The sounds of summer just changed.
'Wheels' and 'Sarge' have been silenced.
The Phillies have finally made some noise this off-season. Not on the field, but rather off it, in the broadcast booth, where they have silenced the voices of color commentators Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews.
Fans know them more as 'Wheels' and 'Sarge.'
You can get all the details from Dennis Deitch here.
It's a funny thing, this business of broadcasting baseball games. It has much to do with the slow, mellifluous pace of the game. You could go so far as to call it luxurious.
Baseball is the the only major sport contested without a clock. It takes its time. No crying in baseball? There's no rushing either.
Much like the thick, soupy summer nights on which the game is contested, broadcasting the games comes at a leisurely pace.
Moreover, the game is played almost every night. These voices become our summer companions.
Don't believe me. Ask anyone around these parts about Harry Kalas. The "Voice of Summer" was stilled a few years back. The love of the fans for Harry the K runs just as deep today.
The guess here is that nowhere nearly as much love will be lost over the absence of Wheeler, the Marple Newtown High grad, and Matthews, the former star Phillies outfielder.
Me? I'm a radio guy. My summer luxury is sitting out on the deck (since my screened-in porch met an untimely demise a few years back), with the radio, Phillies baseball, and a cold beverage of my choice.
Scott Franzke and Larry Anderson are fast becoming a new generation's version of Harry and Whitey, the beloved Kalas and his running mate, Richie Ashburn.
The hotter, the more humid the eventing, the more I like it, the more it compliments the Boys - and the Voices - of Summer.
Wheels and Sarge did color commentary on the Phillies' TV broadcasts. I would usually catch them while lying in bed before lapsing into a coma at the end of another day.
Sure, Wheeler could be grating with some of his over-analysis, and his instructionals on how the game was to be played. And no doubt he could be accused of being a homer, but then show me a local broadcast who isn't.
Maybe most troubling about this sudden change in a summer ritual is how it happened. The Phillies recently signed a mega-deal with NBCUniversal, the parent company of Comcast, which airs the bulk of the Phillies games on TV.
Both Wheeler and Matthews will remain with the team in as yet unspecified roles. For Wheeler, it marks the end of 37 years in the broadcast booth.
The hunt is now on for who will sit beside TV play-by-play man Tom McCarthy.
One thing remains clear. The 'Wheels' just came off the Phillies bus. 'Sarge' has been given his marching order. For a lot of fans, the sounds of summer just changed.
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