The Phillies recently promoted their former second baseman Mickey Morandini to be bench coach of AAA Lehigh Valley. Despite the appointment, Morandini possibly could not head to Spring Training in that position. While last night Howard Eskin was reporting that former Phillies Kevin Stocker and Doug Glanville were "finalists" for the Phillies television broadcast commentator position, Bob Brookover of the Inquirer reported talks of someone else.
According to Brookover's report: Morandini's plans could change:
"Last week, however, a curveball was thrown at Morandini in the form of a phone call. Shortly after the news broke that Chris Wheeler and Gary Matthews were being relieved of their duties on the Phillies' broadcast team, Morandini was contacted by Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia to see whether he would be interested in the role of color analyst."
Morandini spoke to Brookover in the piece, and from what Morandini has to say, it sounds like he hopes to be a Phillie for life:
"I love what I'm doing and I love being in player development, but there is something about being one of the voices for the Phillies that is very intriguing to me. I would love and enjoy being part of the Phillies family in that way. It's too good of a dream job to pass up."
The move to the broadcast booth was enough to get former Phillies reliever Larry Andersen to leave his position as pitching coach at AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre back in 1998.
The Phillies are running out of time to make a decision; the Phillies first television broadcast would likely be on Wednesday, February 26 when the Blue Jays come to Bright House Networks field. The Spring Training television schedule has yet to be released, but the Phillies traditionally have broadcast all home games the last few seasons. Relieved of his television duties, Chris Wheeler likely will once again become public address announcer for Phillies Spring Training.
