Something Left to be Desired

Let me preface this post by saying how spoiled I was for the first 21 years of my life. At just 16 days old I heard Harry Kalas call Michael Jack Schmidt's 500th home run. And every summer since then I've let Harry the K teach me about the game of baseball. Until I was 10 years old, Whitey Ashburn sat next to Harry forming one of the greatest broadcast booths in the history of sports. Since Harry left us last year, baseball just hasn't been the same. An organization as stacked as the Phillies needs to recognize their shortcomings in the broadcast department and make a change.

Chris Wheeler and Tom McCarthy have zero chemistry. T-Mac needs to drop the showmanship and just talk. The voice he has crafted is unappealing. Wheels on the other hand, needs to add some professionalism to the job. His comments are uninspired and lackluster. The hunky-dory, aw shucks attitude is not what an organization like the Phillies need. And then there's Gary Matthews. Thank goodness he's only in the booth for 3 innings because I don't know what I would do if he called all nine. Sarge has great rapport with players and is stellar in the post game on field interview. He should be in the stands getting fan input during the game instead of complaining about the same things every game. If he describes one more Ryan Howard home run trot as 'cadillac-ing' around the bases I'm going to lose my mind.

The Comcast post-game show is fairly good when it's Michael Barkann and Mitch Williams but Ricky Bottalico is just plain awful. His insight as a former closer is great, but all he does is talk about the negatives and has absolutely no personality or character at all. Is it too much to ask that you get top notch guys? The recent addition of Darren Daulton has potential, but having met Dutchie before I can tell you he's absolutely crazy. Hopefully he can bottle the craziness and be a great analyst.

If there was no legitimate replacements out there then I wouldn't complain this much. However, sitting in the booth next to them is Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen. Anyone who has listened to Franzke and L.A. knows how well they work together. Andersen is a total homer but that doesn't bother me because his passion is so genuine. He played for the Phils much longer than Sarge and has legitimate love for this organization. Franzke never tries to do too much and always sets up Andersen for the perfect line without making it obvious. Harry's son Todd Kalas is the 'sideline' reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays. He bounces around the stands for a couple innings and then will do either color or play by play for a couple innings on radio or television. Since he's not the primary guy for the Rays, I don't see why they wouldn't be willing to part with Kalas to an organization that he basically grew up with.

I respect T-Mac, Wheels and Sarge, but the time has come for a change. The Phillies were fortunate to have Hall of Famer Harry Kalas carry the booth with less than spectacular talent around him, but without HK it is no longer acceptable. Make the switch to get these guys off a television and bring in some true broadcasters.