Mojo? You Decide

Baseball has been very, very good to Mike Fiore.

He has a knack of showing up at ballgames at crucial moments and taking in sights that few have the pleasure to see, like a character from the movie Field of Dreams.

Last year, he just happened to be at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia when the Phillies Roy Halladay tossed only the second, postseason no-hitter in Major League Baseball history. He didn’t need a stat book to tell him that because he was sitting in the stands at Yankee Stadium the only other time it happened, in the 1956 World Series.

And just to throw a little more salt over the shoulder for good luck, Fiore, a barber in Haddonfield, cuts Phillies manager Charlie Manuel’s hair.

He had no plans to attend the Phillies deciding fifth game in this year’s National League Division Series scrum against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, but keeping an eye on him might not be a bad idea if someone else wants to witness history.

“People relate to things with people that they know,” said Fiore, 67, the proprietor, along with his son, Anthony, of barber shop on Kings Highway East. "Customers enjoy coming in asking if Charlie was in? How do you feel about the game tonight? It’s something that you relate to with them. Which makes it closer to the heart.”

Still, there’s something about the mojo of the Fiores.

Sal Maglie was pitching for the Brooklyn Dodgers that day, October 8, 1956, when Mike Fiore Sr. woke up his sleepy son at the crack of dawn to drag him to the Bronx to buy $2.50 bleacher seats for the game. It turns out, Maglie’s nickname was “the barber.”

Last year, at Halladay’s brush with fame, Anthony, 30, a fourth-generation barber, just happened to get tickets to the game as a gift for being in a wedding party. He decided to take his dad, just as Mike’s dad had decided to take him to the game 55 years ago. The result was, father and son witnessing history, again.

Anthony had tickets to Friday’s playoff game, but decided to sell them. He also has tickets to game two of the next round of the playoffs. The Phillies would host that game in the National League Championship Series if they win Friday. Anthony is sure he’s going to the game then.

Mojo? You decide.

“If I thought it was going to happen every time I went to a game—I’ve been to hundreds of games—I’d be disappointed,” Fiore said. “Sharing something like that with your father is a wonderful thing. Then your son takes you to the game… I don’t think it happened because I was there, however, you never know. Life works in mysterious ways.”

Fifty-five years ago, Fiore was rooting against Yankees pitcher Don Larsen when he tossed a perfect game, with no hits, walks or errors. Fiore was a Dodgers fan. His dad was a Yankees fan.

Fiore was putting the finishing touches on a haircut for John Murabito Friday morning when Murabito mentioned he was going to Friday’s Phillies game. When asked if he thought getting a haircut from Fiore was a good-luck omen. Murabato, 47, of Mount Laurel said:

“We’ll find out tonight.”