Scott Franzke and Larry Andersen have combined to become an iconic radio duo for the Philadelphia Phillies. Andersen started broadcasting with the Phillies in 1998 after coaching in the minor leagues while Franzke joined him in 2006 ahead of the franchise’s glory years.
Franzke spoke about his relationship with Andersen and how lucky he’s been to work with the commentator while appearing on the Audacy Sports Podcast “The PBP: Voices of Baseball” this week.
“Of all the things that have happened in my life that have made a real lasting difference, one of them has been being paired with Larry,” Franzke said. “At my stage of my career back then, ‘04, ‘05, ‘06, I’m in my early 30s. I just want a job. I want a job doing play-by-play every day in the major leagues. That’s what my goal is. And if there had been a team in Timbuktu and they had offered me their job that’s where I’d be.
“You don’t pick your job at that age. You can’t just sit around and wait ‘I’m really going to wait for that job that I really want to open.’ You take the job you can get. You do the best you can and maybe after you’re good and you’ve proven yourself for a few years maybe there’s an opportunity you can – I don’t want to say engineer – but you know what I mean, you can have your eye on.”
Franzke was lucky enough to land a job with the Phillies and even luckier to be partnered with Andersen.
“The other thing you can’t do is you can’t pick your partner. It’s highly conceivable I could’ve gone to the Phillies and been paired with somebody who wasn’t as popular, who wasn’t as funny, who wasn’t as entertaining, and people would think differently of me from the very outset,” he continued. “I used to joke, there’s a phrase ‘guilt by association.’ Whatever the opposite of that is, I got street cred because Larry seemed like he liked me. And that can go a long way with fans whether they realize it or not. That is something that fans, I think, absolutely resonate to.”
Another factor that helped Franzke is that he joined the Phillies at a great time. They were alive through Game 161 in 2006 then made the playoffs from 2007 to 2011.
Everything came together for Franzke and Andersen, who have formed a tight bond.
“For me to be paired with Larry, a guy who was funny and affable and well-liked and was a popular player, a popular announcer, all those things, it was my unbelievable fortune to get paired with him and for us to connect in the way that we did,” Franzke said. “I think back on my career, there’s always those moments, you make the right turn instead of the left turn. That’s one of those that I made the turn and ran into the best pot of gold at the end of the rainbow you could imagine.”
The duo has a unique relationship with a similar sense of humor that plays well for the radio audience.
“I certainly have made a living at needling him in return and sort of playing to his old doddering ex-ballplayer persona. The things I love about Larry, he is honest and that has certainly gotten him blowback but also the fans appreciate it,” Franzke explained. “He understands the game in a very deep way. He understands pitching. The guy pitched 17 years in the major leagues much less not counting what he also did professionally in the minors.”
“Listening to his stories, I’ve heard most all of them at this point, but I don’t tire of listening to them or listening to him deliver them. He’s incredibly kind and has one of the biggest hearts of anybody. The way he embraced me, the way he embraced my wife, and later my kids when they arrived.”
Franzke and Andersen are the perfect duo for the City of Brotherly Love.
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