"Angel in the outfield:" Meet the Tacony teacher holding the photo of late friend at Phillies Game 3
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's hard for fans to score tickets to the NLDS, let alone sit behind home plate. A teacher in Tacony lucked out and Wednesday night she found a special way to honor her late friend who loved the Phils.
Alaine Porter was a teacher at Tacony Academy Charter for eight years.
She was a passionate Phillies fan and unexpectedly died this past weekend. Now, many at the school are calling her the Phillies' good luck charm.
After Bryce Harper hit a bomb at the Bank, many people watching the game started asking who was this woman sitting behind home plate and what was she holding?
Many people have been asking…who was this @Phillies fan last night behind home plate and what was she holding? We will introduce you to her coming up at 4 on @CBSPhiladelphia. #redoctober pic.twitter.com/nWtujBLDnt
— Ryan Hughes (@HughesCBS3) October 12, 2023
"I was very worried about being there and the Phillies having bad luck, so I was just thrilled to be there and everything was going well," Lori Geiser said.
Turns out it was Geiser, a reading specialist at Tacony Academy Charter School, and the photo she was holding during Game 3 of the NLDS was her good friend and fellow teacher Porter.
"She absolutely lived for the Phillies," Geiser said.
The 35-year-old's colleagues and students dressed in Phillies gear at school in her honor Wednesday. When Geiser was gifted tickets to Game 3 she decided she wanted to bring a picture of Porter with her.
"I took it with me not really having a plan of what I was going to do with it, I just knew Alaine was going to be with me," she said.
As soon as Geiser held up the photo behind Harper, the slugger delivered. Porter's colleagues now call her an angel in the outfield.
"Every time that they would hit a home run we're like another one," Olive Anderson said. "That's for Alaine."
"Just for some good juju, Alaine will be with me again tonight," Ckrisen Milligan said.
Fourth-grade teacher Milligan is headed to watch Game 4 at the Bank and plans to follow Geiser's lead by bringing Porter's photo with her.
"I'm hoping for the Phillies to get a win for Alaine," Milligan said. "She's watching, we all know she's watching and I know she wants a repeat of last night and that's what's going to happen."
Geiser now believes Porter is the team's good luck charm and she's been fielding messages ever since friends and family figured out she was the mystery fan in the front row.
"I really wasn't thinking about it, I was just like excited that I could have her there with me," she said.
Porter lived for Red October and the school said it's planning other ways to honor her in the coming weeks.