NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Tom McCarthy won’t be calling the Phillies-Marlins series

A familiar voice will be calling the Phillies three-game series against the Miami Marlins on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Just not the one fans are used to hearing on TV.

Scott Franzke, in his 20th year as the radio voice of the Phillies, is filling in the next three games for Tom McCarthy, who is beginning his 12th season calling NFL games for CBS. While the Phillies will be in Miami, McCarthy will be hundreds of miles west in New Orleans to call the Saints’ Week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

It’s become something of a tradition for Phillies announcers. McCarthy’s predecessor, the late, great Harry Kalas, used to miss every weekend in September to call Notre Dame football games and do radio work for Westwood One. In fact, when McCarthy was calling Phillies games on the radio in the early 2000s, he got his first TV announcing time with the team by filling in for Kalas and former play-by-player Scott Graham.

“The Phillies have always been good about it,” McCarthy told The Inquirer.

Calling this weekend’s games alongside Franzke will be former Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. Pre- and postgame radio host Gregg Murphy will call the games on 94.1 WIP.

For the second straight season, McCarthy is paired at CBS with Ross Tucker, the former offensive lineman probably best known locally for his appearances on 94.1 WIP and for calling Eagles preseason games. The two actually go back to Tucker’s days at Princeton, where McCarthy called all his games. They’ve also called games together for a decade on Westwood One.

For Sunday’s game, McCarthy and Ross will be joined by former Rutgers and Eastern Regional High star Logan Ryan, who joined CBS in August following his retirement from the NFL in April after 11 seasons. Ryan is slated to call a few NFL games alongside Chris Lewis, and has called a handful of college football games for CBS.

“He’s really talented and I’m excited to work with him,” McCarthy said. “He’s also a Phillies fan, so it’s kind of cool.”

McCarthy said he could end up calling as many as 10 NFL games this season. He’ll miss the Phillies’ final two games against the Kansas City Royals next weekend so he can call the Week 2 matchup between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. That means it will be Franzke in the booth Sept. 14 alongside Cole Hamels for his final broadcast of the season on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

McCarthy will also miss all three games of the Arizona Diamondbacks series beginning Sept. 19, though CBS hasn’t publicly announced which game he’s calling.

The schedule worked out in McCarthy’s favor. He won’t miss the Phillies’ upcoming series against the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers because they take place during the week, though Fox will be airing the Phillies-Mets game on Sept. 11.

“That was one of the things we talked about, to make sure I was around for the Mets games,” McCarthy said. “It just so happens it falls at the right time. I’m really happy about that.”

McCarthy was also originally slated to call a Week 4 game for CBS, but told the network he wanted to remain with the Phillies to call their final series of the season against the Minnesota Twins. He and John Kruk will be joined by Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt on Sept. 28.

“CBS has always been great in understanding the importance of being around the last weekend of the season and the clinching opportunities we have,” McCarthy said.

The Eagles have just one game scheduled to air on CBS — their Week 5 matchup against the Denver Broncos on Oct. 5. While McCarthy has called Eagles games on the radio for Westwood One — he’s slated to call them in Week 6 against the New York Giants on Oct. 9 — he’s never had the opportunity to broadcast the Birds on CBS.

It’s a streak that will likely continue this season.

“I don’t think my crew is scheduled to work that weekend,” McCarthy said.

If the season were to end today, the Phillies would be the No. 2 seed in the National League, behind only the Milwaukee Brewers (No. 1). That would be good enough to advance the Phillies directly to the divisional round, where they’d face the winner of a wildcard series between the New York Mets (No. 6) and Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 3).

Here’s how the wildcard race in the National League currently shakes out: