Orion Kerkering's Marine vet father gets candid about fears of watching son play baseball: "Still get nervous watching my kid pitch"

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Orion Kerkering made his Major League Baseball debut against the New York Mets on Sunday, while his family watched from the stands at Citizens Bank Park.

Kerkering's Marine vet father Todd got cold feet as he watched his son play baseball, despite experiencing life-threatening situations in his time:

"I've been on countless military operations...still get nervous watching my kid pitch."

"Todd Kerkering served in the Marines for 20 years. He’d parachute out of planes. He’d cross enemy lines to gather information for his country. But none of that prepared him for last night."

In the eighth innings, Kerkering entered the game. He faced three batters and struck out two of them. The broadcast camera panned to Todd Kerkering in the crowd after the 22-year-old struck out pinch-hitter Rafael Ortega to close the inning. He sobbed while standing up with other Phillies supporters.

"When your son, Orion Kerkering, makes his MLB debut and gets two strikeouts ... there IS crying in baseball."

Todd Kerkering gets emotional watching son Orion play

Todd said he did not have any idea as to how he got emotional and teary-eyed watching his son play:

“I guess it was just seeing the kid,” Todd said. “I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of good things. I’ve seen a lot of ugly things in my life. I guess maybe it’s a culmination of all those things through life and, you finally reach a point when you get to something that is just unbelievable.

"I mean, there are 900 guys roughly in the MLB right now at that level. And he’s one of them. You know? I mean, I don’t know. It’s just what came out.”

Kerkering was initially promoted to the major leagues on September 22, 2023, after being included in the 40-man roster.

New York Mets v Philadelphia Phillies

Two days later, he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth innings, including two strikeouts against the New York Mets on his MLB debut.