Philly sports media: Tributes to Scott Franzke’s father, Charles Barkley’s unprecedented media fight

Robert Franzke, the father of longtime Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke, died Wednesday morning at the age of 91.

Filling in on 94.1 WIP the past two games has been Gregg Murphy, who described Franzke’s father — who went by Bob — as a lifelong baseball fan who traveled to Florida every year for spring training to spend time with his son.

“Scott, who left here Monday night, was able to be with [his father] when he passed,” Murphy said. “He was truly a huge baseball fan and so proud of what Scott has accomplished.”

On NBC Sports Philadelphia, TV announcer Tom McCarthy also offered a touching tribute to Franzke’s father, an Air Force veteran who served in the Korean War and went on to have a 30-year career at IBM.

“He loved everything about Texas and summer trips to Oregon. And for years he wonders why the Texas Rangers could not win a World Series championship,” McCarthy said. “Well guess what? Last year, they did.”

McCarthy also said they lovingly described Franzke’s father as “Bad luck Bob, because the Phillies never really won when Bob’s around.”

Earlier this week, during the Phillies’ Memorial Day loss to the Giants, Franzke choked up while thanking his father for his service to the country.

WIP offered their “deepest condolences” to Franzke on social media Wednesday. “Your WIP family is sending you all our love during this difficult time.”

Franzke, 52, a Dallas native, has called Phillies games since 2006, taking over for McCarthy when he was hired away by the New York Mets. Both Franzke and McCarthy signed multiyear contract extensions with the Phillies last year.

The Phillies are off Thursday. They’ll face the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series beginning Friday night at 6:40 p.m. on NBC Sports Philadelphia and WIP.

» READ MORE: Will the Phillies’ hot start lead to a World Series title? Here’s what the numbers say.

Former Sixers star Charles Barkley has never been shy to offer his opinions, and lately it’s been his bosses at TNT who have been on the receiving end.

Barkley has gone on an unprecedented media tour in recent days, ripping executives at Warner Bros. Discovery as reports swirl about TNT losing out on the next NBA TV media rights deal. The NBA is reportedly finalizing new deals with ESPN parent company Disney, Amazon, and NBC to broadcast games beginning with the 2025-26 season, though there remains an outside chance TNT could carve out a smaller deal or match either Amazon or NBC’s offer, according to CNBC’s Alex Sherman.

That possibility hasn’t stopped Barkley from sounding off about the potential loss of NBA rights and the end of Inside the NBA. The NBA Hall of Famer appeared on The Dan Patrick Show, The Mike Missanelli Podcast, and SiriusXM NBA Radio late last week, where he called executives at Warner Bros. Discover “clowns” and said they “clearly” screwed up the negotiations. He pointed to comments made in 2022 by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who proclaimed, “We don’t have to have the NBA”

“Well, he don’t need it, but … we need it,” Barkley told Patrick. “So it just sucks right now.”

Barkley followed that up with an unapproved interview with New York Times reporter Tania Ganguli in a Minneapolis elevator Friday night following Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, where he “batted away several attempts by security and public relations officials to prevent him from doing an interview,” the Times reported. They were joined by Barkley’s longtime Inside the NBA colleagues Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith, who didn’t seem too pleased with the suddenly aggressive candor.

“She should clear it through Turner,” Smith reportedly said, referring to Ganguli. “She should do it the right way.”

Barkley also told Phoenix’s NBC affiliate 12News he’s been “fired” and sat for an interview on the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast, where he was asked if anyone from Warner Bros. Discovery contacted him about his string of remarks.

“They’re not gonna call me. They know better,” Barkley said.

“I’ve loved seeing Charles Barkley going off on management,” The Athletic’s Richard Deitch said on the most recent episode of his Sports Media podcast. “I’ve never seen it before … I’ve never seen a deal of this magnitude, where you’re talking about billions of dollars, that kind of on-air talent being critical of management negotiating the deal. It certainly doesn’t help [Warner Bros. Discovery.]”

We could also hear more from Barkley tonight, especially if the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves and end the Western Conference finals, which would make it TNT’s final NBA broadcast of the season.

» READ MORE: Mike Sielski: Charles Barkley and the future of ‘Inside the NBA'