The Nach Attack: Changes Afoot in the Phillies’ Booth?
Are the Phillies going to change their broadcast rotation yet again? After last season’s multiple moves — adding Gary Matthews and Jim Jackson, subtracting Scott Graham, and creating separate radio (Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen) and television (Harry Kalas, Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews) teams — the organization sent out the following e-mail to fans yesterday asking their opinion about the teams’ broadcasters:
Dear Phillies Fan:
We are aware that you may have already received a survey invitation from the Phillies within the past month; however, we would like to ask for your help once again on a very important issue.
Below, you’ll find a link to a survey about the Phillies TV and Radio broadcasts. This survey will take just 2-3 minutes to complete, and will provide us with valuable feedback as we continue to plan for 2008. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few minutes out of your day to click on the link below and respond to this brief survey.
How big a fan are you of the Phillies? Please respond by using a 1-5 scale, 5 being a “die-hard fan” and 1 being “no fan.”
5 – Die-hard fan
4
3 – Casual fan
2
1 – Not a fan
How many Phillies games do you attend at Citizens Bank Park this past season (2007)?
0
1-3
4-6
7 or more
Approximately, 18 hours of Phillies baseball games were broadcast on TV per week throughout the 2007 season. On average, how many hours did you watch over the course of a typical week?
0
1-6
7-12
13-18
Not sure
Approximately, 18 hours of Phillies baseball games were broadcast on the radio per week throughout the 2007 season. On average, how many hours did you listen to over the course of a typical week?
0
1-6
7-12
13-18
Not sure
When watching a Phillies game on TV, did you ever turn down the audio and listen to the broadcast on the radio?
Never
Sometimes
Always
How would you rate your overall enjoyment of listening to the following Phillies broadcasters? Please respond on a 1-5 scale, 5 being “excellent” and 1 being “poor.”
Larry Andersen
Scott Franzke
Jim Jackson (pre-game radio show)
Harry Kalas
John Marzano (post-game Comcast SportsNet)
Gary Matthews
Mitch Williams (post-game Comcast SportsNet)
Chris Wheeler
Let’s analyze those last two these questions.
When watching a Phillies game on TV, did you ever turn down the audio and listen to the broadcast on the radio?
It sounds like the Phillies are trying to learn how the fans feel about primary radio play-by-play person Scott Franzke. Harry Kalas’s contract is up in two years, and if the 71-year-old retires, Franzke would probably be the internal front-runner.
How would you rate your overall enjoyment of listening to the following Phillies broadcasters?
If, say, Gary Matthews gets lots of 1s, will the Phillies bring him back? Does the inclusion of Marzano and Williams mean they’re being considered for the broadcast teams?
Could it be the Phillies aren’t 100 percent certain they made the correct choices last year? When I asked why the team was asking the fans’ opinion about the announcers, Phillies manager of broadcasting Rob Brooks said in an e-mail, “We do research on all parts of our organization on a regular basis.”
Laura discusses television every Thursday at 8:45 a.m. on “The Jim Foxwell Show” on WBCB 1490-AM. Check out her recent appearance on It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle on Comcast OnDemand under “Get Local.” See more of Laura’s work and sign up for her e-mail alerts at lauranachman.net.
November 7th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
GET RID OF GARY MATTHEW!!! heck – any person who confuses a financial services firm with a store that sells gardening supplies – what are the phillies doing – scraping the BOTTOM of the barrel???????
November 7th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
Matthews is gem compared to Chris Wheeler. The only redeeming value Wheels has is when he is being made fun of. YES, I do listen to the radio with the TV turned down to avoid Wheeler, even with the radio being ahead by about 7-10 seconds it is well worth it. Get Wheeler “outta here” once and for all.
November 7th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Gary Matthew’s analysis of the game is very entertaining. He calls it like he sees it, with no nonsense or effort to cater to anyone. It’s refreshing to have a competent, hard nosed view of the game.
November 7th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Although I did appreciate much of Gary Matthews’ candid analysis of plays, I can’t say I like him all that much as a broadcaster. I definitely wish LA would come back to TV. He, too, is candid and calls it as he sees it–and his broadcasting skills are MUCH better than Matthews. I still don’t know why they got rid of Scott Graham–I thought he was fantastic on radio?! I’d also like to see a LOT more of Johnny Marz on the post-game show. I love Mitch–but Johnny Marzano is a far better in front of the camera.
November 8th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
I think the radio team of Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson is the best the Phillies have had since Harry and Whitey were prime radio voices.I have been a diehard Phillies fan since the Wizz Kids in 1950. I listen to every game when I can. I do turn down the sound on TV to listen to them.Scott and Larry are excellent Please don’t break up a great team.