TMac-and-Barack

Source: TheFightins.com

The other day we asked readers to vote on who they wanted to see doing play-by-play for Phillies games, who their favorite announcer was, and which network produced the best broadcast.

We suspected that the results would be very anti-Wheels, since we receive so much positive feedback for our Shut Up Wheels segment, but we wanted some numbers to quantify fans' true feelings for Wheels and the crew.

Read the results after the jump (each of the polls had approx 500 votes).

 

Who do you want doing play-by-play? 

Scott Franzke 63%

Tom McCarthy 22%

Jim Jackson 12%

Chris Wheeler 3%

 

Obviously Scott Franzke has paid his dues on radio.  No doubt aided by his awesome call of Jimmy Rollins' walk-off hit in last year's NLCS, Franzke received almost 2/3 of the votes.  McCarthy does an adequete job, but his geekiness is off-putting to most younger fans.  And by younger, I mean fans under 40.  Jim Jackson is probably the most technically sound- doing Flyers play-by-play for years- but fans just don't view him as a baseball guy.

Wheeler is good for a spot start when T-Mac can't make it, but clearly no one wants to listen to him for three hours.

Franzke has a witty dry sense of humor, gets excited at the right moments (listen to T-Mac scream through the open), and is generally just easy to listen to.  The Phillies have to know this since they use his calls during most of their TV promos.

Why he doesn't get at least the middle three innings is beyond me.

 

Who is your favorite announcer overall?

Larry Anderson 38%

Scott Franzke 33%

Gary Matthews 18%

Tom McCarthy 6%

Jim Jackson 3%

Chris Wheeler 2%

 

The radio crew is clearly favored over the TV guys.  LA and Franzke have a great rapport with each other.  They are constantly joking, and while not always focusing on the game, they are easy to listen to- which is the best compliment you can give to a broadcast crew.  The fact that LA leads the way is interesting.  He was seemingly demoted from television a few years ago, but we continue to enjoy his dry sense of humor, ability to keep things in perspective, and passion for the game.

Chris Wheeler received 2% of the vote.  Two.  That means out of the 500 people that voted only 10 selected Chris Wheeler.  That's not good considering Wheels is the Phillies' lead announcer.  Isn't it time to scale back our suffering?  He clearly knows baseball, but he spends the entire game trying to prove it to us.  His annoying "one of the boys" persona is off-putting to anyone who understands human interaction.  He gets boners for NL rookies and laughs at everything any assistant coach does.

Seriously, it's time for less Wheels.

 

What is your favorite broadcast?

Comcast Sportsnet 67%

MyPHL17 17% (ironnny)

ESPN 10%

Fox 3%

TBS 2%

MLB 1%

 

Despite the general disdain for the local TV crew, we still prefer the home cookin to the national perspective.  Not even Wheels is hated more than Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Joe Morgan.

The Phillies need to make a change.  Fans don't enjoy listening to Wheels anymore.  Franzke and LA do a fine job on the radio and, if this poll is any indication, they would be more than welcomed on television.