The Philadelphia Phillies happen to be both this morning. After beating the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays in the rain-delayed fifth game of the World Series, the Phillies are baseball’s champions for the first time since 1980. But earlier this year, they were leaders in another area entirely. In late spring, the Phillies purchased 20 million kilowatt-hours’ worth of renewable energy certificates to offset the team’s electricity use at Citizens Bank Park for a day. The purchase of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates was the largest renewable-energy buy in professional sports to date, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The offset was estimated to be the equivalent of planting 100,000 trees.

The move reflected the groundswell of green thinking in baseball, as other teams are joining Major League Baseball’s Team Greening program to incorporate environmentally sensitive practices at each ballpark. Minor League Baseball is making a green push as well, including the Lake Elsinore Storm which kicked off its ‘Goin Green’ campaign last season. In one game, the team had its players wear hemp jerseys then auctioned them off to support the team’s environmental initiatives. As Storm team president, Dave Oster, explains, “the beauty of what we’re doing is that, because of who we are, we have the power to influence thousands and thousands of people each night,” he said. “We can make real changes in our own community, and those changes will spread to other communities as well. This is something that is growing from a grassroots level, and it’s only going to get bigger.”

My San Francisco Giants were…not good this season, but I’m thrilled to see a team that’s willing to take a lead on green initiatives win the World Series! Congrats to the Phillies!!