Mike Missanelli zings Howard Eskin in return to 97.5 The Fanatic

Mike Missanelli made his return to 97.5 The Fanatic Monday, where he wasted no time going after a familiar foe — 94.1 WIP host Howard Eskin.

Reintroducing himself to his Fanatic audience after a two-year absence from the station, Missanelli pledged to listeners to skip hot takes in favor of deep dives into topics relevant to sports fans. Then he unloaded on Eskin, who remains barred from Citizens Bank Park by WIP’s parent company Audacy after an investigation found he made an unwanted advance toward an employee at the stadium.

“Here’s one last thing — there won’t be any unwelcome kisses,” Missanelli said. “No unwelcome kisses on this show.”

While Eskin has been taken off Phillies coverage, he continues to host his Saturday morning show on WIP and was back as the station’s sideline reporter during last week’s broadcast of the Eagles’ first preseason game.

Missanelli and Eskin have bad blood dating back decades, when the two cohosted the afternoon show on WIP. Missanelli has said he wasn’t in favor of the pairing and didn’t think it would work. During their three years together he said he “wanted to kill” Eskin every day they worked together.

“He would come in within 10 seconds of the show starting saying, ‘What went on today?’” Missanelli said during an interview with former WIP morning show host Angelo Cataldi in 2022. “It was stressful for me. I’m an A-type personality who wanted to do the right thing, he’s an A-type personality, and we clashed.”

Before landing at the Fanatic, Missanelli had two stints at WIP — from 1992 to 2003 and from July 2005 to March 2006, when he was fired after punching a producer during a live broadcast.

Missanelli is back at the Fanatic two years after an abrupt exit from the station in May 2022 took listeners by surprise. Missanelli has said he was pushed out by management, which recently changed hands from former general manager Joe Bell to Paul Blake, who had been the longtime sales manager for Beasley’s cluster of Philly radio stations. New program director Scott Masteller also played a key role in Missanelli’s return to the station.

“Both of these guys pushed hard for me to come back here,” Missanelli said.

One thing Missanelli said he missed during his time away from The Fanatic was interacting with callers, and it didn’t take him long to turn his show over to the phone lines. First up was longtime caller Vicente from Lansdowne, who spoke on behalf of “Delco listeners” in welcoming Missanelli back with a line from one of his favorite movies.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard the Godfather being done in a Hispanic accent,” Missanelli said.

With The Best Show Ever? duo of Tyrone Johnson and Ricky Bottalico holding Missanelli’s former afternoon slot, he’s now hosting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. alongside producer Ray Dunne and Bill Colarulo, an attorney-turned-sports talker. Missanelli’s addition forced the departure of former Daily News reporter Bob Cooney, who had been at the Fanatic for seven years.

Missanelli was noncommittal about the podcast he hosts for BetRivers, telling listeners he’ll “hopefully” keep it going. He also cohosts an Eagles postgame show for JAKIB Media Partners, a YouTube sports channel, and recently launched a true crime podcast focused on the unsolved murder of a child near Missanelli’s childhood home in Bristol.