Phils' Turner hails Emmy for film on his '23 ovation

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies shortstop Trea Turner has already won an NL batting title and a World Series championship ring in his 11-year MLB career.

Now he has played a role in an Emmy Award-winning documentary.

Turner might not actually have the award in hand to keep for good, but he got to hoist the real deal ahead of Friday's game against Toronto in a short celebration for the best short documentary Emmy won by "The Turnaround," which told the story of the 2023 standing ovations credited with turning around his season.

"The Turnaround" won a Sports Emmy in May, and sports documentary producer Kyle Thrash and Phillies fan Jon McCann -- whose personal struggles with mental health and kinship with Turner were the heart of the film -- attended the game to show off their new trophy to Turner.

"Trea Turner, we share an Emmy together," McCann said as he shook Turner's hand on the field after batting practice.

Turner read the inscription at the bottom of the Emmy and promised the two fans he would wave to them in section 301 if he stole a base in Friday's game.

"We get to bring a trophy back to the ballpark tonight and share it with so many people that were involved in the standing ovation. It's pretty incredible," Thrash said.

Philly sports fans gave a slumping Turner standing ovations in at-bats throughout the weekend in an August 2023 series to show he had their full support.

Turner was in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies but was batting just .238 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs. He was even dropped to eighth in the batting order headed into that series against Kansas City.

In three games over the weekend against the Royals, Turner went 4-for-12 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs, and he would eventually help lead the Phillies to the playoffs.

Turner later helped pay for "Thank You, Philly" digital billboards in the greater Philadelphia area.

The documentary was produced by Higher Ground, the media company founded by former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama

McCann, also known as "The Philly Captain," is a Philadelphia-based YouTuber, and he was credited -- along with a Philly sports talk radio host -- with rallying the fans to get behind Turner.

"During the ceremony, one of the award presenters said, 'When you go up against the Olympics, you lose.' So I kind of thought we already lost," McCann said. "We didn't. It was a great, great shock."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.