The Philadelphia Phillies franchise held an outside promotional event today at the Bell Tower as part of its annual College Spring Fling Week.

Hundreds of students got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close to the sterling silver World Series Trophy and take pictures with it.

One student said he couldn’t believe that he was seeing the actual trophy and asked if it was the replica of the original. He was assured by the event coordinators that his eyes were not deceiving him.

Read more and check out more photos after the jump.

During the event, students received free brochures, rally towels and other Phillies memorabilia. Some were lucky enough to win various prizes like the official 2007 National League MVP bobblehead figure of Jimmy Rollins after trying their luck at the Phillies Prize Wheel.

The trophy, which is being kept and transported by Temple alum Craig Solomon, will be on display at Saint Joseph’s University and University of Pennsylvania tomorrow.

Every year, for the week before Paint the Town Red Week (two weeks before the season starts), the Phillies’ promotional and marketing team travels to local colleges to help promote the Phillies upcoming season. This year the week runs from March 23 to March 27 and will cover six local colleges.