It’s been a tough season for the Phillies. After their miraculous run to the World Series last year, they’ve struggled out of the gate this year while the Braves have built a healthy lead in the division. Thursday afternoon’s game against Atlanta, therefore, was an important one, representing a golden opportunity for Philadelphia to make up ground in the division race.
Through the first nine innings, things were going fine for the Phillies. They hadn’t scored a run but their pitchers hadn’t allowed one, either. So the game went to extra innings.
That’s when things went off the rails. The Braves scored one run thanks to the automatic runner rule and then tacked on two more when Kyle Schwarber dropped a routine line drive.
So when Marcell Ozuna added to the damage with a two-run homer on the very next play, you can imagine how deflated Phillies fans felt. Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke spoke for all of them with this hilariously monotone call of the dinger.
The Phillies radio call of Marcell Ozuna's home run is the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life. pic.twitter.com/6OFW6FaPvc
— Baseball GIFs (@gifs_baseball) June 23, 2023
“The pitch to Ozuna. Swung on and blasted,” Franzke said, without an ounce of emotion in his voice. “Deep to left field. Forget about it.”
You really need to listen to the call because there isn’t a punctuation mark in the English language capable of conveying how flat Franzke’s voice was.
Announcers who actively root for their team are a dying breed in big-time sports, but calls like this remind us of what we’re missing when broadcasters err on the side of professionalism.
