As the umpires conferred on Friday night to determine whether Bryson Stott had beaten out the throw to first base, the control room above left field at Citizens Bank Park was holding its collective breath.
The go-ahead run hinged on the umpires’ call. If the Phillies broke the tie with the Tigers in the eighth, that meant their new closer, Jhoan Duran, would make his debut for the save. And all the practice the PhanaVision team had squeezed into the last two days would be put to the test for the first time.
“In the eighth inning, when two guys were warming up, we were kind of scrambling,” said video producer Emily Rutzen. “We said, ‘What do we do if it’s [Matt] Strahm? What do we do if Duran comes in a tie game? Do we still do it, even if it’s not a save opportunity?’ So that was kind of a panic.”
» READ MORE: An inside look at why Phillies closer Jhoan Duran’s signature ‘splinker’ is such an effective pitch
But sure enough, replay review determined Stott was safe, and Otto Kemp’s run counted. The Phillies pulled ahead, 5-4, and when the inning ended, Duran started making his way toward the bullpen door.
Meanwhile, the people in the control room jumped into action. They cued the screen on PhanaVision that instructed fans to turn on their phone flashlights. They cut the lights in the stadium. And they started up the song — a remix of “El Incomprendido” by Farruko and “Hot” by Pitbull and Daddy Yankee — that the Minnesota Twins had provided them.
As Duran jogged out to the mound, flames ignited the screens in the ballpark, as animated spiders crawled around his last name, a fitting welcome for “Durantula.” The entire production had come together in two days.
“It’s maybe one of the best entrances that I’ve seen for a pitcher coming into a game to close it out,” Ranger Suárez said.
Racing the clock
The Twins developed an elaborate walk-out for Duran in 2022, complete with the fire and spider themes. His entrance became so well-known in Minnesota that immediately after learning about the trade, Bryce Harper texted Phillies PR.
“We gotta do this,” he wrote.
But behind the scenes, a team was already hard at work.
When rumors started circulating in the weeks leading up into the trade deadline that the Phillies had interest in acquiring a closer, Rutzen started to imagine what it would be like if they landed Duran.
» READ MORE: Welcome to the Jhoan Duran Show: The new closer picks up his first save as Phillies rally past the Tigers
Her job involves helping to create content shown on PhanaVision, and also making sure the presentation runs smoothly during each game. Rutzen is originally from Minnesota, and has distinct memories of Duran closing out both games of the 2023 wild-card series. She knew his famous walk-out well, and knew how it would be received by the fans at Citizens Bank Park.
Once the trade was announced on Wednesday, the Phillies production department group chat started immediately exchanging ideas on how it could put its own Phillies spin on what Minnesota had popularized.
And the clock started ticking.
Rutzen, motion graphics designer Sydney Worek, and LED content coordinator Ari Krizek were crucial to getting the plan off the ground. Only adding to the time crunch was the fact that Duran’s first homestand as a Phillie coincided with Alumni Weekend. The PhanaVision department also spent a lot of time preparing for Friday’s pregame ceremony that installed Ed Wade and Jimmy Rollins on the Phillies’ Wall of Fame.
Collaboration with the Twins helped make it possible. Sam Henschen, Minnesota’s game day experience director, shared graphics and the remixed version of the song. The Phillies added their own touches, incorporating the team logo and making the floodlights and bell light up orange.
“A handful of us stayed late on Thursday night and messed with the lights and messed with the bell until everything kind of looked the way that we wanted it to,” Rutzen said, “and hoped and prayed that we’d get a chance to use it on Friday.”
More in store
Rutzen was so full of adrenaline after Duran’s four-pitch save that she didn’t sleep at all that night. Videos of the entrance had taken off on social media, and friends and family kept sending clips.
“It’s an honor to me, because I can see they love baseball,” Duran said after the game. “They do everything for baseball. I love that.”
And the work isn’t over yet.
“There will be more coming,” Rutzen said. “Obviously, we had a very quick turnaround with this, so we do plan to do more with it. But we just knew Day 1, we couldn’t miss out on an opportunity to make something cool happen.”
» READ MORE: New Phillie Jhoan Duran makes himself at home with No. 59, his walk-out show, and spiders
A lot of their ideas to continue to enhance Duran’s entrance are top secret. One thing they plan to include in the short term is synchronizing fans’ phone flashlights with the beat of the remixed song.
It’s something they’ve done in the past for a light show in honor of the Fourth of July, and requires fans downloading the MLB Ballpark app and accepting certain permissions.
Since the Phillies haven’t had an official closer in years, this is the most elaborate production they’ve ever had for a pitcher. As they continue to refine it, one might naturally start to wonder what Duran’s walk-out could look like in a potential postseason run.
“If I had goose bumps last night in August,” Rutzen said, “I can’t imagine what it’s like in October.”
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