There has always been something special about baseball on the radio. Whether we listened with a little transistor while sitting on the front porch, or on the beach down the shore, or in the car driving down 76, in the Spring and Summer baseball is always there.
So we develop a strong bond with our announcers. It didn't matter if the Phillies were in first place or last, you wanted to listen to Harry and Whitey. With those two, it wasn't just a ballgame. It was two friends, who just happened to be coming out of your radio. If the game was boring, or a blowout, listening to the two of them have a conversation between pitches kept you from turning the game off. There's a great story of Harry asking Richie during a boring game about players being superstitious. And Whitey said if a player is doing well at the plate, he will take his bat to bed with him so nobody takes it. He then said, "come to think of it Harry, I slept with a lot of old bats back when I played".
There's also the notorious story about Celebre's Pizza in South Philly. If a game was going long and Richie was getting hungry, he would say on the air, "I wonder if anyone from Celebre's Pizza is listening tonight". Within 20 minutes pizzas were delivered to the booth. The Phillies told Whitey he couldn't give businesses free shout outs on the air. But he could still do birthday greetings. So one night as things got late and he got hungry, he said on the air, "special birthday wishes going out to the Celebres twins...plain and pepperoni". So he still got his pizza.
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| The Phillies broadcast team in 1980 Andy Musser, Harry Kalas, Tim McCarver and Richie Ashburn Photo: WPHL-TV |
I say all this to bring things to the broadcasts we enjoy today. Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen are the modern day Harry and Whitey. I have mentioned this to both guys on a few occasions. I call them "Harry and Whitey 2.0". Both guys were extremely flattered with the comparison. LA told me he was honored.
They are simply the very best at what they do. But it goes beyond just being good at their craft. I have asked both guys what makes them so good together, and separately they both told me the same things. First, they genuinely like each other and have fun together. That sure comes through on the air. Secondly, they make it about the listeners. They know that sometimes the game itself isn't enough to keep the listener entertained, so they have to be the entertainment. Their goal is to make people enjoy the broadcast, no matter what is happening in the game.
Franzke has been with Phils since 2006, and for a guy from Dallas, Texas to become beloved in Philly like he has, he must be good. I've never asked him if he is a Cowboys fans, but I know he has been to Eagles game and admires Merrill Reese...as we all do. He began his MLB broadcasting career with his home team, The Texas Rangers. He told me he was working with "the Harry Kalas of Texas". It was the guy HE grew up listening to. When he told me this, I asked him what made him want to leave a situation like that, in his hometown. He told me wanted to do play-by-play in the big leagues, and the Rangers job was mainly pre and post-game host, with the occasional fill-in on play-by-play. The Phillies gig, at the time, was pre and post-game host, and he would get to do two innings every game. Back then, Scott Graham was the Phillies primary radio voice. After the 2006 season, the Phils decided not to renew Graham's contract and Franzke became the Radio Voice of the Phillies.
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| LA on my old TV show "Sports Scene" |
Meanwhile LA was hired by the Phillies in 1998 to try and follow Richie Ashburn, who had passed away the season prior while the team was on the road in New York. Talk about huge shoes to fill. LA was hired to primarily work with Harry on TV, and he told me he didn't talk as much as he should have at first...because "I wanted to listen to Harry". He worked both TV and radio until the end of the 2006 season, and then in 2007 the Phillies moved him exclusively to radio. At the time he looked at it like a demotion. But it didn't take long for him to realize it was a blessing in disguise. The move to full-time radio reinvigorated his broadcasting career. It also didn't take long for Scott and LA to realize that something special was happening. A dynamic duo was forming that makes Batman and Robin look like nothing.
How many epic calls have we heard from Scott Franzke over the years? The Rollins walk-off in the 2009 NLCS against the Dodgers. The Halladay post-season no-hitter in 2010. And of course, "Bedlam at The Bank"...the Bryce Harper home run against San Diego in the 2022 NLCS. Franzke is a superbly talented broadcaster who can punctuate the big moments perfectly.
This is no disrespect toward Tom McCarthy, who is as talented and versatile a broadcaster as you'll ever hear. But I would love it if the Phils had Franzke and LA do the middle 3 innings on TV. The Phils used to do that back in the day. Andy Musser and Chris Wheeler would do innings 4, 5, and 6 on TV, and Harry and Whitey would go to radio. That way fans on both mediums got to experience both tandems.
I've never asked Scott if he would want to do that, but I have asked him about his love for radio. He is a radio guy through and through, and besides the occasional TV fill-in, he is happy on the radio. Calling sports on the radio is totally different than TV, because on radio you have to paint the entire picture. On TV the picture is there, and you just have to enhance it. Scott likes the challenge of doing baseball on the radio. Plus, there is a certain intimacy in radio that you don't get with TV. That's why I have always said radio is my first love.
One thing about these two that resonates with fans is their humility. I once asked Scott what he attributes his success to here in Philly, and he told me, "I got lucky. I got to a great town with great fans". The fans have indeed embraced him, and he embraced us right back. LA has long been a fan favorite from his two stints pitching for the Phils. He is the only Phillie to play in both the1983 AND 1993 playoffs.
They are entering their 19th season working together. Years ago, they achieved the "one-name" status. It wasn't "Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen". It was "Franzke and LA". Just one name each. That's all you have to say, because those two names bring excitement and joy to Phillies fans everywhere. Let's hope for lots more bedlam at the bank in 2025 and beyond, with the best broadcast team in baseball.