‘This is a long time coming!’ Listen to Phillies playoff calls from Tom McCarthy and Scott Franzke
“The ballgame is over! The drought is over!" Tom McCarthy said during his call of the final out on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
For the first time since 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies are heading to the playoffs.
Behind a brilliant, two-hit game from Aaron Nola, the Phillies punched their ticket to the postseason with a 3-0 shutout of the Houston Astros on Monday.
Calling the game for NBC Sports Philadelphia was Tom McCarthy, who is in his 13th season as the team’s TV voice. Joined by analyst Reuben Amaro Jr., McCarthy emphasized the 10-year playoff drought in his call of the final out, noting the Phillies’ return to the playoffs “has been a long time coming.”
“After 11 seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies are going back to the postseason!”
John Kruk wasn’t in the booth with McCarthy because he remains at his home in Naples, Fla., an area hit hard by Hurricane Ian. Kruk and his family are safe, and the former Phillies slugger said his power returned Saturday night, just in time to watch the Eagles’ win Sunday and the Phillies make the playoffs Monday.
Neither Kruk nor McCarthy will call any of the Phillies’ playoff games, because the wild-card round will be broadcast exclusively by ESPN. If the Phillies remain the No. 3 seed, they’ll face the St. Louis Cardinals in a best-of-three series called by Yankees announcer Michael Kay and former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.
If the Phillies manage to overtake the San Diego Padres for the No. 2 seed in the final two games of the season, they’ll face the New York Mets, with Sunday Night Baseball announcers Karl Ravech, David Cone, and Eduardo Perez on the call.
Unlike his TV counterpart, Scott Franzke will continue to call the Phillies through the playoffs on 94.1 WIP and the Phillies Radio Network. In his call of the final out Monday, Franzke had to cut through the cheers and shouting of analyst Michael Bourn, as well as a couple of colorful comments that snuck into the broadcast.
“The Phillies go 65-44 under Rob Thompson. They are 66-44 since the first of June, when they decided to make the managerial change,” Franzke said. “And at the time, [Phillies president] Dave Dombrowski said, ‘Do I think the playoffs are still within reach?’ He said, ‘Absolutely, I think they’re still within reach.’”
Franzke also had a terrific introduction ahead of the game, noting that it has been more than 4,000 days since Roy Halladay’s complete game loss to the Cardinals in Game 5 of the 2011 National League division series, which began the Phillies’ long postseason drought.
“After having seen exactly 200 starts from Aaron Nola since then, there’s only one other pitcher in Major League Baseball that’s had more starts without appearing in a postseason game,” Franzke said. “For the first time in his big league life, he’s going to step to the pitcher’s mound in the month of October. And while it’s not the playoffs, yet, a win here in Houston will send him there.”
» READ MORE: The Phillies celebrate punching their playoff ticket after a decade of being denied