Sep 9, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies third base Otto Kemp (4) celebrates his home run during the second inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
After Tuesday night's game, Otto Kemp should walk across the Phillies clubhouse and talk to Weston Wilson about what it feels like to do something really cool in a baseball game only to have it topped by something cooler.
Flashback, if you will, to August 9, 2023. After toiling in the minors for many years, Wilson was finally getting a chance to make his Major League debut.
Wilson stepped to the plate in his first big league plate appearance against Washington's Mackenzie Gore and drove a homer to deep left-center.
1st MLB at bat after grinding 7 seasons in the Minors
WESTON WILSON IS LIVING A DREAM @BarstoolPhilly
pic.twitter.com/AIP9asX0bF
The broadcast cut to his family, who were ecstatic. Those of us in the press box had our story's being handed to us in just the second inning. It was a seeming gift from the baseball gods.
Until it wasn't.
That's because Michael Lorenzen went out and threw a no-hitter in the game and Wilson's homer became just an interesting footnote.
Fast forward to Tuesday.
Otto Kemp strode to the plate in the same bottom of the second inning as Wilson had done a little more than two years earlier. It wasn't Kemp's first game like Wilson's, but he's still a rookie, and he drove one to nearly the same spot as Wilson.
What made this home run unique for Kemp? Well, it was on his birthday.
Otto Kemp birthday homer 🎂 pic.twitter.com/PJkL880W8U https://t.co/41Rx4Ebi8f
That's pretty cool. It's not a rare feat, by any means - Kemp's homer was the 820th time in baseball history that someone hit a homer on their birthday - but it was the first this season.
The last Phillie to do it was Bryce Harper in Game 1 of the 2023 NLCS against Arizona. The last Phillie to do it in the regular season was Maikel Franco, on 2018 in Toronto. The last Phillie to do it in the regular season at home was Charlie Hayes, in 1991 against Montreal.
Still, it's a cool story. In fact, you'll see why it was even cooler in a few paragraphs.
But later in the night, Kemp's moment - much like Wilson's - was usurped by something historic when Kyle Schwarber became just the second Phillie, and 34th player to ever hit 50 home runs in a season.
KYLE SCHWARBER REACHES 50 HOME RUNS! pic.twitter.com/8YRpNyJ59n
It's hard to beat that story angle, and Kemp doesn't mind that his homer will also be of the footnote variety now.
But the funny thing is, for Kemp, there were signs all around that this was, in fact, a special night.
Kemp wears No. 4 on his uniform, but if he had his druthers, he'd wear No. 9. He doesn't, because it's infield coach Bobby Dickerson's number. He felt that as a rookie coming up to the Big Leagues for the first time in June that it was inappropriate to ask a coach for his number - even if Dickerson only puts it on for Photo Day with the fans, on the day they take the team picture, and possibly for Game 1 of a playoff series when the entire staff is introduced and stands along the baseline.
It's a little different when an established veteran - like Jhoan Duran - comes to a team and Rob Thomson decides to give him his uniform number (59) and settles for a different one (49). But for an undrafted rookie? Forget it.
So, Kemp took No. 4 because, well, if you squint, it kind of looks like a nine.
What's so important about the No. 9? Well, Kemp's birthday, of course. He was born on September 9, 1999. So, 9/9/99. Why wouldn't he want that number?
Alas, he's No. 4. But, on his birthday, Kemp found himself batting, you guessed it, ninth in the lineup.
His home run was one of nine runs scored by the Phillies. They extended their lead over the Mets in the N.L. East to nine games. They reduced their magic number to clinch the division to nine.
"It's definitely one of the cooler birthdays for sure," Kemp said.
Otto Kemp on what it’s been like to witness Kyle Schwarber’s 50 home run season as a rookie: “It’s something that I’ll never forget, and I hope this isn’t the only year that I get to play with him.”
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/Fes5xml0OS
The only thing that would have made the synergy of the day even more unreal would have been if he had an exit velocity of 99.9 mph off the bat or if the homer had landed 399 feet from home plate.
Neither happened. He hit the ball a tad too hard (100.8 mph) and not quite far enough (385 feet), but that would have been some message from the universe.
"Maybe somebody can go in and change it," Kemp joked afterwards.
In reality, Kemp wouldn't change a thing.
"It's unbelievable," Kemp said of his experience and watching Schwarber make history on the same night. "It's really special to be a part of and to get to witness and it's something that you'll never forget."
