Being a broadcaster is fun work and both Tom and Jeff are in a family of broadcasters. They talk that, the fans in Clearwater and what it's like to watch your kids play baseball.
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00:00It's Jeff Kirkshin from 92.5 XTU.
00:02I'm with Tom McCarthy.
00:03We love him because my wife and I watch you and Kruki every single night.
00:07And my wife wants to say, just, and I say we could cut this.
00:12I'm the one editing it, so I'll probably cut this.
00:15But she really got immersed into Phillies baseball.
00:18She's born and raised in Las Vegas.
00:19She gets married into a baseball family.
00:21She's like, I got to root for somebody.
00:22She really got married to a baseball family?
00:23Oh, yeah, big time.
00:25And we moved to Philadelphia in 2022.
00:27We get Rob Thompson as a manager.
00:29So just to give you perspective, that, as you know, everything turns around,
00:32and we had just gotten to the city.
00:33So it was really special for us.
00:35But then we hit playoff time.
00:36She goes, where's Tom?
00:39She was so disappointed.
00:40Well, Tom was really bored for a lot of that.
00:42I know.
00:43And I had to explain to her this whole thing about rights, and it's a whole joke,
00:47and I hate it because you become, like, family to my family,
00:51and we hear your voice every single night.
00:53And now we have a daughter, and she gets to, you know,
00:55join us in watching Phillies games every day.
00:57It must be pretty cool when you really think about it because you grew up
01:01listening to a play-by-play guy who was on your radio,
01:05and now you're that for so many people.
01:07Is that kind of cool in perspective?
01:08It is kind of cool.
01:09You know, I was always, I mean, a huge baseball fan.
01:12I played it my whole life.
01:12I played it, you know, into college before I got cut.
01:15And, you know, but the play-by-play guys were the guys that I always
01:19gravitated to.
01:20So where I grew up in Jersey, we were fortunate.
01:22We had the Yankees, Mets, and the Phillies.
01:24We had all three of the teams that we could watch.
01:26My mom and dad were Yankee fans.
01:28I actually grew up a Mets fan, and we would go to a ton of Phillies games also.
01:32Yeah.
01:32So that, to me, was awesome.
01:34I gravitated to the Bob Murphys of this world, to the Harry Calluses,
01:40to the Richie Ashburns, to the Andy Musters, people like that, Wheels.
01:46So to me, it's pretty cool.
01:47It is really neat.
01:48And you were a pretty good former player, and you've had some kids who were
01:53good players, too.
01:54And so for you growing up, and, you know, you did play well.
01:58I mean, listen, I retired at age 13, so I can't really speak to my skill set.
02:02But for you being a dad and seeing your boys come up and play the game,
02:06were you more, I guess, was there more emotions when you were playing
02:11and something good or bad would happen versus when your boys were playing?
02:14Well, I will say my boys were better than I was, so their success was evident,
02:20particularly my second one, who's still playing independent ball.
02:22That's right.
02:23So to watch them have that success, to watch both of them play a full college
02:27career, and to actually watch Patrick now broadcast for the Mets and see him
02:33even go to another level, that's pretty cool.
02:36I mean, your dad probably feels the same way for you.
02:38I mean, it's pretty cool to see them, well, first of all, have the same love
02:43for the game as I have, but also to want to be part of it the way they are part of it.
02:48You know, and I don't know how long my one guy will play.
02:51He's 26 years old, but I want him to play as long as he can play.
02:53I mean, he's getting a paycheck to play, and for him, he wants the game in his life
02:59in some way, shape, or form.
03:01Do you feel as if, you know, being a former player, I went to Syracuse,
03:05so a lot of my buddies are now, you know, doing minor league baseball.
03:08A lot of them maybe played a little bit here and there, but none of them,
03:11you know, played well into college.
03:13For you, when you have Kruk next to you, or you even have a former player
03:17or current player in the box with you, do you think your ability as a player
03:21really helps you do your job better?
03:23Well, I think that for me, since it ended in college, I never try to overstep
03:29what the knowledge of a professional player is, because there is a true difference.
03:34There really is, the seasoning in the minor leagues, the years of playing
03:38just professional baseball, that to me trumps all of it, because they see things
03:44that we stopped learning in college.
03:46You know what I mean?
03:46Like, we hit a level and we're like, eh, you know, it's different.
03:50We were using aluminum bats.
03:51I mean, all those things.
03:52Right.
03:53So I kind of just defer to them as much as I can.
03:56There's a lot of things that I'll ask John that I think I know the answer,
04:00or I feel like I know the answer, but in reality, I believe the fans want to hear
04:04from him when it comes to the nuance of strategy and stuff like that.
04:08I can lean on it, but I think they want to hear from him more than me.
04:11You know, it's so funny.
04:12If my dad were in the room, he would be standing up cheering right now,
04:15because he always taught me it's so important to be a good point guard.
04:20That's exactly what it is.
04:21It's being a point guard.
04:21You can send that bounce pass to Krucke and say, hey, John,
04:25what do you think a guy would do in that situation?
04:27When you kind of know where he's going to go because you're great teammates,
04:30but also he's the one who gets to take that shot.
04:33And every once in a while you take shots and you do a great job
04:36and you are a soul when it comes to this team.
04:39But I think it's really great to hear you kind of be,
04:42and that's something your son is taken after.
04:44Pat works with the Mets.
04:45It's so cool.
04:46Yeah, and for him it's a little different because on their radio broadcasts,
04:50it's three play-by-play guys, basically.
04:53So the one thing he has going for him is that he did play college baseball.
04:56He was a college pitcher.
04:58He wasn't, by any stretch of the imagination, a top-tier college pitcher,
05:02but he has a pretty good understanding of how certain things should happen.
