Phillies radio booth eager to bring ‘that local flavor’ for another postseason run

PHILADELPHIA — For nine years as the Phillies sideline reporter on NBC Sports Philadelphia, Gregg Murphy’s season ended in September. He joined the broadcast crew in 2012, just missing out on the glory years of 2007 to 2011. While Murphy loved the role, he never got to cover a postseason run for the television network.

“I always said to folks, ‘This is the best job I’ve ever had, but we’re not even very good,'” Murphy recalled. “‘I can’t imagine how great it would be when we’re good.'”

That all changed shortly after Murphy started his new position on the Phillies radio broadcast, hosting the pre- and postgame show since the 2021 season. The club snuck into the playoffs in 2022, and Murphy found himself dressed up in a suit, ready to board the chartered plane to St. Louis for the Wild Card Series against the Cardinals. The Phillies went on to make a surprise National League pennant run, with Murphy and company there along the way.

How did that compare to what he expected? “I was right,” Murphy said. “It just takes it to a next level.”

Over the past four seasons, the Phillies have been one of the best teams in all of Major League Baseball. They reached the World Series in 2022, lost in the National League Championship Series in 2023 and have won the last two NL East titles in the regular season. With a first-round bye in this year’s tournament, the Phillies radio broadcast team is preparing to call another postseason, beginning with Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

Longtime radio voice Scott Franzke will serve as the primary play-by-play announcer for Phillies playoff games, while usual TV play-by-play man Tom McCarthy will call the fourth and fifth innings on the radio, as has been the arrangement over the past handful of years. Former players Larry Andersen and Kevin Stocker will serve as the color commentators in an arrangement that differs from last postseason’s. Murphy will continue to host before and after games, with McCarthy contributing to the pregame show.

“For me,” Franzke said of calling the postseason, “it’s really everything.”

As of now, the Phillies radio team plans to use a two-man booth for the NLDS. When Philadelphia lost to the Mets in the same round last October, both Andersen and Stocker joined Franzke for all four games to form a three-man crew. This year, Andersen will serve as the lone color commentator for NLDS home games, and Stocker will serve as the lone color commentator for NLDS road games.

Andersen, a former Phillies reliever who’s been broadcasting the club’s games since 1998, said he’ll “probably not” travel away from Philadelphia until the NLCS and World Series, should the team get to either. Due to some health issues, he wants to avoid flying as much as possible. But if the Phillies have a chance to secure an NL pennant or a World Series championship, the 72-year-old Andersen wouldn’t want to miss it.

“If it comes down to a clinching game, something like that, I’d definitely like to be there,” Andersen said. “But they have to approve that, so it’s a little bit out of my hands.”

Franzke speculated that the three-man booth could come back in some capacity if the Phillies make it past the NLDS. He acknowledged that it “can be crowded,” but he felt like the trio managed it well during last year’s postseason. Additionally, that setup would allow both Stocker, who called a majority of the games this regular season, and Andersen to get in on the action as the games get even bigger.

“They both want to be a part of it,” Franzke said. “I think they both bring something different to the table, and I think it adds a lot to the listener.”

In Major League Baseball, the TV rights in the postseason are exclusive for national broadcasts. Playoff games air on ESPN, ABC, TBS, FS1 and FOX, and NBC Sports Philly cannot show Phillies games like it does during the regular season. While there are national radio broadcasts as well, postseason games do air on local radio stations with the local crews calling them. Phillies playoff games will air on 94.1 WIP (or 1210 WPHT when there’s a conflict with Eagles football games) in Philadelphia and on other stations in the region on the Phillies Radio Network.

That, the broadcasters say, is what’s unique about doing radio in October. National TV broadcasts certainly can provide a big-game feel and present an enjoyable product. But the radio feed allows the fans to hear the same voices they listened to all season in those intense moments.

“I think the most special thing about the postseason and radio is that we are the local connection, right?” Murphy said. “You can watch the games on television, the national broadcast. That’s great. But if you want that local feel, then you need to turn us on, on the Phillies Radio Network.

“And I think that does make it a little bit more special for us. We know that the folks that are listening are listening to us because they want that local feel. They want that local flavor. They want to hear Scott Franzke. They want to hear Tom McCarthy. I think that’s great, and I know that’s the way I would be as a fan. So knowing that there’s a lot of folks out there, that they are like that is kind of cool.”

That aspect of the job is precisely what has made Franzke stick with radio over any potential gig in television. The Texas native joined the Phillies in 2006, and the club snapped its 14-year playoff drought the very next season. Philadelphia ripped off a stretch of five straight NL East titles, winning a World Series in 2008 and making it back again the next season. Franzke got to be a part of it pretty quickly.

“I realized right away how much I enjoyed doing postseason baseball,” Franzke said, “and it’s the most fun time of year — for a lot of different reasons. It’s tiring, but it’s a blast.”

He stayed on the radio broadcast through all the lean years that followed the team’s 102-win 2011 season, and the Phillies have rewarded him with a new chance to announce playoff baseball. In these two runs, he’s built up quite the reel. No, he wasn’t on the mic as the Phillies won the World Series in 2008; that was for the late great Harry Kalas to handle. But Jimmy Rollins’ walk-off double in ’09? Roy Halladay’s playoff no-hitter? Bryce Harper’s “Bedlam at the Bank” home run? A number of other unforgettable postseason moments? Franzke was there to tell the Delaware Valley about all of them.

Perhaps the one thing he’s missing is the opportunity to be the one who calls the final out of a World Series clincher with the Phillies coming out on top. As Franzke noted, it’s not really up to him. “We’re at the mercy of the teams we work for,” he said. But with a talented roster, the 2025 Phillies could be the group that gets it done. Whether that happens or not, Franzke and the rest of the crew will be there for every pitch.

“One of the reasons why I love the radio broadcast so much and I love the job that I have,” Franzke said, “is because we are allowed to keep going and be a part of it and chronicle some of the most important moments in franchise history.”