From Jimmie Foxx and Chuck Klein to Dick Allen, Wilt Chamberlain and now Iverson, this city has welcomed home aging, big-name prodigal sons, unclenching its fist in many cases to open its arms.
The 76ers' "Answer" returned red-eyed and remorseful. Thirty-four years ago, when the Phillies brought him back, Allen remained detached and slightly defiant. And in 1965, Chamberlain had to have his long arm twisted before agreeing to abandon San Francisco's soul-soothing lifestyle for a return to Philadelphia.
The reasons for these trips back home - most, but not all, sentimental journeys - were as varied as the athletes themselves.
Iverson, 34, was as eager as the Sixers to make the move, while Chamberlain was reluctant.
And unlike the others, Chamberlain was in his prime, just 29 when the San Francisco Warriors shipped him back here.
For Foxx and Klein, as well as for the woeful Phillies franchise that signed those aging sluggers, desperation was their motivation. An old relationship with Ike Richman, one of the brand-new 76ers' owners, lured Chamberlain back to his hometown. Allen was told he'd be the final piece in the Phils' pennant puzzle. And while Sixers GM Ed Stefanski talks constantly of this as "a basketball move," the 76ers hope Iverson will win fans, too.
Among all those who heeded the advice of the old Boyd's commercial to "come home to Philadelphia," it was Allen's return that most resembles Iverson's.
On the day the Phillies announced that homecoming, Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson wrote something that, except for the sport, could have applied to Iverson.
"One of baseball's truly great talents has come home," Dolson said. "So what if hardly anybody else wanted him."
