Sports
Phillies TV Announcer Learned Love of Baseball in Brick
Tom McCarthy was the starting catcher on the 1986 Mustangs baseball team
TRENTON — Tom McCarthy now stands among the 15 other exhaulted members of the Trenton Thunder family, with players such as Nomar Garciaparra and former managers DeMarlo Hale and Ken Macha.
But in the sometimes cramped press box at Waterfront Park, in the hallway that houses the radio booth, he stands alone.
As part of an emotional night recently in which the Thunder's first employee was inducted into the team's Hall-of-Fame, McCarthy received an honor for which he was unprepared. The radio booth, where McCarthy spent the first six years of his broadcasting career, was renamed for him.
"I am unbelievably humbled by everything," said McCarthy, who was hired as Director of Public and Media Relations in 1993. "The radio booth part is remarkable. There's not a good word to describe it. I'll cherish it and the moment more than anything that I've had. It leaves you beyond speechless."
Of course, it is McCarthy's "speech" that has taken his career to its high point, from the Double-A Thunder through Princeton University football to announcing Philadelphia Phillies' games on television.
The starting catcher on the 1986 Brick Memorial High School Mustangs and a graduate of the College of New Jersey, McCarthy worked as the Thunder's public relations director from 1994-96 and was also the team's assistant general manager from 1997-99. He also did play-by-play for Thunder, until leaving in 1999 to pursue a full-time broadcasting career.
Growing up in Brick, McCarthy had the fortune of following the Mets, Yankees and Phillies, which meant a healthy dose of broadcasting legends Bob Murphy, Phil Rizzuto and Harry Kalas, all within a few turns of the dial.
"Brick was the perfect triangle," McCarthy said. "Before the baseball package, I had the baseball package. I had all channel 9, 11, 17, 48. My dad made it a point to take us to Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and The Vet. I loved Rizzuto and [Tom] Seaver. I thought they were outstanding together. I loved Bob's style. I loved Harry and Whitey [Richie Ashburn] together."
McCarthy experienced the thrill of working with Kalas from 2001-05, and again when he returned to Philadelphia for the World Series-winning year of 2008.
When Kalas died on April 13, 2009, before a game against the Washington Nationals, McCarthy took over as the television play-by-play man.
In transition, McCarthy is the voice for a new generation of Phillies fans.
"I know how important broadcasters were to me as a baseball fan, and I hope I can be half of what Harry was to people growing up," McCarthy said. "I want to do baseball for the rest of my life. I always have."
