager Don Mattingly. "I didn't know that was going on, and to see that was emotional from the standpoint of watching his dad -- you kind of forget sometimes how emotional things are with guys and their kids. So, yeah, that was pretty cool to see."
Adding to the special day, Orion tossed a perfect seventh inning that included a pair of strikeouts -- all while wearing specially designed cleats to honor his dad. The custom flag-themed cleats had the Marine Corps motto, "Semper Fi," inscribed on them, as well as the names of two important places: Parris Island and Camp Pendleton.
Parris Island is where Todd Kerkering completed boot camp to begin his military career. Camp Pendleton is where he ended his service -- and where Orion was born.
"I just wanted to have a little bit of a beginning and ending for it all," Kerkering said. "So I reached out to NXT LVL Customs -- the guys who always do our cleats for us -- a few weeks ago and just said, ‘Hey, I want to get some cool designs going for this weekend with it being Memorial Day.'"
Needless to say, they pulled it off.
"It was just a cool day," Orion said. "Just having him here in May is huge, just because of how busy he is during the summer months. And then it was just awesome to see him get that recognition he deserves."