05:07So I think it's really good for him because he's learning more about the game
05:11just being with two other play-by-play guys.
05:14Now, do you air-check him at all, or does he send you tapes?
05:18Sometimes.
05:19I will listen when I can, and I'll offer things not all the time
05:25because I think it's better.
05:28I don't think he wants to hear from me all the time,
05:30even though I could probably help a little bit.
05:32Like, he's doing the Patriot League Championship on Westwood 1 tonight,
05:37the Colgate game.
05:38So I'm flying home because I have basketball this weekend.
05:40So I'll listen to it, but I won't say anything during the game
05:44because he has a producer that's really good and really constructive.
05:50But I'll add some things every once in a while.
05:53For me, any young play-by-play guy has to just keep doing it
05:56because they have to evolve their own style.
06:00So if I sort of nitpick every single time,
06:03his style won't evolve the way it should evolve.
06:06Well, I think play-by-play and playing baseball are similar
06:09where it's all about the reps.
06:10It's all about the reps.
06:11Imagine after every pitch if you're sitting there.
06:13Right.
06:14Oh, yeah, no, you've got to straighten the elbow in.
06:16Exactly.
06:16It would be too much.
06:17That is exactly the way to look at it.
06:19Nobody wants to hear, particularly from dad, I don't think.
06:22Right.
06:23Nobody wants to hear that all the time.
06:25Right.
06:26And I know my other guy who's still playing,
06:29he's sort of outgrown any advice I can give him.
06:32I can see certain things about his swing
06:34just because I've watched him his whole life.
06:36But there's certain things that he has to figure out on his own.
06:40Absolutely.
06:40And you're, you know, obviously the voice of the Phillies,
06:44and we love you being a part of that.
06:46But you also, you just mentioned,
06:48you're going back to Brooklyn for the A-10 championship.
06:50Right.
06:50Right.
06:50And I'm a Syracuse basketball fan.
06:53It's not going well.
06:54Tough season.
06:54Basically, you have to win the ACC tournament to even be in.
06:58And you're going to have to beat John Brazier's Virginia team to do it.
07:01I know.
07:02I know.
07:02Oh, gosh.
07:03Remember 2016, John?
07:04Sorry.
07:05Too soon.
07:06Wow.
07:06Oh, Malachi Richardson.
07:07That was the only year I have on him
07:09because they crush this pretty much every other time.
07:10In fact, I was at the Carrier Dome, story only for John,
07:13and they stand up and they clap.
07:15Yes, they do.
07:16Until they score a basket, right?
07:17And we were playing UVA.
07:18And if you know a UVA-Syracuse game
07:20with classic Jim Boeheim 2-3 zone,
07:22the score at the half, Tom.
07:25It was a 20-18?
07:26It was, yeah.
07:28It was like 24-19 or something.
07:31It was so ridiculous.
07:32And Syracuse was standing up for like until like the under-16.
07:36We were still standing up.
07:38It was pathetic.
07:39And so the point is I have a lot of respect for UVA.
07:42One of my dearest friends went to UVA as well,
07:45and it was actually a manager on the team back when we went to school there.
07:48So I got a lot of respect.
07:49But to that point, calling games from a baseball perspective
07:54and a basketball perspective,
07:56two completely different cadence and rhythms.
07:58Totally different.
07:59But I always say that basketball and football and baseball,
08:03they all help each other because the preparation,
08:07the understanding of the pace of the game,
08:09I think all of them make me a better broadcaster.
08:12I've been doing it since I was in the minor leagues
08:14when I was doing Princeton football and basketball
08:16and doing the minor league baseball and then did Rutgers.
08:18So I sort of have that rhythm of seasonal sports.
08:22I'm just fortunate the Phillies allowed me to do it, quite frankly.
08:25And March Madness is one of my favorite things.
08:28It's the best thing in sports, right, I feel.
08:30So this is my first year doing the first weekend on TV.
08:33I've done the first four on TV.
08:35I've done the first weekend on radio.
08:36I've done the regionals on radio.
08:37But now I'm moving into the first weekend on CBS, which is pretty cool.
08:41I mean, just to see, you know, to have four games in one day on TV
08:45and then to be, I don't know, whether it be Spokane or Utah
08:48or wherever it's going to be, I think that's pretty neat.
08:50It really is.
08:51I think March Madness is unlike anything else in sports.
08:53But I also feel if you're a Phillies fan
08:56and you haven't been down to spring training,
08:57there's some magic in the air in clear water.
09:00I mean, it really is special.
09:02And last year was my first time with the Phillies in clear water.
09:05And it sounds almost backwards,
09:07but I was just shocked how many Phillies fans there are down in this area.
09:11It's unbelievable.
09:12It's crazy.
09:13And this year, I think, this place has been jammed.
09:16Really?
09:17More so than last year, even?
09:18I think more so than last year.
09:19Wow.
09:19You know, in fact, the other day, we had 9,600 or something like that.
09:22And I was like, this is the largest crowd I've ever seen here.
09:24It wasn't once the numbers came out.
09:26Yeah.
09:27You couldn't even walk on the concourse.
09:29It was so crowded.
09:30Now, the Yankees were here, but it was mostly Phillies fans.
09:32Mostly Phillies fans.
09:33I think it was the 80-20 as far as the fans go.
09:35So if you're planning a trip down here, clear water.
09:38Plan early.
09:38Yeah, plan early.
09:39That's for sure.
09:40And, well, as our producer here, Mike, would say, try to avoid spring break week because
09:45he had some four girls screaming in the room next to him at 2.30 in the morning.
09:48Had to do a morning show.
09:49So just sorry about that, Mike.
09:51Tom McCarthy, thank you so much for joining me.
09:53You got it, buddy.
09:53I really appreciate it.
09:54Thanks, Jeff.