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| 2010 Phillies Fan Appreciation Day Postcards |
It seems as if the team decided to go with the two most genuinely likable guys they could find, and it helps that both are legends in town thanks to their parts in the magical 2008 season. Moyer and Stairs will join hold-over TV voice Tom McCarthy in the booth. It should also be noted that Moyer's hiring most likely marks the official retirement from active duty for the 51-year-old southpaw.
Moyer and Stairs join a long, distinguished list of former Phillies who eventually joined the broadcast team. As much as I love listening to Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen on the radio, I might just have to switch over to the TV audio every once in a while this season.
Richie Ashburn, 1963-1997
Robin Roberts, 1974-1976
Tim McCarver, 1980-1982
Garry Maddox, 1987-1996
Mike Schmidt, 1990
Kent Tekulve, 1991-1997
Jay Johnstone, 1992-1993
Larry Andersen, 1998-
John Kruk, 2003
Gary Matthews, 2007-2013
Jamie Moyer, 2014-
Matt Stairs, 2014-
5 comments:
I think your list is correct, but this morning, Larry Shenk had a list and it included Jim Fregosi. I couldn't figure out when he broadcast, but I just Googled it, and it looks like he was a Phillies broadcaster on SportsChannel at least at the start of 1991 until he replaced Nick Layva as manager. What is SportsChannel? I don't know, but it had the same GM as Prism, so perhaps a sister station? Check out this article:
http://articles.philly.com/1991-05-23/sports/25797196_1_phillies-nick-leyva-jim-fregosi
Also, it looks like the following guys took over for Fregosi--so should they also be ex-Phillie broadcasters?
Greg Gross
Tug McGraw
Glenn Wilson
Also, Kent Tekulve and Jay Johnstone filled in, but they eventually became regular broadcasters and are already on your list.
I have no memory of any of Gross, McGraw, Wilson, Fregosi or Johnstone broadcasting for the team. I never subscribed to SportsChannel, although I did subscribe to Prism for awhile.
Stairs did some booth work with the re d sox recently. He might broadcast for as many teams as he played for
Meyers an d Stairs combined to play for 20 teams over 44 seasons.
They both definitely have impressive histories!
Steve - I didn't include Fregosi on my list since he never played for the Phils. I went by the list provided in the team's media guide a few years ago, and there's no mention of Gross, McGraw or Wilson being hired in an official capacity. Sort of like the situation with Roly de Armas in 2008 - the Media Guide doesn't recognize his tenure as a coach at all.
Like you, I have no memory of Gross, McGraw, Wilson, Fregosi or Johnstone broadcasting. They must not have been that memorable!
Good point re Fregosi not having played. Also, you did specifically say, "_former_ Phillies who eventually joined the broadcast team"--and Fregosi had not yet appeared as a Phillie. So even if Chris Wheeler takes the opportunity to use his newly found time to get in shape, and then makes the team as a back-up infielder and gets to put his "no doubles defense" knowledge to good use in a game (hey, he couldn't be worse than Mini-Mart, right?), technically he wouldn't make the list.
:->
Let's hope the Phils don't end up using Chris Wheeler in a game though, or they will be in fa-a-a-a-r-r-r worse shape than we imagine....
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