This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

I was not the only person to think about Matt Stairs when Kyle Schwarber crushed a home run into the second deck in right field Tuesday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Petco Park. Schwarber hit a first-pitch cutter from Yu Darvish at 119.7 mph, sending it a record-breaking 488 feet. It was a titanic blast, which is why it reminded so many people of Stairs’ pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in Game 4 of the 2008 NLCS at Dodger Stadium.

Schwarber’s homer left his bat like a heat-seeking missile. Stairs’ homer scraped the sky before it landed two-thirds of the way up the bleachers.

Stairs will throw out the first pitch before Game 3 on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

“Bomb,” Stairs said Thursday about Schwarber’s homer. “That was a bomb. I’ve never seen a ball hit there, and I’ve played in San Diego and I’ve coached in San Diego. I’ve never seen a ball come even close to the second deck. Ever.”

Stairs played for the Padres in 2010. He was their hitting coach in 2018. He never saw one hit there at all? Not even in batting practice?

“Maybe from second base,” he said. “The expression from [Bryce] Harper was priceless because that’s everybody who has ever played in that ballpark saying, 'That’s a bomb.'”

Luke Arcaini synched side-by-side videos of Stairs’ and Schwarber’s homers in a tweet that went viral.

Several people sent Stairs the tweet. 

“Everyone talks about the reaction of the fans behind home plate when I hit it,” Stairs said. “I liked watching the reaction of Mr. Darvish. That was the best. He didn’t turn his head. As soon as he hit it, he went, ‘Oh, damn.’ But what I liked about it, too, is that Schwarber just ran the bases. He should still be standing there at home plate -- the ball went that far. But he ran the bases. He didn’t show anybody up. He ran it right.”